Welcome to another school year at Christ Church Day School. This year marks the 68th year of engaging students to reason, create, serve and lead in our nurturing, inclusive, Episcopal learning environment.
Let us begin this new school year by thanking God for bringing us together in the life of this school and by sharing the National Association for Episcopal Schools opening prayer.
Dear God, at the beginning of things we turn to you, the beginning and end of everything. We pray for this school and the life we will lead together. Help us to live in openness and respect for each other, with care for the heritage we share. Lead us to such love for each other that as knowledge grows, so may wisdom. Grant that we may begin to see the signs of justice in our common life. Help us to welcome new people to our school. Give us more hope for ourselves and our friends than we would ever dare to hope. Help us to make this the best school it can be and to make ourselves the best leaders, teachers, parents, and students we can be, so that we might make this the best world it can be. We pray in the name of the One who stands at the beginning and in the end, God. Amen.
Thank you all for being part of our small school and big community. Thank you for trusting us with your children whom we know are your most precious gifts. We are off to a wonderful start and everyone seems to be adjusting to their new classrooms, teachers and routines.
This is due in large part to all of our parents and guardians and the strong foundation they provide our students and our entire school community. And, it is also because of our faculty and staff who have launched this new school year full of love and light. They worked really hard and dedicated time and energy over the summer preparing classrooms and curriculum to ensure our students would thrive this year in all subject areas and feel a sense of belonging in their learning spaces.
Our theme this year is Let Your Light Shine. This theme originated from the National Association of Episcopal Schools Celebration and the book The Lighthouse Effect by Steve Pemberton.
The Lighthouse Effect is the simple idea that each day—and each interaction within a day—presents an opportunity for us to be a lighthouse for another and to find one for ourselves.
When I first read Steve Pemberton’s description of a human lighthouse, I immediately thought of our CCDS team and the work we are called to do here each day.
The lighthouse is the tallest structure in the sea; set amid this alternatively peaceful and turbulent environment, the lighthouse is noble, selfless, steady, and faithful. It requires no recognition and seeks no reward. The lighthouse has one mission: to guide and protect the journey of the traveler.
The lighthouse offers us a chance to move beyond the fears and uncertainty of the storm and toward the peace and calm of safe harbor. The human lighthouse is a beacon, someone offering us hope and inspiration and guiding our journey.
Human lighthouses are steadfast and faithful, humble yet unwavering, always illuminating the pathway to hope and sanctuary. They summon us to a better understanding of ourselves and point us all towards a greater humanity.
This year, we are all called to Let Our Light Shine and to be human lighthouses as we guide and protect the travelers on the journey with us, especially our students.
The journey will not always be smooth this year as we navigate new changes and challenges. We have added new team members, expanded our grade levels, moved classrooms around, shifted teaching assignments, redesigned aspects of our curriculum and instruction practices, updated our policies and procedures, and it's only September.
We know change is an essential aspect of learning and growing, and yet it isn’t always easy or fun, which is exactly why we need to be surrounded by lighthouses so the darkness doesn’t consume us.
To quote the poet Amanda Gorman,“There is always light, if only we're brave enough to see it. If only we're brave enough to be it."
Our ask is that you join us on this journey of seeking and being the light.
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