Amazing GRACE | November 10, 2020 | GRACE Christian School

Save the Date: Priority Re-Enrollment

Mark your calendars as Priority Re-Enrollment for the 2021-2022 school year, which begins on November 16th. Priority Applications for siblings of current students will open on November 16th as well. Starting December 1st, applications open to the general public. Due to capacity enrollment and lengthy wait pools this school year, it is imperative that our current families re-enroll as early as possible to secure an enrollment seat for the 2021-2022 school year. New families applying beginning on December 1st will be considered for available enrollment seats.

GCS T-Shirts and Hoodies

GCS T-Shirts and Hoodies are available for purchase! GRACE's Parent Teacher Fellowship will use all profits collected from shirt sales to support our GRACE community through staff appreciation luncheons, meals/gifts for GRACE parent bereavement and new child celebrations, teacher coffee carts, new family support, Moments With Moms, Donuts for Dads and Family Fellowship events, to name a few.

All shirts ($12) or hooded sweatshirts ($25) will have "GCS" as shown in the letter and color options below. All listed sizes are for unisex shirts. Sizes run small, so if your student is between sizes, please order the larger size for the best fit.

To order, return the order form that was sent home with your child, or you can place your order online using this form. Please note: You will have to complete an order form for each child!

Holiday Virtual Learning Registration

Registration for December virtual learning registration is now open. Please complete the form at this link in order to register. Additionally, our leadership team has heard from a few families who are considering having their children take advantage of virtual learning the weeks of November 30 through December 4 and/or January 6 through 8 in order to provide a little bit more of a buffer time between holiday travel and a return to campus. For our teachers, it helps us to have this information in advance, so if your family is considering this approach for your children, please complete the form at this link.

Operation Christmas Child

We are excited to announce that the annual tradition of participating in the Samaritan’s Purse Operation Christmas Child will continue this year. Please bring your filled boxes on November 20th. Click here for details on how to pack a box! Also, this year we created an online opportunity for families who would prefer to build a shoebox online. Click here to start an online box today!

Go Shopping, Support GRACE!

We have plenty of ways for you to give back to GRACE by doing your everyday shopping by supporting one of these affinity programs. Affinity programs rebate a percentage of your purchase to the charity of your choice. In addition to amazon.com, almost all the local grocery stores participate in some sort of give-back program. If you have not already done so this year, take a moment to use the instructions listed below to link your account to GRACE. Note: Most grocery store programs require families to re-link your account each school year.

Amazon Smile | AmazonSmile is a website operated by Amazon that lets customers shop while also giving back to their favorite charitable organizations. Go to smile.amazon.com and select GREATER RALEIGH AREA CHRISTIAN EDUCATION, INC. to designate GRACE as your charitable organization.

Harris Teeter | Harris Teeter’s Together In Education program gives schools a chance to earn funds when you link your VIC card and shop Harris Teeter brands. There are NO LIMITS to how much a school can earn. Link your VIC card to GRACE by selecting 2768 GRACE CHRISTIAN SCHOOL RALEIGH on the Harris Teeter Together in Education Webpage. Note: You MUST re-link every year!

Lowes Foods | With Cart to Class, Lowes Foods designated schools will be rewarded based on the amount of Lowes Foods Private Label items you purchase. Select GRACE from the eligible school list on the Lowe’s Back 2 Schools website.

Publix Partners | Through Publix Partners, all purchases made at Publix will help earn money for our school. For every $37,500 spent cumulatively by GRACE families, Publix will award GRACE $250. Pick up a Publix Partner bar code card at either campus reception desk and scan it at check out.

Box Tops for Education | Each box top is worth 10¢ for our school! Look for the pink Box Tops on hundreds of products, clip, and submit to either campus office. No registration or linking is required, although you can earn bonus box tops by joining on the Box Tops website. Search for 27606 (swipe left to see the full list of schools) and select GRACE.

