Lion Tales is back…

For those of you who have been CLA families in the past, you are hopefully familiar with “Lion Tales” as our regular weekly newsletter during the school year. We are beginning the 2020-2021 school year soon, and have decided to use the weekly Lion Tales as we prepare for a very different year! In this weekly newsletter (Thursday or Friday each week) we will try to give updates, information, schedules and more as we prepare for a return to school in just three short weeks! If you have any questions or need to contact someone at the school in the next few weeks, please try any of the following:

Office - Mrs. Westley - [email protected] or [email protected] or call 309-449-3346

Principal - Mr. Horning - [email protected], 309-267-8781

Upcoming Dates

Monday, August 10 Registration Completion at the school office

Thurs-Fri Aug 13-14 Boot camp for new Middle School/High School students from 2-3:30pm

Tues-Wed, Aug 18-19 Orientation sessions Tuesday Aug 18 from 5:30-6:30pm, Wednesday Aug 19

from 10-11am AND 5:30-6:30pm. Please look for an email regarding orientation

sign-ups in the 2nd week of August.

Thursday, August 20 First Day of School (full day for K-HS)

Monday, August 24 First Day for PreK

More detailed information will be coming from the different grade levels soon! Please look for emails from Mrs. Bowman (K-1), Mrs. Adams (2nd), Miss Hopkins/Mrs. Gibson (3rd-4th), Mrs. Young/Mrs. Gillis (5th-8th), and Mrs. Stribling (High School).

Welcome teachers and staff to new and changing roles!

We are excited to introduce several new staff members and teachers to the CLA family for the upcoming year. Many of these individuals have been with us in the past, but are changing roles.

Mrs. Wendy Westley is our new office manager and administrative assistant. Many of you have already worked with Mrs. Westley this summer through enrollment and paperwork.
Mrs. Lisa Adams will be our new 2nd grade lead teacher, as the 2nd grade homeroom in the mornings each day and teaching the core 2nd grade subjects. Mrs. Adams has been familiar with CLA, as she did some student teaching several years ago in our classrooms.
Mrs. Kristi Espenschied, who began last spring in a learning support role, will now be working in an increased role in middle school and high school learning support.
Mr. Darrell Stribling will be adding to his Bible teaching role from last year, and will now be teaching middle and high school Bible along with additional high school responsibilities.
Mrs. Lauren Gibson and Miss Marie Hopkins will now be sharing the role of 3rd/4th grade lead teacher. Miss Hopkins will be reducing her overall time but will continue to work closely with our reading support program. Mrs. Gibson will now have the 3rd/4th grade homeroom.

What a great staff we have at Christian Life Academy! We are so glad to have amazing teachers work with our students. God has blessed us greatly with them.

Enrollment / Potential New Families

If you have been in conversation with any families that are interested in joining CLA, we ask that you get them in contact with us ASAP! Our enrollment numbers are changing weekly, even daily, and we need to watch this carefully with our number restrictions. Early is best, now is better!

Annual, Semester or Monthly tuition payments

Tuition payments are coming due! Annual or Semester payment should be made as soon as possible. For families who are on the annual, semester or monthly payment plan, tuition payments may be mailed to the school: PO Box 235, Hopedale, IL 61747. The first payment should be made as soon as possible (first of each month for monthly plan). Or, they can be dropped off at the school anytime in the mail drop at the main entrance. In general, there will be someone in the office 10 am - 4 pm many days as well. If you have any questions, please contact Mrs. Westley or Mr. Horning. Thank You!

Chromebook Purchase or Rental payments (5th grade and up)

**There are a few K-4 parents who purchased chromebooks as well.**

Parents, please be prepared to pay for your student’s chromebook this year.

If you are renting, please bring $65 to cover your rental.
If you are purchasing, please bring your deposit ($100 for one device or $175 for two devices)
If you are bringing your own device, please bring $30 to cover the cost of your Google license. Mrs. Stribling will contact you to schedule a time to have it installed.

We will plan on distributing chromebooks at orientation on August 13th-14th, but we will not be able to distribute chromebooks if we have not received your deposit!

If you have a student in 5th-12th grades and you need a device, please contact Mrs. Stribling at [email protected] as soon as possible. We have a limited number of devices available for rent on a first come, first serve basis.

Ways we are preparing for the new school year….

There are many more, but here are some highlights:

OUTSIDE CLASSROOMS We have been working with and testing ideas for outdoor classroom times (where students will not need to wear masks). In preparation for this, you will want to consider that outside seating will be needed, and the plan for this varies by grade level/age.

K-2nd: Should bring a beach towel or small mat to sit on (with name on towel/mat as well as a bag to keep it in, with student name)
3rd-4th: May bring a beach towel (with name and bag with name on it to keep it in) OR may bring a simple camp/lawn chair (with name on chair and bag to hold chair with name on it). Chairs should not have extras like foot stools or rockers.
Middle School: May bring a beach towel (with name and bag with name on it to keep it in) OR may bring a simple camp/lawn chair (with name on chair and bag to hold chair with name on it). Chairs should not have extras like foot stools or rockers. The “simple” chairs will be stored in lockers or on hooks in the hall.

MASKS A mask holder around necks will be provided (these will work well for masks with loops)

We also suggest parents take their students with them on errands so that they can practice wearing their masks. Please also speak with them about wearing masks correctly (being over both the nose and mouth).
Masks should follow similar guidelines for school apparel (school appropriate) and we will ask that masks will not distract others. Plain masks with a solid color, or a non-distracting pattern are recommended. If you have any questions, please ask!

CLEANING/DISINFECTING We are working on a regular daily plan, and we will encourage families who are able to help

We will need several volunteers on Monday/Wednesday in the time period after school - likely an hour or so each of those days. Our regular cleaning staff is scheduled Tues/Thur/weekends.
We always welcome help in many areas, but cleaning/disinfection is a key area this year.
If you would like to be a part of a regular cleaning/disinfection team, please contact Mrs. Westley at [email protected] or Mr. Horning at [email protected].

From the Principal's Desk

My prayer for quite some time now has been that the Lord will guide us through a summer (and upcoming school year) that is so different from any one that we know. We need to be reminded that these plans need to be GOD’s plans, not ours! Proverbs 16:9 reminds us that “The heart of man plans his way, but the LORD establishes his steps.” I do not want, in any way, for our plans at CLA to go in a direction that the LORD will not establish. Would you pray with me these next weeks that our steps would be established in HIS way!

Blessings,

Mr. Horning