General News
“Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, and to turn away from evil is understanding.” Job 28:28
It’s great to be back in school for 2025! We kicked off the year with an inspiring assembly where Rev. DenHollander explained the difference between good and bad fear when it comes to our faith. He connected this to our school theme, “the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom,” emphasizing that good fear means deeply respecting and being in awe of God’s power and love. While “fear” can sometimes mean being afraid, it can also describe a feeling of profound reverence. Rev. DenHollander encouraged us to embrace this kind of “trembling” excitement and respect for God. It was the perfect way to start the year, reminding us to prioritize our faith and use our learning to grow closer to Him.
With the new year come some staffing changes. We welcome Mrs. Tigchelaar back to grade 4 after her maternity leave. She will be teaching on Wednesdays and Fridays, with Mrs. Stel teaching on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays. We are thrilled to have her back and wish her success as she reintegrates. Mrs. Baartman is transitioning into the resource department as she takes on the coordinator role, and Ms. Stoffels is our new Special Education Resource Teacher. We look forward to seeing them thrive in these new roles.
We are also thinking of Mrs. Boersema, who is struggling with some health concerns and cannot be at school. We pray that God will continue to strengthen and restore her during this time of concern and uncertainty.
Our students continue to work on a number of projects. The grade 7 and 8 classes are busy with the Science Fair and the drama production, and some are busy with hockey practices. We give thanks for their dedication and the many ways they use their talents to His praise and glory.
May God strengthen and bless us in the upcoming week.
JVI
Week at a glance:
Monday: JCCS Hockey scrimmage vs. Heritage
Tuesday: Play Practice
Friday: Play Practice, JCCS Hockey scrimmage vs. Bellstone
Classroom News
Kindergarten
Welcome back and Happy New Year! We hope you all had an enjoyable Christmas break with family and loved ones. All of the children were happy to see their friends and teachers again and had lots of stories to share. In Bible, we are going back to the Old Testament and will be learning about the 10 plagues that God sends on the Egyptians. We have finished our math unit on numbers 1-10 and are eager to start a new unit on shapes. We will continue reviewing our letter sounds (m,a,t,d,o,c,g,i) ask your child if they remember the fun songs to go along with each letter. We have another skating day this month! January 22 at 12:15-1:15, we would love to have some parents join us again. Please send in extra clothes and socks for your child if you haven’t sent that yet. Have a great weekend. DV/MV
Grade 1
We were happy to welcome back the students on Monday after the Christmas break. The students had many exciting stories to share about their adventures with family and friends. In social studies this week, we learned about air and water travel. Next week we will learn about space travel, and then we’ll complete the unit with a test. In Bible class, the Israelites are preparing to enter the promised land with Joshua as their leader. In our language arts, we are focusing on long vowel ‘a’ and ‘i’ words. We had a lot of fun adding the ‘magic e’ to short vowel words, changing them into new words completely. This is often a time of year when we see all the pieces really come together in the puzzle of how to read. It’s exciting when the students notice these words in the world around them. Ask your child to tell you about it, with words like can, rat, and tap. That’s all for this week! Have a blessed weekend!
Grade 2
Grade 2 is happy to be back in school! We hope you all had a restful and relaxing Christmas break. The students had lots of stories and things to share about their busy holidays. This week we were able to jump right back into our routines and were able to begin this new year with a positive start. We are continuing with Jesus’ ministry in Bible class, hearing stories about parables that Jesus told. In Math we worked with money! The students are continuing to enjoy our Social Studies unit on Nunavut, and we hope to complete some fun art projects in the next few weeks connecting to the Arctic. Have a great weekend! MB & BV
Grade 3
HAPPY NEW YEAR! The LORD has given us another year to serve our God and we are another year closer to the return of our LORD, as well. On Monday, Rev. den Hollander could lead us in an opening assembly. Thank you for allowing us to think about the fear of the Lord.
In our church history classes we have been hearing about Thomas Cranmer. A quiz will be coming up soon: keep an eye on the agendas. Our French vocabulary continues to grow, and with that, Grade 3B will have a French numbers quiz on Friday (#1-20). In our social studies classes we began a new unit exploring Ontario. Don’t forget to study the spelling words found in the agenda. That’s it for now. J.B. / K.O.
