VCS 2014 Annual Report

02 2014 Annual Report

We cannot thank our amazing faculty, staff, students, and parents enough for making this such a remarkable year at VCS. We as a school are seeing more success than ever before, which is allowing us to expand and grow to position our students to better reach their potential. In just seven years, our AP program grew from just two classes to seventeen, and our new “Pre-AP” program will give students even more opportunity to excel in Middle School. Our AP courses not only give students an opportunity to learn at the collegiate level but also prepare them for higher-level success. Students are challenged and taught to think beyond rote memorization of facts. An emphasis on different forms of critical thinking and analysis equips them to face collegiate-level courses having already become accustomed to the higher-level processes demanded. In short, they are taught not only what to learn but how to learn.

We are creating a more fluid program from grades six to twelve to best equip students for the world. In establishing a 6th to 12th curriculum, Middle School and High School teachers will be shared. By establishing a STEM curriculum and college prep beginning in 6th grade, instead of 9th grade, VCS will be utilizing all our teachers’ defined areas of expertise and degrees. VCS is will be transitioning to having subject-specific, BS/BA-degreed teachers in each subject, from 6th to 12th grade. The norm in most private and public school settings is to have Kindergarten through 8th grade considered one fluent scope and sequence, with teachers having a multi-subject credential, allowing them to teach any grade

Head of School Message (Paul Harrell)

level or subject matter in these grades. As we raise the bar on our curriculum, 6th to 12th grade will no longer be two separate steps in a child’s education, but rather one continuous program that has a fluid, practical scope and sequence that introduces Pre-AP classes, AP classes, and the model of college preparation earlier in a child’s educational experience. We will see more teachers in our Middle School with specific subject-area degrees and more teachers in our High School with master’s degrees. The advantage of having a teacher instruct in Middle and High School is that they know the exact road your child has to travel and will be able to give him or her the instruction and tools necessary to ensure a successful high school and college prep experience.

God has been faithful in providing us with teachers who are masters in their respective fields and in giving us the opportunity to place these gifted educators in positions where they are best suited to serve the children. Our students continue to succeed in every opportunity given them, and we are striving to raise the bar for them, to encourage further growth and success. We are so grateful for everything God has blessed us with over the years, and we cannot wait to see what He has in store for us in our 40th-anniversary year to come. From our infants all the way to our high school graduates, we have amazing new things in store for the next school year and for many years to come! We thank God for blessing VCS with thirty-nine years of ministry and education, and we thank each of our families past, present, and future for your investment in this ministry and all our children.

Parents, be sure to read through all the

exciting new changes we have planned

for the 2014-2015 school year.


Vacaville Christian Schools www.go-VCS.com | (707) 446-1776

Refer a friend to VCS and both of you will receive $1,000 off your 2014-2015 tuition.

Parents, be sure to read through all the

exciting new changes we have planned

for the 2014-2015 school year.


Exciting changes in the Early Education department include moving the toddlers to the preschool building and expanding the classrooms for the infants. The move for the toddlers allows them and their parents to become familiar with both the toddler and the preschool programs, making the eventual transition between the two smoother and creating a strong sense of community—of family, really—from the very beginning. The extra space gained for the infants makes it possible to section off classrooms for walkers, crawlers, and babies who are still non-mobile—a safer and more efficient arrangement.

A new, Early Education PE (physical education) curriculum is in the works, including a PE program for infants and toddlers. Every student will experience how important and fun it is to stay physically active and healthy. We believe in giving kids a strong start, both physically and academically.

Kindergarten Readiness combines several curricula that build upon each other. Every Thursday, we do rotational specialty classes. Each classroom has a specialty (music, cooking, art, science, etc.), and the children spend 45–50 minutes in each class before rotating. The kids love it and benefit from a focused block of time on each subject.

We do as much as we can outside. Field trips to the pumpkin patch, the Christmas-tree farm, the “Easter Egg Express,” and the Sacramento Children’s museum are made; we take the classroom outside whenever possible; and Summer Camp will be completely outside this year. We also have four playgrounds available for the Early Education children to enjoy.

