As Trinity Christian School continues to become more well known throughout Calgary, classes fill up faster and faster. This past months' open house brought several parents looking to potentially grab spots for the 2013 school year, based on the demand for new kindergarten enrollment at TCS.

TCS is pleased to announce that there are now openings available for the 2012 GRADE 7 class! We hope that our TCS Parents, Teachers, and especially our current grade 6ers can share this news with their friends, and bring some new families to TCS. 

TCS offers year round tours of the school, so let's get the news out there and fill up these spots!

Thanks to everyone who contributed to this past January's open house. We had 31 families make their way to Trinity Christian School for tours making this the most successful open house to date...AGAIN!!! The teachers and parents who volunteered made it a fantastic event. (especially whoever brought those butter tarts!!)

We want to make sure parents and community members are aware that TCS really IS, an 'open-house' all year round. Tours can be always be arranged and enrollment is open year-round. New families can join the school ANY time throughout the year. We encourage any families considering TCS to contact the main office at (403) 254-6682 to arrange for personal tour of the school.

Thanks again everyone for helping share TCS's fantastic message to 31 new families.

Did you ever wonder how close we are to reaching our fundraising goal? Did you ever wonder what we're even fundraising for? Did you ever wonder how you could get involved and help TCS blow the TOP of these fundraising initiatives? Our new "Fundraising" thermometer will help you see what's happening in conjunction with the "fundraising" tab of the TCS website. We're hoping it will help you see what the latest fundraising efforts are, how close we are to our goals, and how you can get involved! A big thanks to our friends at Urban Mortgage for donating the thermometer. As for our first "Thermometer GOAL", we are currently at 35% of our Capital Campaign goal for this year, to find our more please click "HERE"

On January 20, the Calgary Hitmen and Shine FM are hosting a "Faith and Family Night" at the Saddledome.  Tickets are only $10, with $2 from every ticket be donated back to the school.  This is what you get:

- Group seating with all other TCS families who sign up

- Pre-game/intermission music by "The Kimberlites" - a great local band led by TCS parent Mark       Hendriks

- Calgary Hitmen vs Prince George Cougars Hockey Game

- Post game skate (for those interested)

See the poster below for more information.

RSVP is needed by Friday, January 13!

Hope to see you there,

James Sijpheer

Alberta Education Minister Thomas Lukaszuk invites all Albertans to provide their ideas and thoughts on the new Education Act and the future of education in our province. Visit education.alberta.ca/engage to have your say. We really believe that its important for our "private school" voices to be heard.

Watch the Video to the right and follow the link HERE to have your say.

NBC Basketball Camp will be at TCS next Tuesday through Thursday, December 27-29.   If you have a child who enjoys basketball and would like to improve his/her skills, work hard and have fun, this is the camp for them.  Check out www.nbccamps.com and click on CLINICS for details.  TCS partners with NBC Camps for a couple events like this each year with part of the proceeds going back to the school.   

For a flyer and all the clinic information go to:

http://www.nbccamps.com/camps/basket_ball/camp_sub/clinics.htm 

Email shawn@nbccamps.com or call 800-406-3926 if you have questions.  

Congratulations to all the TCS Eagles volleyball teams on excellent seasons.

Grade 7/8 Girls - 4th in the ISAA

Grade 7/8 Boys - ISAA Champs

2J Girls - 5th in the ISAA (with a ver strong playoff push to the end the season)

2J Boys - ISAA Champs (10 years in a row, way to go Mr. J!)

3J Girls - 3rd in the ISAA

Both the 2J Boys and 3J Girls will be competing in theSouth Central Zone Championships this weekend.  Go Eagles!

It is with great excitement that we witnessed the start of the demolition of the Atrium VI second floor on Monday, November 4.  After a short delay with the City of Calgary, we are back on track and looking forward to seeing the new classrooms take shape. 

Thanks to everyone who contributed to TCS's BEST open house to date. We had 26 families make their way to Trinity Christian School for tours. The teachers and parents who volunteered made it a fantastic event. 

We want to make sure parents and community members are aware that TCS really is an 'open-house' all year round. Tours can be always be arranged and enrollment is open year-round. New families can join the school ANY time throughout the year.

Thanks again everyone for helping share TCS's fantastic message to 26 new families. 

Teaching Staff, parent volunteers, and students alike are very excited to welcome everyone to our open house today, Oct 27th from 1:30 - 3:00 PM or this evening from 6:30 - 8:00. 

There will be Parents with currently enrolled children, teachers and administration staff in attendance to answer any questions, but more importantly, to share what makes Trinity Christian School such an amazing place for our children. 

See you there!

Introducing

We’re excited to announce our new school management system – RenWeb School Management Software - a private and secure parents’ portal that will allow parents to see academic information specific to their children, while protecting their children’s information from others.

You will be able to view:

• Attendance
• Report Cards
• Lesson plans
• Discipline
• Homework
• Missing Assignments
• School Calendar
• School Announcements
• Staff and School Directory
• Teacher E-mail Addresses
• Teacher Websites

• First, you need to make sure that the school has your email address in RenWeb. 
•  Next, go to the ParentsWeb login page - CLICK HERE
  •   You can also access this link from the TCS Website – www.tcskids.com
•  If requested, type your school's District Code: TRIN-CAN
  •  You may not be asked as we have tried to remove this step from the login process
•  Click Create New ParentsWeb Account.
• Type your email address and an email is sent to you.  

• Click the Click to change password link.  This link is only valid for 30 minutes.
• A web browser displays your Name and RenWeb ID.

