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High School Newsletter

High School Newsletter – August 2023

Dear HCHS Community,

Welcome to the 2023-24 school year! Welcome back to all returning students and families, and a big welcome to all our new families; we’re happy to have you join this incredible HC school community! We are so excited and thankful for another year of taking one more step toward transforming the world distinctively for Jesus through equipping the minds and nurturing the hearts of our students.

This upcoming year we have many exciting opportunities and events ahead of us, and in a few weeks several staff members and incoming seniors will be traveling for senior camp to celebrate all that God has done and will do through this next generation of HC graduates. The seniors and staff are also looking forward to an exciting time meeting our incoming ninth graders, launching them into their high school careers at ninth grade orientation.

This past summer, I had the opportunity to travel to Israel and capture a memorable image of the terrain that the ancient Israelites experienced on their journey from Egypt to the promised land. Even though our group was not able to travel to Mount Nebo to see where Moses viewed the promised land, we could sense the urge that Moses must have felt after the 40-year journey when writing the book of Deuteronomy, passing down what he had learned to the next generation so that they could enter it—without him.

Much can happen in four years of high school. This short-ish stint of time can often be life-changing and direction-forming for our students, who are discovering how God might use them in his Kingdom. For this reason, one of our hopes for this school year is that our community may also take moments to reflect and give an inheritance to the next generation like these seniors who are sharing with freshmen what they’ve learned, maybe even through their mistakes, about God’s faithfulness in their lives and the deep joy to be had in being with Jesus, becoming like him, and practicing his way in loving God and our neighbor.

While you’ve been away, our faculty and staff have been busy preparing for the new school year, and our cleaning and maintenance crew has been working tirelessly, scrubbing every Mr. Keen sticker off soap dispensers and mirrors, deep-cleaning every classroom, and repairing, painting, and servicing anything needing attention. They have also done all of this work joyfully and with a unified spirit of self-giving. We can’t thank them enough, but please don’t forget to do so upon your return for their incredible work.

We are also thankful for the new faculty and staff who will be joining the HCHS family this year:

  • Mr. Joseph Szabo III – Spanish Immersion Social Studies Teacher
  • Mr. Charles Meyaard – Social Studies Teacher
  • Ms. Alison Silva – Administrative and Student Services Assistant
  • Ms. Laura Vander Ploeg – Spanish Immersion and International Program Coordinator
  • Mr. Zachary Rumley – Theater Tech Director

Through our comprehensive interview process, we learned how deeply God has gifted these people not only in their teaching abilities, but also in their faith and apprenticeship to Jesus. We are grateful for their commitment to serve in this place.

Lastly, as we start the 23-24 school year, please carefully read this Back to School Newsletter so that you have the information necessary to help make the start of the school year as smooth and successful as possible.

As we enter this new school year, we ask that you join us in entering God’s presence through prayer, asking God for his blessing on this school year with bold, child-like faith. We are so thankful that we serve a God who does not stand on the sidelines, but rather enters into our joy and pain, our laughs and cries. May this incredible hope that we have in Jesus, through the power of his Spirit, drive us forward in the cultivation of this small square inch he has placed under our care, transforming the world solely and distinctively for him.

With thanks,

Miles Colago
HS Principal

23-24 Information

Food Services

Per state law, all private schools are not included in the “Free Meals for All” program that you may have heard about in the news. Families may still apply for lunch benefits on the Holland Christian Family Portal. If your students qualified for Free or Reduced benefits last year, those benefits carryover through September 30. Please apply for Free and Reduced benefits as soon as possible.

Family portal accounts will be ready to receive deposits on Monday, August 14. If you do NOT have a family portal account set up, you will need your student’s ID number. Please email slambers@hollandchristian.org for your student ID number. There is no fee to deposit money into your child’s account with a debit or credit card.

23-24 meal prices are the same as last year:

  • Elementary: $2.75
  • Middle School: $3.00
  • High School Lunch $3.25
  • Milk Ala Carte  $0.50
  • Free and Reduced Meals $0.00

Check-In/Picture Day

Check-in day is Monday, August 21 and will take place on Main Street from 11:30am – 3pm. This is a chance for you to have your picture taken for your student ID, walk around the building and find your locker, deposit money into your hot lunch account, and pick up a parking permit (if driving).