One hallmark of our EE program is that we meet our children where they are. We make individualized lesson plans and shape our curricula to meet students’ needs. Building a strong foundation

Early Education and Kindergarten Readiness (Rochelle McGriff)




from the very beginning, our Kindergarten Readiness is at least a grade ahead of those in public schools. Our curriculum is advanced, but the kids are able to master it because it is presented in an age-appropriate way, and we let them develop at their own pace. Our goal is to build students up and foster self-confidence and self-worth, to give them roots—and wings.

We also want to teach the kids to love others, to be wise but humble, because everyone is made in God’s image. Throughout the year we study all the continents and countries, and at the end of the year there is a parade through the whole school, with each student dressed up to represent his or her heritage. The students take part in a canned-food drive each year and collect Toys for Tots at Christmastime, so they grow up in the tradition of loving those around them.

We love our students. We see Vacaville Christian Early Education as a ministry, and we love being here, partnering with parents to create a caring and nurturing environment—an environment where their children are loved and taught about the love of God, where they can be successful in preparing for the rest of their lives. Because from a solid foundation comes a solid future.


The spirit and environment of Vacaville Christian Elementary School is that of a close-knit family. We have a loving staff that cares about each child individually as well as collectively. Kids thrive here. We have a wonderful partnership with our parents as well, and this year, new leadership in our Parent Teacher Fellowship has given us excellent new ideas and support. We are looking forward to shifting the focus of our meetings to be more like a fellowship, to appeal to families by hosting fun events alongside the business end of agendas. We want parents to know that they have a voice, that they are an important part of our program. We also have an amazing group of women who have consistently poured into the students and staff. It is a powerful statement to our children that the people surrounding them support them fully. And we do. Simply put, we care.

Our Chapel theme this year was “Names of God,” and we explored the different Hebrew names of God and the impact the character traits behind those names can have in our lives. Particularly meaningful were personal testimonies from

teachers, pastors, and even parents. Hearing stories of how God is working in the lives of people our students know made what they were learning practical and gave them a reason to believe it, to make it theirs.

Our new Bible curriculum is Building on the Rock from Summit Ministries, and feedback from students and teachers has been overwhelmingly positive. The discussions in class are in-depth, and kids are using critical-thinking skills to understand how the Bible is relevant to their world and to their lives. The curriculum’s design lends itself beautifully to practical application, and the skills they are learning through this curriculum are overflowing into other subjects.

We are introducing a new math curriculum, Math in Focus from Houghton Mifflin, which is based on the Singapore math system. This system is gaining popularity worldwide; it truly helps students understand number sense and that there are many different ways to solve a problem. It is especially exciting because it extends from Kindergarten

Elementary School (Dorace Lynch)




to 5th Grade, making it ideal for building a strong math foundation. The teachers have enthusiastically embraced this new curriculum and are receiving specialized training to more effectively teach it.

We’ve strengthened our programs across the board to prepare students for upper-level STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) programs: The computer labs and iPads are used in practical and meaningful ways. We have LEGO classes after school for the younger students, which transition into robotics classes for the older ones. And our science program is now conducting all science projects and experimentation within school hours, better enabling students to learn in an authentic and hands-on manner.

Our sports programs have also been strengthened and updated. The athletes have new, personalized jerseys, and there is now a program in place for those who show particular talent and passion for their sports: competition beyond the intramural setting. VCES wants our students to recognize that what they are doing in after-school sports is important, and that we support them—in all their dreams.

We thoroughly enjoyed our new library this year. It is centrally located and updated to include a SmartBoard, making it a useful meeting place in addition to a resource center.

Our students regularly accept service challenges, from sending over 1,600 friendship bracelets to Uganda, to participating in annual canned-food drives and collecting presents for children at Mission Solano. These challenges are wonderful because they are tangible. They are things the children can actually do, and the kids are thrilled to help. It is a privilege to be part of God’s plan here at VCES and to see everything He is doing in the lives of our students, to see them succeed on multiple levels: academically, athletically, and spiritually.


