Vision News 4/13

April 2013

COMING UP

10 30 Weeks - Day 150

19 1/2 Day for Students - PED - USPM

19 10th Anniversary Celebration - 6pm

30-2  ISTEP+

HERE’S WHAT’S NEW
Enrollment for Fall Classes

http://richmondacademy.org/default.aspx

Applications are now ready for renewal of current students and enrollment of new students for the 2013-14 school year. Call the office at 765-962-7677 to receive an application packet for your child.

RA 10 Year Anniversary Celebration

Richmond Academy is celebrating 10 years! Please come Friday, April 19th at 6pm at MCL  Restaurant and Bakery in Richmond and join in the fun. Choose from a wide variety of food with cake to be served after dinner. There will be guest speakers, door prizes and more! Tickets are available for purchase now online at http://goo.gl/nIvJT!

Alumni

http://richmondacademy.org/Alumni.aspx
Do you have any major life events you would like to share? Please contact us to be included in our next
publication. More Alumni news to come soon!

Testimonials
http://richmondacademy.org/Testimonials.aspx
Hear what students and parents are saying about Richmond Academy.


HOW TO HELP
http://richmondacademy.org/Donate.aspx

Donations

Thank you to the supporters and volunteers that help make Richmond Academy’s vision a reality. God has blessed us; to him be the glory and honor and power and praise!

School Choice Grants
Donations may be made to our partnered grant awarding organization. Donors will receive 50% of their gift as a credit back on their next Indiana state tax return and receive the normal federal tax deduction. Donations of at least $500 will help a student receive up to $60,000 in state voucher money. Please contact us for more information.

Current Needs
The school often has needs for goods to be purchased or donated. Please contact the office to help:
HD Video Camera
2 flat screen tvs
Install 3 electrical outlets & storage room light
Dry erase board for computer lab
College literature display

Spirit Shop
Purchase clothing, school spirit items, balloon-o-grams, and locker pics.

Collections
Box Tops - This year our collection goal is 500 box tops per class each semester. Ask grandparents, aunts, uncles and family friends to collect for your school! For a complete list of participating products, go to www.btfe.com.

Ink Cartridges - Recycle any Inkjet Cartridge and Richmond Academy will receive $3 for each cartridge. You may drop your cartridges in the box under the newspaper table in the front main hall.

Meijer Rewards - Enroll for Meijer Community Rewards at www.meijer.com/rewards to earn money for your school each time you shop at Meijer! The organization code you need to enter is 595929.

My Coke Rewards - Turn in My Coke Rewards points into rewards for your child's school! It's as easy as drinking your favorite Coke product! Our school has joined the My Coke Rewards for Schools Program. Those donations will help to provide our students with playground equipment, art supplies, sports gear, educational resources and much more! To sign up go to www.mycokerewards.com/schools and start turning in points today OR TURN CAPS INTO THE OFFICE.

OfficeMax MaxPerks - When you make a purchase at OfficeMax, give them the school's MaxPerk ID number and the school will earn rewards.

Fundraisers
Calendars (September), Cookbooks (November), Candles (January), Carnival (April)
Thank you for supporting our school!


THE TRIUNE FUND
http://richmondacademy.org/TriuneFund.aspx

The Triune Fund helps make up the difference beyond the school’s tuition amount. Participation, in any amount, from parents, businesses, churches, and the community will help us reach our goals to provide the best education for our community’s children.

The Triune Fund makes possible:

• Building Programs which help to remodel, repair and maintain school and classrooms.
• Need-based Financial Aid which encourages and ensures economic diversity within our student body
• Faculty and Staff Continuing Education which helps hire and retain the very best people available

At the end of the school year, there will be a plaque with all of the names of those who have given and their club.

TELL YOUR FRIENDS!

QUESTIONS: mailto:webmaster@richmondacademy.org

Reaping the Benefits of a Christian School

The joy received from watching a child grow academically and mature in the Lord makes all the effort, all the time, all the money worth it.

As a parent, you have prayed, researched, sought counsel and examined all possible educational options.  You have conscientiously made the decision to send your child to a Christian school because you understand the value and benefits of a Christian education.  It might prove enlightening and encouraging to you to carefully re-examine the specific reasons that prompted you to make this critical choice for your child and why today you are reaping the benefits of a Christian school. 

Your first response to the question of “why?” my child attends a Christian school may go something like this:  “I enrolled my child in a Christian school to obtain a Christian education in a morally, spiritually, and physically safe environment.”  However, this answer is probably an over-simplification of your decision to capitalize on the values of a Christian school.  A review of the many benefits that your child reaps academically, spiritually, and socially in a Christ-centered classroom may illuminate your reasoning. “…and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of hope that is in you with meekness and fear” (1 Peter 3:15).

A child’s teacher is an important role model. Your child spends a major portion of the school day under the influence of one or more key teachers.  You value the importance of the exemplary model set by your child’s teacher.  In the Christian school classroom, the teacher openly compels an open, unashamed love and service to Jesus Christ.  The government does not hinder these teachings, nor the reading of the Bible, nor prayer; all three are common everyday occurrences.  The teachers openly demonstrate and model Christian principles, one of the reasons you send your child to a Christian school.

The academic instruction in the Christian school exceeds that of the public schools.  With strict standards of behavior enforced and high academic standards expected, the opening more doors in his life for future success and satisfaction.  The benefits of the sound education offered in the Christian school are far-reaching and long-term, another reason you send your child to a Christian school. 

Christian values and attitudes are taught and emphasized in the Christian school.  The overt effects of violence and immorality so common in today’s public schools clearly demonstrate the need for a Christian education.  The Christian ethics and morals expounded in your home and church are reinforced in the Christian school classroom.  Nurturing a child with Biblical truth is an excellent way to equip him for maturity.  The Christian values taught in the Christian home and reinforced in the Christian school enable your child to deal with a troubled world without succumbing to its troubles, another reason you send your child to a Christian school. 

Opportunities for Christian friends and fellowship abound in the Christian school.  Negative peer pressure is downplayed by emphasizing the relationship of each child with Jesus Christ, and magnifying the Biblical standard of true friendship which calls for love, forgiveness, and accountability.  The positive influence of a child’s Christian peers has no substitute, another reason you send your child to a Christian school. 

The teacher-pupil ratio in a Christian school is lower than that of most public schools.  This smaller class size permits a teacher to spend more time with each child.  Consequently, your child receives more individualized attention from the teacher, and this, of course, greatly benefits him academically and personally, another reason you send your child to a Christian school.

Obeying Biblical guidelines is essential when seeking the best for your child.  Scriptural admonitions concerning the rearing of children in the Christian faith, such as Deuteronomy 6:5-7 and II Corinthians 6:14, can only be truly adhered to if children are taught in a Christian environment.  The public schools cannot prepare a child for a fruitful, Christ-honoring life.  In the Christian classroom, your child learns the Biblical truth absolutely necessary for living a balanced Christian life, another reason you send your child to a Christian school. 

Placing you child in a Christian school may necessitate a financial sacrifice, a geographical inconvenience, or a drain on your energy, but the joy received from watching your child grow academically and mature in the Lord makes all the effort, all the time, all the money worth it.  You should praise the Lord for the wisdom and direction He has given you, and thank Him for the blessings of a Christian school.

Dr. Charles Walker is the education director of the American Association a/Christian Schools and the executive director of the Tennessee Association a/Christian Schools.