Memory work: Psalm 139: 13; Text: Exodus 20: 7-11
Grade 4
Grade 4 is back to school and working hard in 2025! We welcomed Mrs. Tigchelaar for her first week teaching Wednesdays and Fridays in Grade 4B. Because of the switch in teachers for 4B, there have been a few schedule changes and we hope that everything will be running smoothly very soon. 4B’s Phys. Ed and library days have also changed so please take note of that. 4A is learning about John Hus in church history, while 4B is studying Rev. VanRaalte with Mrs. Tigchelaar. At the same time, Mrs. Stel is going through Solomon’s reign in Bible. Both classes are doing an in-depth exploration of our very own country Canada. 4A is starting recorder next Friday. Please ensure your child brings in a recorder by then! Lots to keep us busy over the next few weeks!
4A Devos – Shepherd (M), Elias (T), Macy (W), Jasper (Th), Gabe (F)
4B Devos – Jackson (M), Veda (T), Edwin (W), Malachi (Th), Reid (F)
Grade 5
Welcome back to the regular routines of school life! We have continued to learn about Jesus’ ministry on earth and what He taught as His time on Earth was coming to an end. 5A has started a new math unit in which we are learning to multiply and divide decimal numbers, and the students are grasping the concepts well. 5B will have a science test on Tuesday. Devotions for the week are as follows: 5A – Taurie (M), Maddison (Tu), Thomas (W), Waverly (Th), Emmaline (F). 5B – Ezra (M), Abigail (Tu), Rayna (W), Oliver (Th), Aiden (F). Have a good weekend! RK/KVL
Grade 6A
We had a great start back to school. In our opening assembly we received a clear explanation of the fear of the Lord thanks to Rev. den Hollander. How fitting that our new text of Ps. 47 also has the reference to this fear. The students tackled the order of operations this week and after some misses were successful by the end of the week. In our novel study, ‘Number the Stars’ we discussed why it was fitting for Ps.147 to be read during the time period of World War II. Insight into why the title of the novel also included the words ‘number the stars’ was also clarified. In Church History we were introduced to the history of Mohammud and the start of the religion of Islam. Inevitably this leads to a clash with the Holy Roman Empire and the start of many crusades between the Catholic Europeans and the Muslims to the south. Next week we hope to begin our new Science unit on Electricity. Have a blessed weekend everyone. CVA MJ
Grade 6B
Welcome to the year of our Lord 2025. After a much needed break, Grade 6 is diving back into their schoolwork. We have begun a number of new units and most exciting; we’ve begun our novel study on Underground to Canada. It’s now my (Mrs.Oosterhoff’s) turn to enjoy a novel study with Gr 6, while Mrs. VanEgmond will now focus on World of Literature stories and grammar. In science we continue to investigate electricity while we have moved to studying the life of Isaac in our bible classes.
We wish you a restful weekend and a blessed Sunday. S)/EV
Memory Work: Hymn 38:1
Devotions: M.Kaylin, Tu. Joey, W. Nadia, Th. Seth, Fr. Jodine
Grade 7A
We began our return to work by asking the Lord to establish the work of our hands and indeed we continue to look to Him for all things as we carry on in grade seven. We’re approaching the end of our Martin Luther unit in church history. We’ll learn why we’re not Lutherans and we’ll also view a theatrical recount of his life. In math we’ll cover polygons, trapezoids as well as area and perimeter. Our graphic novels are almost done with the finishing touches coming next week. History will have us learning about the conflict areas in North America that lead up to the Seven Years War. The big item next week is the Science Fair. We’ll begin editing our paragraphs and putting our presentation together. Enjoy your weekend.
Grade 7B
It’s been a fantastic start to the new year for grade 7 so far. The students completed our unit in church history class about Martin Luther and enjoyed a movie about him to wrap it up. We began an exciting new unit in history class about the seven year war in North America. Looking ahead to next week, the students will be finishing up their graphic novel assignment in language arts and beginning to learn about avoir expressions in French. Wishing everyone a wonderful weekend!
Grade 8
It has been a busy first week of 2025, and it didn’t take students long to get back into the swing of things. In Church History, we have reached the end of the Reformation in Scotland, where we observed the struggle between the reformers and the government. Next week, we will conclude our unit with a test on Tuesday.
In Math, we have switched classes: 8A is learning about coding, and 8B is working on the Geometry unit. In Language Arts, we have begun creating comic strips based on the epic poem The Song of Hiawatha.
The Science Fair is scheduled for February 5, which means projects must be completed and ready to set up by February 4. Over the next couple of weeks, you will see paragraphs and parts of the projects sent home for signatures, allowing you to stay informed about your students’ progress. Thank you for your cooperation! Enjoy your weekend! TB/RT