Vacaville Christian Middle School is excelling. Grades 6–8 consistently test between three and three-and-a-half grade levels above the national average. We are serious about kids and college, and it starts early. We’re also proud to announce that this year, in addition to the class of graduating eighth graders, we will be graduating the first students to have completed the Vacaville Christian Middle School Discipleship Institute, a four-semester program of intense discipleship.

We’ve introduced a language-immersion program for international students at both the middle and high school levels; it is a six-week summer course taught by one of our own English teachers. It allows us not only to help strengthen their English skills but also to build relationships with them. We saw tremendous success with this program last year and are excited to continue it this summer.

Every year, we win educational grants because of the quality of our students’ writing. A number of our students submit poetry and essays to publishers all over the country and a great number have been published over the last three years. VCMS has been named a National School of Distinction in writing by Creative Communications, based on how many students are published each year, which means that we are in the top 10% of schools in the nation for quality of writing.

Middle School (Maylene Ripley)




In the last two-to-three, there has been a huge jump in both the quality and the magnitude of our Science Exposition. The Expo highlights the three areas of science covered in middle school: Earth Science, Life Science, and Physics & Chemistry. All the Expo experiments were conducted by our 8th graders, and the elementary students were invited to come and to explore what lies ahead for them.

The Fine Arts Department has seen incredible growth: Mr. Martin, as always, is building solid and serious musicians. One of our fine arts students directed a short film, which was awarded “Honorable Mention” in the White House Film Festival, and it won in six categories at a local film festival, including “Best Film” and “Best Director.” We introduced a Choir program and a Drama department, complete with a full costume bank. These programs have been exceptional, particularly considering how new they are. We were blessed with donated digital cameras, and students’

photographs have been entered in competitions and exhibitions, including the Dixon May Fair. Middle school is a time when many kids start to dream big. We see it as a chance to help make those dreams happen.

We aim to create a vision for our students of the world beyond their own, to help them study with a purpose. Students work annually to support the Alpha Pregnancy Center at various functions, and our members of the National Junior Honor Society work with the Veteran’s Association–each quarter they stand in as family members for veterans being interred locally with no family present.

We have a fabulous faculty and staff that make up the core of our school. We treat the kids like they are our own, doing all we can to provide an atmosphere that is God-centered, safe, solid, and future-focused. For VCMS staff, this is not a job; it is a ministry.


VCHS is doing remarkably well this year. For the first time in VCHS history, we had two seniors accepted to military academies in the same school year, and our students were accepted to a great number of other prestigious colleges and universities as well. Our students have earned over $3.3 million in merit scholarships—$900,000 more than any other year. 98% of our students are college bound, and we firmly believe that we are the best college-prep school in the area. Every new teacher we have hired has at least a Master’s degree, and we are working to ensure that each teacher is placed where his or her academic degrees and expertise fit perfectly, staffing each department with specialized teachers.

We are working to strengthen our STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) program. Microbiology is being added to the selection of courses for next year, and we plan to add Cell & Molecular Biology the following school year. We are adding Advertising & Design and

Film Production to our course selection for those students with a passion for computer design. To strengthen our math department, we added Statistics by Application this year, and next year we are adding Applied Mathematics to offer practical opportunities for those students who wish to enhance their math expertise. We also began offering AP Calculus BC this year, which is a very rare offering.

VCHS is one of only two schools in our area to be a member of The CollegeBoard, which is the governing body over AP, PSAT, and SAT tests. We are also accredited through ACSI and WASC. Because we are members of the CollegeBoard, we can be on the cusp of changes in testing and of new tests being offered, allowing us to better prepare our students for those changes. We offer seventeen Advanced Placement (AP) classes—more than Vacaville High School and Will C. Wood. Last year, VCHS seniors who took AP classes entered college with, on average, the equivalent of

High School (Janet Fogh)




one semester’s worth of college units, some earning as much as a year of college credit, based on their excellent AP scores.