Shutterfly | Our Shutterfly Storefront is a great way for parents, teachers and staff to earn money for GRACE - without the time commitment of a traditional fundraiser. You simply use this unique URL to shop and GCS receives 8% commission on every order!

Biblical Worldview Integration

A few weeks ago, Head of School Eric Bradley sent an email to all GRACE teachers requesting they share an example of how they integrated a biblical worldview into their lessons that week. We thought our GRACE community would enjoy reading some of their responses. We plan to share a few responses a week over the next several weeks.

"We literally just finished talking about it. One of our current events was about the homeless problems. We began a big discussion of what our biblical responsibilities are when it comes to giving to others. We talked about the real meaning behind Matthew 25:40 and what 'the least of these' means."

- Amy Stephens, Upper Campus Social Studies Teacher

"The start of every class period begins with a Bible verse from the Latin Bible that addresses a grammar point from the week. We discuss the grammar, but also the spiritual significance and application."

- Andy Chang, Upper Campus Latin and Bible Teacher

"This week and the end of last week we were in Colossians 3:22-4:1. Paul is addressing bondservants and masters in this text. We spent a good four class periods truly digging into the text, literally parsing the nouns to see how the word slave in Greek (doulos) has multiple meanings. We looked at how pastors in the 16-1800s misused this text and manipulated it to serve their positions on slaveholding, as well as how critics of the Bible use it to justify their thinking that the Bible is archaic and promotes sinful behavior. All that to say, I encouraged them to always do the hard work of studying the text so they can truly know the context and know how to rightly apply when facing dangerous threats from both fronts."

- Blake Hickman, Dean of Students and Upper Campus Bible Teacher

K-5th Grade Parents: Join us for Mathodology Monday

Learn more about the Model Method of solving word problems by joining us for a virtual teacher/parent workshop taught by Mathodology – the math organization GRACE uses for professional development. The workshop will be held via Zoom on Monday, November 16th from 7 -8 p.m. Click here for the Zoom link. For a brief intro on the Model Method, taught by Dr. Yeap Ban Har, click here.

Upper Campus Exam Schedule

Parents and students can access the Upper Campus exam schedule by clicking this link.

Community Prayer

Join us for our virtual Community Prayer time on Thursdays from 12:00-12:30 p.m. Please CLICK HERE to submit prayer requests. Meeting information is as follows:

Meeting ID: meet.google.com/uje-hhxy-sri

Phone Numbers: (‪US‬)‪+1 321-529-9147‬ PIN: ‪934 553 124#‬

Upper Campus Lost and Found

Is your student missing a shirt? Water bottle? Jacket? Upper Campus has lost items from this year, as well as from the February/March period before the transition to VLE last year. If you can’t find an item, please send your student to look for it in the Lost and Found. Any items not retrieved will be donated on November 13th.

Also: remember to please label the inside of bags, boxes, clothes and coats with a Sharpie and we will do the best to get them back to you.

Order your Yearbook

It's a great time to order your 2020-2021 GCS yearbook! This year's theme is "Here We Are" because we are so thankful to be together at school. Yearbooks cost $45; to purchase, go to jostensyearbooks.com and search for GRACE Christian Raleigh. You know you are in the right place when you see the G-Eagle.

Upper Campus "Bless the Teachers/Staff" Fund

The PTF Upper Campus committee is collecting donations and using them to bless the Upper Campus teachers and staff. Like in all years past, we are requesting a one-time donation of $40 from each student to cover the cost of small gifts for staff birthday, holidays, and an end-of-year "thank you." We will also coordinate appreciation events throughout the year such as coffee and snack carts, surprise treats, and luncheons. Currently, we are working on a little Thanksgiving surprise.

Because of COVID and wanting to minimize contact, this year we are asking you to give online using this link. If you have any questions or concerns, please reach out to [email protected].

GCS Spirit Days

Let's get in the GRACE spirit with some fun Spirit Days - brought to you by the GCS Student Council. Mark your calendars for the following dates and have your student join in on the fun!

November 12: Western Day
November 19: Hawaiian Day