Laptops

Incoming freshmen will receive their laptops during freshmen orientation. New 10th – 12th students will receive their laptops during new student orientation. Returning students will receive their laptops on the first day of school.

Textbooks

  • Students will pick up textbooks from the Bookstore, located in the hallway near the Auditorium, Counseling, and Athletic Offices. Students should bring a backpack to carry their books home from school or may leave books in their assigned locker. ALL students will need to pick up textbooks.
  • NEW THIS YEAR: Bring your HC student ID (from ANY year; your barcode is the same). This will help speed up the checkout process!!!
  • To help avoid long lines, students are encouraged to get their textbooks during the following times:
      • 11:30am-12:30pm: 9th & 12th grades may pick up textbooks
      • 1:00-2:30pm: 10th & 11th grades may pick up textbooks
  • If you have any textbooks at home from previous years, PLEASE bring them back ASAP! We need them to make sure we have enough to distribute on August 21. Thank you for your help with this. If you have lost your books, please bring in the replacement fee. If you have any questions, please email dhogue@hollandchristian.org. Thank you!  Mrs. Hogue

Photos

All students (including seniors) must have their picture taken whether or not the pictures are purchased. These pictures are necessary for the yearbook, student transcripts, I.D.’s, and for our student management software. Seniors, this picture will be on your high school transcript.  You can order online ahead of time from Geskus, or you can send the flyer Geskus mailed out and payment with your student on check in day.

To help speed the picture taking process, we would like to suggest the following schedule.

      • 9th Grade: 11:30am – 12:30pm
      • 12th Grade: 11:30am – 12:30pm
      • 10th Grade: 12:30pm – 1:30pm
      • 11th Grade: 1:30pm – 2:30pm
      • Anyone: 2:30pm – 3:00pm

Picture Makeup day will be Thursday, September 7.

Senior Picture Information – Click here for details on Senior Pictures. The deadline for senior pictures is September 22.

Freshman Orientation Day – August 21

All freshmen will be part of our Freshman Orientation Day. This day is to be a transition day that creates a sense of belonging for incoming students and an overall supportive and positive atmosphere on our campus. The first day for freshmen will be Monday, August 21, at 8am. Senior class leaders will lead incoming freshmen in small group games, mixers, and a scavenger hunt around the school. Students will be given a copy of their schedule and meet their teachers for a few minutes in each class. All freshmen will also receive their laptops at this time. Students will be treated to a pizza lunch and will be dismissed at 11:30am. After this, freshmen can stop on Main Street between 11:30am – 12:30pm for pictures.

New 10th – 12th Grade Students

New 10th – 12th Grade Students will have an orientation on Monday, August 21 from 9-11am. You will attend Laptop Boot Camp following this. You will be sent more details soon.

“Laptop Boot Camp” is mandatory for all students who are new to the laptop program (students coming from HCMS or ZCS do NOT attend Laptop Boot Camp). You should plan to stay from 11:30am – 12:30pm and attend “Laptop Boot Camp,” an introduction on how we use the laptops at HCHS (understanding Moodle, exploring PowerSchool, etc.). You will receive your laptop at this meeting.

First Day of School

All students report on Tuesday, August 22, at 8am. Be sure to have your class schedule with you.

School Supplies

Holland Christian High School does not have a required list of school supplies for students to purchase, except that math students will need a TI-83 or TI-84 calculator. School supply preferences will vary from student to student.

Save the Date – Parent Night

We will be hosting our annual Parent Night on Tuesday, September 5 at 7pm.  More details will be sent out; please add this event to your calendar.

New to Holland Christian High School?

Our New Family Information Booklet was created to help new families transition into HCHS. We hope you find the information helpful!

Schedule and PowerSchool Information

The High School uses PowerSchool for accessing student schedules, tracking grades, attendance, and family contact information. Student schedules will be available in PowerSchool on August 11 at ps.hollandchristian.org. Parents can log in with the username and password you created in a previous year. Parents of students coming from Zeeland Christian and other students new to HC will be sent information for creating a PowerSchool account.

