From the Eagle’s Nest – Quarter 3 – 2024

A story is told of a first-century rabbi walking home from synagogue where he had been studying. Deep in thought about the scriptures, he missed a turn and found himself at the gate of a Roman fortress. The voice of a guard boomed out, “Who are you? Why are you here?” The rabbi was so startled he failed to answer. Once again the guard yelled, “Who are you? Why are you here?” This time the rabbi had a reply. “How much are you paid to ask me these questions?” “Two drachma,” the guard replied, to which the rabbi responded, “I’ll pay you double if you’ll stand outside my house and ask me those two questions every morning.” The lesson, of course, is that knowing who we are and why we’re here is essential to living a rich and meaningful life.

It’s also essential to growing a rich and meaningful school life. Thankfully, our mission is clear: Twin Oaks Christian School glorifies God by nurturing spiritual development, academic excellence, and servant leadership in an environment where each child is known and loved.

These are not just words to post on our website–they represent a deep commitment we have to our community and to God to be a light for our students in this dark world. Our mission is so important that we’ve taken steps to actively involve students in declaring it by instituting Mission Mondays. During announcements each Monday, students and staff alike recite the Twin Oaks mission statement together, fostering a greater awareness of our purpose and inspiring a shared sense of belonging and responsibility. I’m excited to invite students to embrace and embody our mission and look forward to seeing the fruit God will bear through this tradition.

Here are a few highlights from this past quarter that reflect our desire to intentionally live out our mission:

Spiritual Development: It is by sharing their faith that our students know God more and gain a deeper appreciation for all the good things Christ has done for them. So we set aside time during our last Crew Group to have them come up with an original way to share their faith with the rest of us during one of our recent chapels. Some groups recited scripture, some expressed gratitude, some had multiple speakers, some had one individual represent the group. The important thing is that our students proclaimed Christ and God’s goodness to one another.

Academic Excellence: In January, our 3rd-8th grade students took their second ERB Milestone test. Teachers had an entire afternoon to study the data and begin to plan for ways to use that information to enhance instruction in their classrooms. In February, as the snow fell outside, teachers attended a full-day professional development workshop to deepen their understanding of biblical immersion, our focus of study for the year. In addition to learning practical application strategies for the classroom, teachers and administration worked to refine a Twin Oaks Learner Profile that will help give us a common understanding of who we are striving to become as well as a common language to hold one another accountable. Please see our Twin Oaks Christian School Learner Profile below:

Twin Oaks Christian School Learner Profile

We will nurture our students to be disciples of Christ, following and looking to Him as their source of identity, purpose, and truth. We will teach them to press on to know the Lord through Bible study and prayer and invite others to hear and respond to the gospel. We and our students will aspire to be:

Knowledgeable & Discerning: We are well-equipped with the concepts and skills we need to grow as lifelong learners and to take our place in God’s world. We intentionally filter information and experiences through the life-giving lens of scripture, affirming what is good, beautiful, and true and rejecting what is false.
Servants: We strive for personal excellence in all we do in order to faithfully steward the gifts and talents God has given us for the benefit of others. We develop eyes to see the needs of those around us and use our influence to help and love others in the midst of their sin and brokenness.
Relational: We understand that safe, supportive, collaborative relationships with others are necessary for learning and growth. We filter our responses to others and ourselves through the lens of God’s grace and truth, without compromising our biblical convictions. We do the hard work of conflict-resolution and are intentional about following Christ’s call to love God and others before ourselves.
Creative: We are curious, flexible, and not afraid to push outside our comfort zones. We use innovation and trial-and-error to solve problems and create, reflecting God’s image in the goodness and beauty of what we create.
Resilient: We can recover from setbacks, understanding that God works all things for our good and that trials produce growth and perseverance. We can control our attitudes even when we cannot control our circumstances and choose to rejoice in all things.
Grateful: We choose to give thanks with a grateful heart, intentionally building thanksgiving as a habit into our thoughts, attitudes, and speech. We recognize this as an intentional act of obedience and worship to God and that gratitude is the antidote to the discontent that can undermine our faith and faithfulness.

Servant Leadership: Did you know that each week our 7th graders collect recycling for the entire school and church building? Or that recently individual Crew Groups came up with their own service ideas, ranging from creating cards for hospital-bound children to sanitizing toys for our Early Childhood classrooms, to taking care of announcements for me one morning? Or that our 7th & 8th graders recently visited an assisted living facility where they talked with residents and left them potted flowers they had prepared ahead of time? I’m sure you remember our Change for Haiti drive because you were searching for pennies! At Twin Oaks Christian School, we want our students to see and be examples of those who use their influence and gifts to serve others. What an encouragement it is to me to see our students caring for others in the name of Christ.

Knowing and Loving Each Child: This part of our mission underscores all the rest. In order to lead our students to their fullest potential as disciples, learners, and servants, they have to know they are unconditionally loved, that it is safe to fail, and that they are supported in their particular strengths and challenges. That is why we have begun to use a framework from the ministry All Belong that helps us look at both neurodevelopmental systems and social and emotional learning competencies when determining what a student needs in order to succeed. We can observe, interpret, and act on factors that affect the head and heart, providing our students with a well-rounded process for determining the best strategies for success. Our students have been created in God’s image, and it is our joy and privilege to honor them by knowing and loving them with excellence.

By focusing on our mission and seeking God’s guidance on how to live it out, we are witnessing strong missional outcomes! Every step we take is aimed at excellence, so that God is glorified in our work, so that His Kingdom is advanced, so that your child is strong in mind, courageous in heart, and rooted in Christ. Let’s celebrate together the remarkable ways in which God is molding our school and guiding us toward greater success for His glory and the benefit of our students.