Blog Posts

Jun 17, 2025

RISK AND ROADBLOCKS

By |2025-06-17T08:37:17-07:00June 17, 2025|School Vision, Secondary|0 Comments

Teaching entrepreneurship isn’t exactly in secondary teacher Todd Bakker’s comfort zone. After all, he teaches courses with predetermined curriculum and objective answers such as chemistry and grade 9 science. “I’m not an entrepreneur beyond having a lawn mowing business as a kid,” says Todd. However, he was up for the challenge and sought to learn [...]

Jun 4, 2025

SAME CHAIR, DIFFERENT OFFICE

By |2025-06-04T13:13:43-07:00June 4, 2025|Leadership, Shaping God's World|0 Comments

Well, it’s time to sign off as your interim executive director. I have the privilege of bookending our school year blog cycle and I promise this will be better than my August one! 😉  In August, I introduced you to our theme for the 2024-2025 school year, “Press On” based on Hosea 6:3:  “Let us [...]

May 13, 2025

SHAKE IT OUT

By |2025-05-13T10:46:17-07:00May 13, 2025|Nurturing Hearts, Secondary|1 Comment

If you’ve ever been to the Celebration Week fashion show in May, you may have noticed one particular student who was spunkier and smaller than the average secondary student. But that hasn't stopped her from “strutting her stuff” on the runaway with a big smile on her face, garnering loud cheers from the audience. This [...]

Apr 16, 2025

FOUR STEPS FORWARD

By |2025-04-16T11:01:53-07:00April 16, 2025|Elementary, Growth Mindset, Relationships|0 Comments

“This must have God’s hands in it,” says grade 4 teacher, Measha Thompson, who, overcoming many challenges, moved from teaching kindergarten for the past three years to teaching grade 4 for the 2023-24 school year. Finding Her Home When Measha visited ACS for the first time, she knew this would be her home. Although her [...]

Apr 8, 2025

A LESSON WORTH TRAVELING FOR

By |2025-04-10T08:53:19-07:00April 8, 2025|Secondary, Shaping God's World|1 Comment

“C’est la Tour Eiffel!” “Magnifique!” “Can you believe these walls are hundreds of years old?” “This is where the King of France lived—and was beheaded!” These were just a few of the excited whispers we overheard from our eager students as we wandered through France. The Adventure Ahead For many of us, this trip was [...]

Mar 4, 2025

WISDOM FROM A FENCE POST

By |2025-03-04T13:06:41-08:00March 4, 2025|Middle School, Parenting|0 Comments

Amy and I have a terrible work-life balance. We are both working nearly full-time right now, and that leaves little margin for the “extras.” What Now?! A few weeks ago, feeling the load from a busy week, and Amy swamped with all her responsibilities, we both found ourselves at the front reception at the same [...]

Feb 18, 2025

WORMS AND WORSHIP

By |2025-02-18T11:01:44-08:00February 18, 2025|21st Century Learning, Elementary|0 Comments

On rainy days at ACS Elementary, students love to gross out the teachers on supervision by showing them big, fat worms. To their giggling delight, the teachers respond as they hoped:“Ewwww! Gross!” Except when they bring the wiggling creatures to Nature Kindergarten teacher, Christine Beugelink. “Cool! Let me see!” she says, stopping them in their [...]

Feb 4, 2025

Big Ideas, Little Designers

By |2025-02-13T14:42:46-08:00February 4, 2025|Elementary, School Vision|0 Comments

This past December, I had the privilege of being invited to a presentation from the students in 2A where the students presented a proposal for some new, exciting, and inclusive play spaces. Earlier in the year the class agreed to take on a big challenge—reimagining our elementary school’s playground! As part of our school’s Drive [...]

Jan 7, 2025

IN REAL LIFE

By |2025-02-22T00:13:19-08:00January 7, 2025|School Vision, Shaping God's World|0 Comments

A few months ago, our educational staff embarked on an “In Real Life” field trip to local businesses and non-profits to explore the attitudes, attributes, skills, and education necessary for success in today’s job market. The goal? To better understand how our educational approach, including project-based learning, equips ACS students to thrive in their future [...]

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