• Type a User Name, Password and Confirm the password.
•  Click Save Password.
  A message displays at the top of the browser, "User Name/Password successfully updated."

We look forward to your participation.  Together we can continue to improve our children’s academic development as well as communication between our school and your home.

A short video has been created from the perspective of one family at TCS. It’s a video that describes “why we love TCS” and includes information about contacting us for enrollment information.  This video is on a private youtube site and it is linked it to our new Facebook page (you can find the link on the TCS website – www.tcskids.com)

We need your help to get this video out there.

Share it on your facebook wall, get the kids involved and share it with their friends, email it throughout your church and to any families you may know that may be interested in joining the TCS Family.

....BUT WAIT!! We are not done there. We are hoping this video will be the first of many in a school wide challenge to get our students and their families to post videos to our facebook wall sharing with Calgary “why we all love TCS so much.”

More details will follow about that challenge but for the time being, we would greatly appreciate all of the TCS families getting on board and sharing our video throughout their circles.

Follow the link to our facebook page (where you will see the video posted) and be sure to “like it.”

Miss Hart arrived to staff photos this morning wearing a big smile and new piece of jewellery.  She excitedly shared with the staff that she has accepted a proposal from a very luck man and is now engaged to be married.

We are excited for Miss Hart (name changing soon) and pray for a wonderful, loving and lasting marriage built on Christ as the foundation.

If you are in the buildding, Miss Hart would love to share the story and show you her ring!!

We’re excited to announce our new school management system – RenWeb School Management Software.  We’re in the process of setting up RenWeb’s ParentsWeb –     a private and secure parents’ portal that will allow parents to see academic information specific to their children, while protecting their children’s information from others.

All you need is an Internet-capable computer to view information such as:

• Attendance
• Report Cards
• Lesson Plans
• Discipline
• Homework
• Missing Assignments
• School Calendar
• School Announcements
• Staff and School Directory
• Teacher Email Addresses
• Teacher Websites
• Customized Web Surveys and Tests
• Other Useful School Information

Staff have been training and becoming more comfortable with using the new system.

Parents are able to login in to the RenWeb system to view information about their child's classes (homework, upcoming events, attendance and behavior), and to ensure that their faily data is current (address, phone numbers, e-mails, etc...).

Here’s how to access our easy-to-use RenWeb ParentsWeb:

• First, you need to make sure that the school has your email address in RenWeb.
• Next, go to www.renweb.com and click Logins.
• Click ParentsWeb Login.
• Type your school's District Code TRIN-CAN
•  Click Create New ParentsWeb Account.
• Type your email address and an email is sent to you
• Click the Click to change password link.  This link is only valid for 30 minutes.

We hope you enjoy this new tool, but if you have any questions or need some help, contact James Sijpheer.

Trinity Christian School is currently in a three year project, funded by the Alberta government (AISI), researching best ways of assessing student progress and making sure that we get an accurate picture of their learning, but also can continue to motivate them to grow.  Part if this project has been a review of our assessment and reporting practices, which has resulted in a revised report card that will become effective this year.  Click the link below to read more....

 READ MORE

Another year begins.  This year we will again supply meals two time per month from these vendors: Caesar’s pizza, Subway, and Pita Express.  Some families have requested that they order all the meals at the beginning of the year with one lump sum.  I will accommodate you on this.  The cost of this service will be  $150.00/child.  I will need to know which families are interested in the one time fee by September 8.  You will then receive a package with all the forms that you need to fill out and then return to the office. 

If you are interested in this service or have any questions about the hot lunch program please call Debbie now at 441-8990. 

You will receive specific information in each monthly newsletter (including an order form), for the hot lunch days.  Please be sure to always include the exact amount of money and submit the order form by the date specified.  No late orders can be accepted.

Upcoming Hot Lunches are:

September 14  PAC Pizza (Gr. K, 1-9)

September 15  PAC Pizza (Gr. K only)

September 28  PAC Subway Day (Gr. K, 1-9)

September 29  PAC Subway Day (Gr. K only)

Orders for both Pizza’s and Subs, are due on September 8.  Please complete the Order forms as applicable. Can submit all PAC hot lunch orders for the month in ONE envelope with exact change or a cheque.

No late orders will be accepted.

This will be our nineteenth year that we have our doors open providing education from a distinctive Biblical worldview. The staff has been busy for the past few weeks with all kinds of preparations for the new school year.  All of the preparations are for the reason our school exists, which is expressed in our mission statement.

Our mission is to prepare God’s children or a life of learning and service in His world.  By the grace of God, in partnership with the Christian home and church, we will lead children to be the best that they can be for God’s glory.

Each year at TCS, we select a school theme that is woven into our day at school.  The 2011-2012 theme is called “Preparing the Pathway.”  The main verse that we have chosen for our theme is found in Proverbs 3: 5- 6 “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to Him, and He will make your paths straight.”  

As we start another school year, I want to encourage each of us as students, parents, staff and members of our community, to trust in our Heavenly Father and lean on Him for understanding (Proverbs3:5)).  The Lord promises to be our sufficiency and our abundance.  To God be the glory as we depend on Him for a year of learning and growth.

We look forward to seeing all of you at our opening assembly on Tuesday, September 6 at 8:45 a.m. Come join with us as we give thanks and honor to God to celebrate the year to come.  Don’t forget to come at 12 noon as we continue our fellowship with our annual Cobs and Dogs day.

Preparing the Pathway,

Stanford Hielema