"I truly love Western Christian as my life has been touched over the past 30 years as both a student and teacher. Western has been like a family to me as I've loved and been loved by fellow teachers and students alike. The Lord has used Western as a tool to mold, strengthen, encourage and impact my life and the lives of so many others for eternity. I am and forever will be grateful for the gift of Western Christian."
Greg Letherer, Western Alumni 1981,
Jr. High Bible Teacher
This week has been full of exciting learning experiences for our kids at Western and dynamic chapels, led by students, including worship , skits, drama, choral, instrumental performances and sharing of personal testimonies.
It has also been a great week of outreach opportunities with city leaders and business owners from Upland and surrounding areas attending a “Chamber Business Mixer”, at our high school last Thursday. It was a standing room only event, while our jazz band and Hill Top faith singers, gold medal winners in the San Francisco Heritage competition, entertained the special guests.
In athletics, our high school baseball team won 1st place in the league championships, their fourth in five years. Other athletic highlights this week included: The Lady Lancers currently sitting in 5th place league. The WCS Track and Field team won their first league title since 1992.
Tuesday night, our families were entertained by the performances of our Kids on the Rock elementary choir, recently awarded with highest honors, performing splendidly along with encore performances from our middle school choir, instrumental music, and middle school Shakespeare drama team.
The week culminated with the annual Pops concert in our new outdoor amphitheater at our Upland campus. Packed crowds gathered around to hear the amazing talents of our high school students, both instrumental and vocal. Grilled burgers and hotdogs were a treat to go along with the lovely evening and wonderful atmosphere of fellowship, so strongly reinforced at Western.
Parents and students share with me regularly how much the educational experience at Western means to them. I thought I’d share with you some recent comments from a parent who has had children at Western for 10 year, at all levels.:
“Mrs. Winter, I want to thank you so much of this school and for the difference it has made in my children’s lives. Western is amazing to me. I can’t believe al the improvements the past three years. I look around and everywhere I see improvements, not only in facilities, but academically, the bar has certainly been raised at Western. We have amazing godly teachers and administrators who have made such an impact on my children. Thanks for making a difference at Western. We are so happy here!.”
I am grateful to the Lord for His continued favor upon Western, to our Western Team who work hard to help make Western a great school and to you our parents for your support throughout the years.
Karen Winter, Superintendent
Here is a recent article from the Daily Bulletin about the importance of screening inappropriate games from your child. Read the rest of this entry »
Our school year is fast coming to its close , as we are all busy with year-end projects, making sure we end the year strong.. It has, in fact, been a strong year for us here at Western where in addition to the learning and growth taking place daily, we have had some great milestones marking this our 90th year in Christian education. Our transition this first year in the new high school facility and new Upland preschool has been phenomenal, where we have observed the marked difference the new environment has made in student learning and achievement. Especially in the area of spiritual growth, we have seen tremendous strides made among our student body , K-12, particularly now that high school chapels and worship concerts are held in our formal sanctuary in Upland.
Our K-8th grades, this year we are grateful to have begun our Gifted and Talented program, where participants are challenged to excel further in creativity and learning . Our athletics reached new heights this year, with many awards received in middle school and high school (for more details look for upcoming annual Showcase of Achievement brochure coming out this Summer) Our students also grew in discipleship as they served in the local community, helped in community service and missions projects worldwide, as well as in service clubs , extra curriculars and involvement in our campus events.
Our Preschool in Claremont added a new Toddler program for children 18-months and older and our Upland Preschool enhanced its program as well as its playground facilities offering more to our families. Faculty Committees have been formed this year to make improvements across all areas of our academic curriculum as well as fine arts and extra curricular programs.
Legacy Funds are still coming in, thanks to all participants, totaling $182,548 in donations and pledges to date. As planned for this year, a portion of these funds were dedicated to establish a Teacher Endowment Fund, a first for Western. (A detailed report of the Legacy Fund is presented in the pages to follow.)
We give God the glory for His faithfulness to Western Christian and His working through us to accomplish all these over the last year.
We still have over a month remaining in the school year with plenty more to learn in the classrooms and to accomplish for our school. I invite you to join us for the Joint Mixer on May 6 (no alcohol but great food) we are hosting for the Upland and Claremont Chambers at our high school and the Auction on May 15, at the Claremont campus, for an enjoyable evening as a family. Let me close by reminding you to sign up for Summer School now. Studies have shown the benefits of a summer program to the overall performance of students, and ,to that end, we have designed a full academic and enrichment program to be offered for our students.
Thanks again for your support and partnership , making a tremendous impact on the success of this school and its ministry.
Dear Parents,
I trust that you have all received your registration packets and begun to complete them. As you can see by the process, virtually all the forms are the same as before. In fact, we have reduced the paperwork for 8th graders going into our high school in order to make the process simpler.
The only major change we made is in our financial agreement, regarding withdrawal from the school , where we have implemented a 30-day communication notice before the semester’s end, in order to enhance the dialogue between the home and school.
At Western Christian Schools, partnering with our parents is important to us and we endeavor to improve our communication between home and school in every way possible. That’s why I encourage every parent that has not taken the opportunity to participate in our RenWeb Connect to sign up today! This way you can go online to view your child’s grades, any missing assignments , homework, even tardy and absent reports on a daily basis. Western has invested almost $60,000 on this program to help make communication between teachers, students and parents our number one priority. It’s our goal to have every family use RenWeb because it has proven to be an effective communication tool between our teachers and administration with students and families. Read the rest of this entry »
I don’t know about you, but for me, as a Christian school leader, it becomes more evident each day how important it is to have our children receive a Christian education in the formative years of their lives. The media and the world continue with all their might to bombard us with secular ideology and imagery in a relentless effort to enlist us and especially our children into their camp.
At Western Christian Schools, we believe strongly in the value of Christian education in developing our students’ thinking as it relates to the world around them. We believe that this has the potential to impact their lives for eternity. We teach with intent to equip these young minds with the knowledge of the Truth and to give them the tools needed to discern all falsities through careful examination and critical thinking.
We also place great emphasis on raising the bar of excellence in our academics by providing the best curriculum and electives, and through quality instruction by a qualified and committed faculty. Our students are prepared academically not just to be proficient in their subjects, but to excel. Read the rest of this entry »
Excitement is everywhere in the air! This is a time of community celebration surrounding the recent closing of escrow on the Upland Campus, which includes the Eagle’s Nest Pre-school. We have prayerfully waited for this day. Students, faculty, and parents are thrilled to see the daily improvements already taking place, including: the installation of the new wood gym floor, short-term field renovations, an expanded library in the Lancer Multi-media Library, K-12 technology program expansion, resurfacing of the parking lots, newly painted facilities, landscaping improvements, student wellness center (including expanded aerobics and weight training, and other school wide renovations.
Thank you for your continued prayers for our Upland transition. We signed all the documents Saturday, and escrow officially closed yesterday! It has been a long anticipated move to Upland, but much shorter than the 40 years Moses and the Israelites spent in the wilderness; shorter than Noah building the ark, and shorter than the years the Israelites spent in Egypt! So, in perspective, it has been just one short year….overflowing with God’s goodness, grace, and blessing!
It has also been a great week of outreach opportunities with city leaders and business owners from Upland and surrounding areas attending a “Chamber Business Mixer”, at our high school last Thursday. It was a standing room only event, while our jazz band and Hill Top faith singers, gold medal winners in the San Francisco Heritage competition, entertained the special guests.