If you detect any errors or need to make changes to your schedule, please complete the schedule change form on our Registrar page.

The daily schedule consists of 4 block days, and on Fridays students will have all seven classes in one day; it can be found HS Schedule Google Doc. The last day of the first semester is January 12 and exams will be January 16-19. Second semester begins on January 22.

In addition, it is important that Holland Christian has accurate contact and emergency information in PowerSchool. When you access your student’s schedule, please also check your family’s contact information and make any needed updates using the Demographic Change page. If you are unable to make changes in PowerSchool and you know that there are changes that should be made to your address, phone number, email address or emergency contacts, please contact the Administration Office at 616.820.2805.

Parent Laptop Handbook and Check-In Day Forms

Please review the laptop handbook and sign the required check-in day forms online. Forms need to be completed before you will be given your laptop. These forms include the student handbook agreement, laptop agreement, cheating/plagiarism, concussion awareness, and field trip/medical treatment permission. Please note that you will need to enter your student ID number in order to complete these forms. These student numbers can be found in Power School (if you are a returning HC student it is the number you already have). Please do not print agreement forms from the laptop handbook; the check-in day forms are what need to be completed.

HCHS is a closed campus. Sometimes parents may like to take their student out for lunch. Parents may take only their own student out for lunch and must personally check them out of the office. Youth leaders or older siblings (out of high school) may also take students out for lunch by signing them out in the office. Seniors do have the privilege of going off-campus for lunch on Fridays only.

Extracurricular Information

There is a “Pay to Participate Fee” charge of $85 to all students involved in extracurricular activities to help offset some of the costs of the program. For athletics, this fee will be paid through the student’s Final Forms account; for all other activities, this fee will be collected by the director of the activity and must be paid immediately following the selection or determination of the activity participants.

Athletics Information

Registration, Schedules and Tickets/Passes

For information on getting registered, how to find schedules and where to purchase tickets/passes, please see the Eventlink System Blogpost

Fall Sports Start Dates

High School fall sports begin on August 7 and Middle School fall sports begin on August 21.Please see the Fall Athletics 2023 Blogpost for information about fall sports and where the first practices are.

Sports Parent Night: August 15

All parents of athletes are invited to our annual sports parents’ night on August 15 at 7pm in the high school auditorium. Additional Parent Night information can be found Athletic Parent Night Blogpost.

HCHS Theatre Presents Our Fall Musical…The Sound of Music!

This fall, Holland Christian Theater is producing one of the most beloved musicals of all time: The Sound of Music. In Austria, 1938, an exuberant young governess brings music and joy back to a broken family. But as the forces of Nazism take hold of Austria, Maria and the entire von Trapp family must decide between keeping their new family safe, or making a courageous and extremely dangerous stand for their beliefs.

Auditions for the Sound of Music will be held on Wednesday, August 23-Friday, August 25 from 3-5/6pm. Any high school student is welcome to audition. Additionally, Holland Christian Middle School and Zeeland Christian Middle School students are welcome to audition for the roles of Marta von Trapp and Gretl von Trapp.

In order to register to audition, please complete the Sound of Music Audition Form. This form includes information on all of the audition times and scripts.

Audition Schedule

You can also find all audition materials on our Sound of Music Google Classroom. You can access it in one of two ways:

Important Dates

Reserve these important dates on your fall calendar:

August

  • 7: Fall sports tryouts start
  • 21: Freshman orientation day/picture day (lunch included)  (8:00-11:30am)
  • 21: 10th – 12th grade student check in/picture day (12:30-3:00pm)
  • 21: New (10th -12th grade) student orientation (9:00am-12:30pm)
  • 21: New students laptop boot camp (11:30am-12:30pm)
  • 22: All students report (full day)

September

  • 1: Labor Day break, no school
  • 4: Labor Day, no school
  • 5: Parent night (7pm)
  • 16: Homecoming dance
  • 22: Senior picture deadline

School calendar