From Thanksgiving

to Christmas

"It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!"

Mr. Greenly led an All-School Chapel before Thanksgiving break and announced our school-wide Christmas Missions Project. Once again this year we are excited and blessed to be partnering with the Twin Valley Food Pantry in a school-wide TOY DRIVE! Whoop! Whoop! The toys collected will be distributed to local families and their children in our surrounding community who are in need. Mr. Greenly encouraged our students, big and small, to be the hands and feet of Jesus. He also shared  this acronym for HELP:

H - Hands and Feet of Jesus

E - Energy and Enthusiasm

L - Love 

P - Prayer and People

Our Jr. Cougars have been invited to HELP by donating new age-appropriate toys for our Christmas Mission Project. Toys are being collected now through Wednesday, December 13, in your child's classroom. On December 13 we will come together in an ALL-SCHOOL chapel once again to pray for the children and families who will be receiving our gifts. Then on the evening of Tuesday, December 19, from 4:30-8 pm,  CCS students and their families are invited to volunteer to help stock food shelves and distribute the toys at the Twin Valley Food Pantry located in Conestoga Mennonite Church across the street from our school. You can donate as much time as you are able. Please contact Mr. Greenly at jack.greenly@conestogachristian.net to sign up to volunteer. 

Song of Encouragement to HELP with being the hands and feet of Jesus.

Delightful December Dates 

for your 

Christmas Countdown Calendars

12/8/17

There will be an elementary chapel on Friday, 12/8/17, at 8:30 am in the multipurpose room in the high school. Mrs. Harkins and her fabulous fourth grade class will be leading our teaching time.

12/13/17

ALL-SCHOOL Chapel for the Christmas Missions Project at 8:20 am in the gym. 

12/14/17

On the evening of Thursday, December 14, at 7 pm, we will be worshiping and celebrating the birth of our Savior Jesus with our annual CCS ALL-SCHOOL Christmas Concert! (This special night adds so much JOY to this precious season!) The concert will be held at Community Evangelical Free Church in Elverson. Jr. Cougars should arrive by 6:40 pm dressed in their Christmas best! 

In preparation for the concert,  Jr. Cougars will be traveling by school bus to the church on the morning of December 14 to practice. Please watch your child's folder early next week for the transportation permission form.

12/20/17

ALL-SCHOOL Christmas Chapel at 8:20 am in the gym.


12/21/17

Thank you for allowing CCS to partner with the Lord and you

to share this part of your child's journey

in growing spiritually, academically, socially, emotionally, and physically.

GO Jr. COUGARS!

Whoop! Whoop!

Elementary Chapel

2017/18

Following Jesus and Being His Hands and Feet

This past Friday our Jr. Cougars, parents, and the elementary dream team had a blessed, sweet, fun time praising, worshiping, and learning about how bring glory to the Lord by being diligent in all that we do.  

Our chapel began with lifting our voices in song which was led by Alexandra Barnes and Emelia Haupert, two of our middle school students :), under the direction of Mrs. Stone. We then heard the special message on diligence which was shared by Pastor Josh Good. Pastor Josh is a dad to two of our Jr. Cougars -- Jakob (1st grade)  and Jordyn (kindergarten). He is currently serving the Lord at Trinity EC Church in Terre Hill. During his time with us Pastor Josh shared 5 ways (with hand motions) to honor the Lord while on the journey of diligence.  Those ways include:

1. PRAY daily.

2. STUDY the Bible every day.

3. SERVE others...even in simple, small ways each day.

4. SHARE your faith openly.

5. WORSHIP God at church each week
 and all throughout the week too!

He then wrapped up his time with us by teaching us the song "Hosanna Rock" and playing his guitar! Here is a link to the song for you and your Jr. Cougar to enJOY together!

Chapel Song - Hosanna Rock

As if our chapel wasn't special enough, we ended our elementary chapel with more special music worship. Whoop! Whoop!  Katelyn Morris and Maya Tumolo, two more of our middle school students :), under the direction of Miss Petersheim, shared their newly learned talent of playing the choirchimes for us. Our Jr. Cougars joined them by lifting their voices with JOY to their last song  "Jesus Loves Me."  

What a blessing it was/is to learn and grow in our knowledge of the love, Word, and ways of the Lord together. We are so thankful to Pastor Josh, the middle school students, and their teachers for their examples to us of being diligent to the Lord by using and sharing their gifts and talents with us!

“Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life.”  John 14:6

“For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve,
and to give his life as a ransom for many.”  Mark 10:45

For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works,
which God has prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. Ephesians 2:10

As we are journeying through this week, our senses are in tune to the sights, sounds, smells, and tastes leading up to our CCS 44th Annual Chicken BBQ and Auction. Here are a few important highlights to assist you in planning this week and weekend.

Chicken Barbecue and the 11:30 am Dismissal

This Friday, 10/20/17, is our annual Chicken Barbecue. Be prepared to have your taste buds tickled and your bellies filled to the max!

Here are a few important details that you need to know about dismissal on this day:

-Our Preschool students enrolled in “Little Conestoga Preschool” and all elementary students will be dismissed at 11:30 am. (There is no Preschool Lunch Bunch or After-School Care.)

-There is NO BUSING for students who usually take the school bus home if you are in the ELANCO or PEQUEA VALLEY school districts. Students who reside in those districts must have someone plan to pick them up in the car line for our 11:30 am dismissal time. (At 11:30 am bus riders will be dismissed first. Car riders will be dismissed once all buses have left the CCS parking lot.) If you arrive before 11:30 am, please wait at Conestoga Mennonite Church and follow the normal dismissal procedures found on page 68 of the Student/Parent Handbook.

Link to Student/Parent Handbook

Class Baskets

A definite highlight of our school Auction is the class baskets, and this year is no exception! First, let me personally say a great big THANK YOU to the parents who took the lead for each grade, preschool through fifth, in communicating, organizing, collecting, and assembling this year's baskets! Another big THANK YOU to everyone for your generous contributions to the baskets as well!  The baskets and YOU are awesome! The final steps in the basket process are the big moments of bidding on and selling them at the Auction. These exciting components in the class basket process are happening this Saturday, 10/21/17, beginning at 10:30 am. Please help your child to join with his/her teacher and class at about 10:25 am to present each basket and encourage bidders to raise their hands in support of our beloved CCS and all of our little and big kiddos!

After the basket fun you can head over for even more fun at the children’s area. Children can enjoy entertainment in the kids' area with activities, games and prizes, a train ride, and more all starting at 10 am. With the purchase of a $7 wristband plus a bonus of a FREE Turkey Hill slushy coupon, children are able to play all day in a fun, safe, supervised environment! (A maximum charge of $20 per family.)

Can’t wait to see you there!

Auction Help Still Needed!

Note from our volunteer coordinator:

We desperately need help in the children’s area from 10-12 and 12-2. This is a great place for parents with young children as their children can play while they help. That would be huge if we could get three more adults in each time slot. 

Other Jr. Cougar Happenings...

Jr. Cougars Running Club    

             

“…let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.”  

Hebrews  12:1

It is hard to believe that the Jr. Cougars Running Club wrapped up their practice season this past Wednesday. (There is no practice this Wednesday.) To celebrate and share our successes, we are hosting a Jr. Cougar Fun Run “under the lights,” in two weeks on Wednesday, 10/25/17, at 6:00 pm. ALL of our Jr. Cougars and their families are invited to walk, run, cheer, and have fun with us! Refreshments will be available for purchase.

Lego Blocks Anyone?

Our CCS After-School Care program has Cougars big and small who love to create and build with Lego blocks, but our collection of these little, colorful blocks to keep minds and hands busy is a bit slim and limiting. Do you have Lego blocks sitting around at home detached from creative minds, active hands, and each other? Are you looking for a new "home" for them? Maybe our CCS After-School Care Program is the solution for you and our Cougars big and small! If you are interested in "rehoming" your Lego collection in part or whole, please contact Susan Brenner.

Coming Soon to CCS!

SCIENCE EXPLORERS 

“Science Explorers” will be back on our CCS campus and will once again be led by our super and sometimes silly “scientist,” Mrs. “Crystal” Caley. Science Explorers will meet many Thursdays after school, from 2:45 - 4:00 pm. On Wednesday, 10/25/17, from 1:45-2:30 pm in the MPR, we will be having our Science Explorers Kickoff Assembly where we always have a blast of a time together! Please watch your child’s folder after this special assembly for details on how to register for our Science Explorers after-school club! Science Rocks!

Thank you for allowing CCS to partner

with the Lord and you to share this part of your child's journey

in growing spiritually, academically, socially, emotionally, and physically.

