Upcoming Dates
Friday, Dec 16 Elem/JH/HS Basketball HOME vs FBCA Rosamond 5:00 / 6:00 / 7:00
Monday, Dec 19 JH/HS Basketball AWAY vs Faith Baptist at CBC Groveland 5:00 / 6:00
Tuesday, Dec 20 RESCHEDULED - New date!
Christmas Program at Living Hope Community Church, 6:50 pm start
Wednesday, Dec 21 Last day of school (11:30 dismissal) for the semester
Dec 22-Jan 4 Christmas Break
Wednesday, Jan 4 No school - teacher in-service
Thursday, Jan 5 Classes Resume for all students
CLA Christmas Program and Dinner - RESCHEDULED to Tuesday, December 20
THE CHRISTMAS PROGRAM on December 20 is open to all, and tickets are not required. The program is at Living Hope Community Church (329 Madison St, Hopedale). We will run a shuttle from the school parking lot for extra parking space as well, from approximately 6:20-6:45.
All students participate in the program or help with the meal, so it’s an all-school event and we are excited to have it again this year! The program will start at 6:50 pm with our PreK students kicking off the event. Hope to see you there!
Arrival times and dress details for students have been recently sent via email by Mrs. Gibson (K-4) and Mrs. Stribling (MS/HS)- check your email for additional information.
Table Hosts: tables will be set up Tuesday afternoon and will be ready for decorating immediately after school.
Ticket holders: Seating for the dinner will start at 5:30 with dinner service starting at 5:45pm. Upon your arrival, please check in at the check in station by the church gym doors!
Please note-there will not be paper tickets sent home this year.
Reminder about communication regarding illness/absences
So that our teachers can do their best to help with schoolwork and catching up with students:
Please be sure to call in (309-449-3346 to the school office) and/or send an email when your child is ill and will miss school. This helps us to keep track and follow up. If it appears to be an extended illness, let us know how things are going!
Reminder - we ask that students are 24 hours fever free without meds to return to school.
Need some baking supplies?? Butter and Brown Sugar available
The PTF Baking day resulted in some leftover supplies. If anyone is interested in them, they can be purchased at the school office:
4 lb packages (4 boxes/4 sticks each) of butter for $14/package
7.5 lb bags of brown sugar for $8/bag
End of year Donations… and CAT / State Farm matching opportunities
The end of the calendar year is a great time to support Christian Life Academy! You may have already seen our mailer, but this is just a reminder… If you or others you know are looking for a ministry to support, CLA would be grateful for your support. Tuition pays less than ⅔ of expenses, so we rely on donations. If you have questions, please check with Mr. Horning. Also, if you or others you know are Caterpillar or State Farm employees (or retirees), you may want to let them know that both companies have a program for donations to CLA being matched as a 501(c)3 non-profit! The CLA office may be able to help.
High School Building Construction Update
Although the exterior of the new building hasn’t seen much change over the past month, work has been going on inside! Interior dividing walls, insulation, and the beginnings of ceilings… and soon there will be some mechanical/electrical work to begin. If you want a tour, contact Mr. Horning!
From the Principal's Desk
This week has been a week of reflection for me. Some of you may know the beginnings - the story of Christian Life Academy’s start in 2008. But since we are 15 years removed from this, many of you may not. A dear friend, Jess Slager, passed away this week. Jess was instrumental in the founding of CLA, and he has been called a “CLA Grandpa” by one of our original teachers. Such an appropriate title. In our early years, Jess had grandchildren at CLA. Even though they have grown, Jess is still a CLA Grandpa. You see, a grandpa is one that cares so much about and looks out for the family. Their goal isn’t to proclaim the title of Grandpa, but to see to it that the family is taken care of. That’s what Jess Slager was to Christian Life Academy. As we celebrated the life and faith of Jess today, I couldn’t help but reminisce about how Jess walked side-by-side with our CLA families, supporting us. He had vision, and was forever optimistic about what the Lord wanted to do with this school. He didn’t want people to look at him and see what he had done, but wanted people to see what God could do through people.
Jess had a vision many years ago about a high school building on our campus. He saw the vision begin to be realized over the past few years. He wasn’t able to see the end result - students and community in the new building - but I know he would be pleased that God has allowed it to happen.
I’ll forever be grateful for Jess and the amazing, optimistic, forward-thinking life that he lived. I’m glad he’s with Jesus, but I’ll surely miss him around here. I pray that more CLA Grandpas and Grandmas can fill a great void and care for us the way Jess always did. Thank you, Lord, for placing people on this earth and allowing us to share together in ministry!
Blessings!
Mr. Horning