We are focused on building a strong spiritual atmosphere in VCHS as well. Chapel services are enhanced by student testimonies and pastor interactions. There is an ever-growing discipleship movement through small groups made available to every student. High School students “adopted” a student at San Francisco City Academy, and they interacted with them throughout the year through chapels and mentoring. They also did a clothing, school supplies, toiletries, and toy drive to ensure that every student would have something new at Christmas.

There are twenty-seven clubs in the high school to suit the varied interests of students, and this year we added another spirit week and dance. Our choir is growing and continues to succeed, scoring well at national competitions and winning

spirit awards. Our jazz band, led by Mr. Martin, is always phenomenal, known internationally for their silent-movie scores. We added an art class, Painting and Drawing, offering a full four years of art classes under Mrs. Barr.

It has been wonderful to see God moving in the lives of our students and faculty. They have partnered with parents to make a real impact in the world.


VCHS College Acceptancesfor the Class of 2014COMPETITIVE UNIVERSITIES UNIVERSITIES OF

CALIFORNIA

CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITIES

COMPETITIVE CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITIES

US Air Force Academy Arizona State University Boise State University Boston College Colorado School of Mines Colorado State University George Washington University Johns Hopkins University Middlebury College Montana State University Mount Saint Mary’s University Northern Arizona State Occidental College Oregon State Univeristy Pacific Union College Purdue College of Technology Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology San Francisco State University Seattle State University Tokyo Dental College, Japan University of Alabama University of Arizona University of Colorado, Boulder University of Colorado, Colorado Springs University of Hawaii at Manoa University of Idaho University of Nevada, Reno University of Oregon University of the Pacific University of Portland University of Puget Sound University of San Diego University of St Andrews, Scotland University of Utah University of Washington Washington State University Westminster University Whittier College Willamette University Air Force ROTC Scholarship

UC Berkeley UC Davis UC Irvine UC Los Angeles UC Merced UC Riverside UC San Diego UC Santa Barbara UC Santa Cruz

Cal Poly CSU Channel Islands CSU Chico CSU East Bay CSU Fresno CSU Fullerton CSU Humboldt CSU Long Beach CSU Los Angeles CSU Monterey Bay CSU Northridge CSU Sacramento CSU San Bernardino CSU San Diego CSU San Francisco CSU San José CSU San Marcos CSU Sonoma CSU Stanislaus

Azusa Pacific University Baylor University Biola University Carroll College Chapman University Creighton University Dominican University George Fox University Holy Names University Loyola Marymount University Oral Roberts University Pacific Lutheran University Pepperdine University Point Loma Nazarene University Simpson University Texas Christian University




VCS has three payment options for our parents to choose from: parents can make one annual payment, 10 equal monthly payments, or 12 equal monthly payments. Our tuition is never financed, and we offer academic scholarships for students K–12th grade, minimizing tuition for qualifying families. VCS’s tuition is comparable to other schools of our size in Northern California—our high school tuition is half the cost of other private high schools in our area. New for the 2014–2015 school year is a payment plan for the student fees that occur throughout the school year, such as technology, lab, PSAT, retreat, and graduation fees. Each fee used to be billed as it occurred throughout the school year, making monthly payments unpredictable. VCS listened to parent suggestions, and to help them with budget planning, we made one comprehensive fee for the year that can be divided into 10 or 12 equal payments, as with tuition.

The average cost of educating one child in K–12th grade is over $20,000 per year in public schools. VCS is humbled by the stewardship that we prosper from and with maintaining an excellent, well-rounded program for, on average, less than half this amount. We are blessed by all our families. Thank you for investing in your child’s physical, mental, and spiritual growth. Even as we see expenses rise and the economy shift, we at VCS are proud to stand firm in the knowledge that we have not cut back on any program, but have increased our programs and curricula at every level.

Tuition & Fees 2014-2015

VCS 2014 Annual Report

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