GO Jr. COUGARS! Whoop! Whoop!

NEW, NEW, NEW!

A New School Year!

Cougars (and Jr. Cougars) for Conroe!

This is what our upstairs hallway in the elementary abode has looked like for over two weeks now! Whoop! Whoop! Our hallways and classrooms are overflowing with book bags, lunch boxes, pencils, paper, rulers, markers, notebooks, and the list goes on and on! These pictures represent the hearts, hands, and feet across our CCS campus who are are sharing and shining the love and light of Jesus with the precious students of Conroe, Texas. This afternoon, high school and middle school students and our fifth graders spent the the last period of the school day putting together and packing boxes of school supplies in preparation for them to be shipped out sometime next week. Thank you for partnering with Mr. and Mrs. Greenly and CCS to be the hands and feet of Jesus in Texas with Cougars (and Jr. Cougars) for  Conroe! Whoop! Whoop!

"Share with the Lord’s people who are in need."

Romans 12:13

A NEW Face...

NEW IU Reading and Math Specialist

As in previous years, CCS continues to partner with IU13 for support  and encouragement for our students in reading and math. The NEW school year brings us our NEW reading and math specialist, Mrs. Patti Latimer. Over the last few weeks she has been meeting our Jr. Cougars and working on the beginning-of-the-year reading and math assessments with them. We welcome Mrs. Latimer with a Whoop! Whoop! 

Hi!  My name is Patti Latimer.  I am a reading/math specialist for the IU13.  I am so happy to join the wonderful team at Conestoga Christian.  My husband, Ken, and I live in Manheim.  We have three children and three grandchildren who keep us very busy and very happy.  In my spare time I love to read and garden.  Our family worships at LCBC in Manheim.

A NEW Program and A NEW Face

In addition to our reading and math specialist, this year CCS is partnering with IU13 in a NEW way too. We are piloting the IU Counseling Program one day a week (Thursdays) to see if it is a "good fit" support for our elementary program, our Jr. Cougars, and their families! We welcome Mrs. Elizabeth Valdez as our new Elementary (Jr. Cougar) Counselor. Over the last two weeks she has been busy making her NEW office (outside Mrs. Brenner's office) her CCS home. She has also been making her rounds in classrooms to introduce herself to our Jr. Cougars and share a bit about her role with them. We welcome Mrs. Valdez with a Whoop! Whoop!

Hello! My name is Elizabeth Valdez, and it is with great excitement that I introduce myself to you as your child’s new IU13 School Counselor! I will be in Conestoga Christian School on Thursdays each week, during normal school hours.

I am new to IU13 but am no stranger to working with and supporting children and their families. I come to you with close to 20 years of experience in working with children in school settings and love collaborating with teachers and school staff to ensure environments are created where students can feel safe and experience great success for themselves. I graduated with a Masters of Education from Lynchburg College in Lynchburg, Virginia, with a degree in Community and School Counseling. I hold my National Counseling Certificate from the National Board of Certified Counselors and am a Licensed Professional Counselor. I am also certified by the state of Pennsylvania as a School Counselor for pre-K to 12^th grade students.

Personally, I live in Manheim with my husband, Gustavo, and our 3 daughters (12 year old in 7^th grade, 8 year old in 3^rd grade, and 5 year old in kindergarten). My husband is a contractual Spanish translator and works with several school districts in Lancaster and Lebanon Counties (including a few close by in ELANCO). He and I also are full time in the ministry with his family in Guatemala. We serve as Communication Liaisons and Group Coordinators for Kairos Ministries Guatemala. Though he will travel there alone throughout the year with different work teams, we travel there together as a family during the summer, when we spend 9 weeks there with medical and work teams. We love spending time together as a family and have our Friday Family Pizza Movie Nights weekly and enjoy being active and outside.

I welcome the opportunity to get to know you all better and am here to answer any questions you may have about my role as the IU13 School Counselor or to listen to any concerns you may have for your child. I am easily accessible by calling the school at 610-286-0353 ext. 411, or you may also try contacting me by calling 717-947-1565. You can also reach me via email which is elizabeth_valdez@iu13.org

I look forward to a great year of serving and supporting you and your child!

