Back to School Night
Avery Reeder
September 30, 2009
Filed under News, School News, Top Stories
Back to School Night was originally created with a specific purpose in mind. David Salvatelli, advancement director, shares that “The purpose was, and still is, for parents to become acquainted with their children’s teachers and their practices in order for the parent/teacher relationship to continue to deepen throughout the year.” However, although this night is centrally geared for this purpose, it is also a time for administrators and teachers to share their hearts and their future plans for CCA with parents. Although CCA has come a long way over the past ten years, our goal is to see continual improvement. For the 2009-2010 school year, CCA announced that it will be working towards the following five goals: improving academics, improving communication, improving discipleship, increasing integration with other church ministries to better serve CCA needs, and increasing financial strength. CCA has titled this new advancement mission, “To Greater Heights.”
Throughout the evening, even though each ministry at CCA had the same goals in mind, they each were able to operate in their own way. For instance, the Elementary School Ministry ran their agenda a little differently than Middle School and High School Ministries. Elementary School Principal, Susan Alexander, gave this message to the parents, “God is at work in the hearts of lives of students and parents at CCA, and we’d like you to jump in and volunteer. Get connected with other parents and build friendships just like your children are with students in their class. Listen closely to the helpful hints and important information that your child’s teacher will present in order to help make your child’s year a success.” Then each teacher shared with the parents how they biblically integrate each subject in their classrooms and showed them ways that they could volunteer.
Savatelli commented how, “The Middle School teachers provided an overview of how they run their classes, how their courses are structured, and how grades will be allocated. Some even offered an opportunity to sign up for a conference and/or gave out their contact information. They also hit on the upcoming highlights for the year, like big projects or fairs coming up.” Similarly, Robert Lofthouse, secondary principal, shared that “The High School teachers introduced themselves, went over the course syllabus with parents, had textbooks available, and highlighted any special things that will happen this year (for instance, the Science Fair, History Fair, or field trips etc).”