The purpose of John Calvin School is to assist and support parents in the education of their covenant children to the glory of God.  In accomplishing this mission, the vision of John Calvin School is to provide excellent Christ-centered education in service to God and our neighbour.

Good Friday morning school community as we bring to a close this short, busy week, Week #9, of student learning at home.  We hope and pray that you had a good week.  What another beautiful day the Lord has blessed us with.  As the weather becomes nicer, the challenge becomes greater to stay focused and motivated on school work.  We thank the Lord for blessing and guiding us during the course of this past week, and we pray that he will continue to bless, strengthen and guide the work of the students, parents, and teachers as we carry on with home-based learning, preparing to move on to week number ten.   Amazing, we have been involved with remote learning for the better part of two months.  

Earlier this week, as you heard/saw, the Minister of Education announced that schools in Ontario will remain closed for the remainder of the current school year.  That means, of course, that we will remain closed and continue with home-based learning for the rest of the school year.  

 For the end of the school year, the JCS Board has decided to follow the model of Guido de Bres Christian high school whose last day of formal instruction is June 5 with the following week to be used by the parents and students to finish any outstanding work that still needs to be submitted.  The last day of school will be June 12.  We will provide more details about what the month of June will look like in the final memo which will come your way at the end of next week. May our Heavenly Father provide the students, parents and teachers with all they need for their respective tasks during the remaining weeks of the school year.

“My son, do not forget my teaching, but keep my commands in your heart, for they will prolong your life many years and bring you prosperity.  Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart.  Then you will win favour and a good name in the sight of God and man.  Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.   Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD and shun evil.  This will bring health to your body and nourishment to your bones.”  Proverbs 3:1-8 (verses 5&6 are favourites of mine; they are also often considered and used by Grade 8 graduating classes as their theme text)

We must trust God completely in every choice we make.  We should not omit careful thinking or belittle our God-given ability to reason; but we should not trust our own ideas to the exclusion of all others.  We must not be wise in our own eyes.  We should always be willing to listen to and be corrected by God’s Word and wise counsellors.  We need to bring our decisions to God in prayer, use the Bible as our guide, and then follow his leading.  He will make our paths straight by both guiding and protecting us.   To receive God’s guidance, we must acknowledge God in all our ways.  This means turning every area of life over to him.  About 1000 years after Proverbs was written, Jesus emphasized this same truth (Matthew 6:33-34,”But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.  Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.  Each day has enough trouble of its own.” ).  We need to look at our values and priorities.   We need to make God a vital part of everything we do; then he will guide us because we will be working to accomplish his purposes.  

It was good that we could have our membership meeting on Wednesday evening, albeit in a virtual way.  Not the most ideal way to carry out a meeting, but we are thankful that in these times we have the technology to still have a meeting.  May our Heavenly Father continue to provide the board and its committees with all that they need to carry out their respective tasks during these unprecedented times.

May our Heavenly Father continue to bless parents and staff with the wisdom, patience, and the stick-withitness required to carry on with their respective tasks to the end of the school year.   I continue to encourage you to do the best that you can, especially as we get close to the end to the school year and focus and motivation become more of an issue/challenge.  We thank God for good cooperation as we, parents and teachers, work together to instruct His children.  Keep up the great work you are doing, today and every day!

Parents, if you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact your child(ren)’s teacher.  If you have any questions of a general nature about home-based learning, please don’t hesitate to contact the principal.  Please continue to pray for the staff as they continue to pray for you.  May our Heavenly Father continue to provide us with everything we need during the COVID-19 pandemic as we continue to put our hope and trust in Him.  

May the Lord continue to provide for those in our community who need Him in a special way; be it those who are sick, who are impacted by COVID-19, who are dealing with difficult family situations, or those who are grieving the recent death of a loved one.  We continue to put Mr. Herman Poort and his family before the Lord.  We also think of the Kingma family.  Earlier this week, Mr. Arthur Kingma from Dunnville, passed away after a massive heart attack.  There are a number of friends and relatives of the Kingma family in our community.  May our God of all comfort surround the family with his love and grace.  Last night a former student of JCS, Tristan Wielink, was involved in a serious accident when his dirt bike collided with another vehicle.  We thank the Lord that his life was spared.  He is currently in McMaster Children’s Hospital receiving treatment for broken bones and lacerations.  We pray for a speedy recovery.   

Included with today’s Chronicle is the Protocol for Class Re-distribution.  Please read through the document carefully.  Class lists for the 2020-2021 school year will be developed in June from the considerations, criteria, and procedures included in the document.  The class lists will be emailed to   parents on Friday, June 19.  This is the same document that was sent with last week’s Chronicle.  It is sent again today, in case you missed it.

Kindergarten registration reminder:  Kindergarten and Grade 1 registration forms were sent out last week.  Please return them to the school as soon as possible, either by email or snail mail.  The deadline is Friday, May 29.    

Reminders:

*It’s that time of year again, so please continue to be wary of ticks and mosquitoes.

 *The Teachers College is postponing the graduation ceremonies, originally scheduled for tonight, until sometime in the fall.  

*Kindergarten day, originally scheduled for May 27, is postponed. Stay tuned for a more definitive date once it has been determined.

*News and Views materials are due on Monday, June 8.

Have an enjoyable weekend everyone and a blessed Sunday. We’ll be in touch again in a week’s time, the Lord willing.  

G. Hofsink