With Hope –

Elizabeth J. T. Valdez, M.Ed., N.C.C., L.P.C.
IU13 School Counselor for Conestoga Christian School         

                          

Chicken BBQ Tickets

As seen in the Cougar Update:

It's CCS Chicken BBQ time! Ticket packets will be sent home with students on Monday, September 25. The barbecue will be held on Friday, October 20, from 11:00 AM to 7:00 PM. Advanced ticket costs are $9.00 for a complete dinner (a half chicken, applesauce, roll and butter, chips, whoopie pie, and a drink choice of water or lemonade) and $5.50 for half chicken. After Monday, October 9, all dinner tickets will be $10.00. (Half chicken price remains the same.)

Each family is given 8 dinner tickets and 1 half-chicken only ticket to sell. For each 10 dinner tickets sold, one FREE dinner ticket may be requested. All money for tickets sold, as well as any unsold tickets, must be returned to the school office by Monday, October 16. 

Be sure to check your child's backpack on Monday for those tickets, and share the deliciousness with everyone you know: neighbors, co-workers, family, and friends. *PLEASE READ the NEON ORANGE letter that will be attached to the ticket envelope. This letter is full of important information and some new changes for this year. Questions? Call Jill Earnest at 610.913.0052. 

Thank you for allowing CCS to partner with the Lord and you

to share this part of your child's journey

in growing spiritually, academically, socially, emotionally, and physically.

GO Jr. COUGARS!

Whoop! Whoop!

In a little less than two weeks from today, you will be dropping off or sending your Jr. Cougar to begin a new school year! Whoop! Whoop! Our beloved CCS campus is already bursting with busy preparations for this special day! Our elementary dream team is up and down in our abode cleaning, organizing, creating, sharing, encouraging, and of course praying, and so much more to make sure we are ready for all the Lord has in store for us as we embark together on the journey of the 2017/18 school year!

To help you in your "getting ready road," I thought I should share with you where/how to find some important information on our CCS website.

First, our website address is: 

https://www.conestogachristian.net/

Once you have reached our website, if you haven't done so already, you should begin by signing up for our Back-To-School Night and Family Picnic. This is a special night of fun, fellowship, and friendship on our campus! It also means no cooking dinner (Chick-Fil-A will!) and unloading a bunch of supplies "cluttering" your home or child's room -- Just in case you needed a few extra awesome reasons to mark it on your calendar ;)

https://www.conestogachristian.net/back-to-school-night-2017

After signing up, there are important parent/student resources to be found such as Appearance Code, Health/Physical forms, Preplanned Absence forms, District Transportation forms, etc. 

These forms and more, as well as our 2017/18 Supply Lists, can be found by:

-Clicking on the RESOURCES tab at the top of the page.

-Then clicking CURRENT FAMILIES in the drop-down menu.

Lastly, I am including the direct links to the Supply Lists below! Happy School Shopping!

Preschool:  

https://docs.wixstatic.com/ugd/2bdfd2_a2ebc4c9003249c895711db374a23230.pdf

Kindergarten:

https://docs.wixstatic.com/ugd/2bdfd2_b461c650fdd64aa5b79786d367a9c697.pdf

First Grade:

https://docs.wixstatic.com/ugd/2bdfd2_4483af5c254c473daa25280b5fab1896.pdf

Second Grade:

https://docs.wixstatic.com/ugd/2bdfd2_15e167dedf3149cabe7729c8dda2f601.pdf

Third Grade:

https://docs.wixstatic.com/ugd/2bdfd2_f6fa1decdd0043c081af372292d2c83a.pdf

Fourth Grade:

https://docs.wixstatic.com/ugd/2bdfd2_9b33880479d74972a369054b3337be74.pdf

Fifth Grade:

https://docs.wixstatic.com/ugd/2bdfd2_89c9596869c04b10a9d1fc040e327c5e.pdf

Welcome Back to CCS and to Second Grade!

Miss Slingerland

We have already been blessed with the gift of our newest elementary dream team addition! Miss Emilee Slingerland is our new second grade teacher! Whoop! Whoop!

From Miss Slingerland:

Hello! 

I just want to start off by saying how blessed and excited I am to be returning home! Conestoga is close to my heart since I attended as a student from 5th-8th grades. I taught Kindergarten in Philadelphia this past year and am so privileged to be back in my "neck of the woods!" I gained valuable experience this last year and am ready to begin this next adventure. Second graders, get ready for an amazing year. I cannot wait to meet you all, learn and grow together this year! 

Blessings, 

Miss Slingerland 

A Few Procedures for your Pondering Pleasure...

    Attendance Reporting

Here are the procedures as stated in the Parent/Student Handbook:

Notifying the School of Absences

• A parent or guardian is expected to call the school office with the reason for the absence as soon as possible on any day a student is absent. Messages can be left on office voice mail at any time. A staff person in the CCS office will be responsible to call for information regarding any absent student for whom no information has been received.  
• If a student is reported absent by the homeroom teacher, and there has been no contact from a parent, a call will be placed by office staff to the home phone to determine the reason for the absence.
• If the call is answered by an answering machine, a message will be left stating that the student has been recorded as absent and the parent needs to call the school office to verify the absence. 
• If parents would like to request an excused absence, they need to notify the school within three days. While notification does not automatically excuse the absence, no absence will be excused without notification. 

Tardies and Early Departures 

• A student who arrives late to school must report to the school office to sign in on the form provided.  The student is given a pass from the office to class. A student is not permitted into class without a pass. 
• A student who leaves school early must report to the school office to sign out on the form provided. 
• Whenever possible, a note granting permission for early departure, signed by a parent/guardian, must be given to the student’s homeroom teacher at the beginning of the day. 
• No student is permitted to leave school early without parent/guardian knowledge.  
• Examples of an excused tardy or early departure include a doctor’s appointment, illness, funeral/memorial service, or family emergency.
• The school reserves the right to determine which tardies and early departures are excused and which are unexcused. 
• A tardy that results from a delayed bus is considered excused.

Preplanned Absences

• Preplanned absences must be requested for family events, educational trips, DMV appointments, college visitations, graduation project, etc., and must be submitted to the school office at least five days in advance of the absence. Forms for preplanned absences are available from the school office or the school’s website.   https://docs.wixstatic.com/ugd/2bdfd2_63b80678e80b459db67628af8329b891.pdf
• Preplanned absences are not to exceed five school days.
• When an absence in excess of five days is requested, the request must be submitted at least one month in advance.
• Extended absences of five or more days must be limited to one occurrence per school year. 
• Additional requests for extended absences (five or more days) will not be excused. Requests due to extenuating circumstances will be handled on an individual basis.
• Preplanned absences are strongly discouraged during the first week of school and during the week of achievement tests for 1st – 8th grades.
• A preplanned absence is required in order to be excused from the senior class trip.
• If possible, assignments will be sent home prior to a preplanned absence. However, students and parents are not to expect all work to be sent home ahead of time.

EnJOY the blessings of the last week and a half of summer sun and fun! We are all looking forward to the JOYS God has in store for us this next school year together!

Thank you for allowing CCS to partner with the Lord and you

to share this part of your child's journey

in growing spiritually, academically, socially, emotionally, and physically.

GO Jr. COUGARS!

Whoop! Whoop!

As seen in the summer "Cougar Update."

Summer  2017 Cougar Update

Jr. Cougars/Elementary School News

“It’s the most wonderful time of the year!” Well, almost! :) The first day of school is drawing near! I am certainly going to be celebrating with much JOY when the halls and classrooms of our elementary abode are decked out with the sounds and sights of our little and big Jr. Cougars and our beloved elementary dream team with their “eyes twinkling like the stars, cheeks summer sun-kissed, and mouths smiling with delight, their minds filled with curiosity, and their hearts overflowing with love for the Lord and each other!”

If you are ready to “make a list” and even “check it twice” our Back to School Supply Lists for preschool through fifth grade can be found at:

https://www.conestogachristian.net/resources

To add to the festivities of the new 2017/18 school year, our Jr. Cougars will once again be “filled with glee” as Jr. Cougar Clubs “wrap up” our school days with the return of our Jr. Cougar Running Club and head Coach Dr. Jeni Watson as well as “Science Explorers” and lead scientist, Mrs. Janet “Crystal” Caley. “So you better watch” your email for specific dates and how register your Jr. Cougar as the school year begins.

We have already been blessed with the gift of our newest elementary dream team addition! Ms. Emilee Slingerland will be our new second grade teacher! Whoop! Whoop!

So as the snug summer season tiptoes by and the elementary abode “halls get decked,” classrooms “trimmed,” and the “gifts” are placed in and on the desks, our hearts are filled with love and prayers as you prepare to nestle in your Jr. Cougars for the new school year!