Dear HCHS Families,
Recently, I stepped outside for my morning jog in the dark and quickly turned around to put on a sweater—it’s hard to believe we’re already in September! Senior camp was an incredible time of worship, prayer, and community growth; fall athletics and theater have launched; and our classrooms are prepped and humming thanks to our teachers and summer maintenance team. Our mission of equipping minds and nurturing hearts to transform the world for Jesus Christ certainly takes many minds and hearts to fulfill. But I am thankful for a good, loving God who rests his hand on this place and who started a good work in our students and “will carry it on to completion” (Phil. 1:6).
Over the last few months, our faculty and staff have been diving into our theme verse for the school year: “You make known to me the path of life; in your presence is the fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore” (Ps. 16:11). While there are several lessons that arise from this single verse, one part that recently struck me was the third clause, “at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” King David, as the author of this psalm, had many accomplishments that the world declares as sources of joy: wealth, recognition, and spouses. Nations typically want strong, successful kings in order to feel secure that they can maintain their way of life without the threat of outside forces who want to take what they have. What is amazing about David’s statement is that he appears to know that the throne he sat on was not the throne of the true King, the King of the universe.
Dallas Willard addressed this surrender of one’s kingdom in an essay he wrote in 2009, Serving The Jesus Way: Surrendering Our Kingdom to the God Who Is Enough. He explained how the collective understanding of the kingdom of God did not enter Judeo literature until teaching of Isaiah and the prophets appeared during the time of exile:
“When the Jews had nothing but desolation, they discovered there was a ‘God in Heaven’ who was present with them and very much in action even without the temple and royal palace in Jerusalem. That language about ‘God in Heaven’ emerges at the end of Second Chronicles and in Ezra and Nehemiah. Daniel displays most the understanding and language about the Kingdom of God. In Psalm 145 and the other later psalms, the idea emerges that when everything is desolate, there is still God. Job’s story is one of a man who lost everything but glorifies God. We have to learn this individually so that we come to understand that God is enough.”
Too often, our students and we can become trapped into thinking that we must establish our own kingdoms through more friends, more popularity, more accolades, or more money. Those who have inherited the belongings of family members who have passed away know they would trade those things in a second to be in the presence of their loved one again. In the same way, David, the psalmist, shows us that the person who could claim to have more of everything than anyone else in his kingdom counts it all as worthless compared to being in God’s presence. Willard explains that the reality of God’s kingdom and the gift of his presence is an incredibly freeing truth we can live within: “By turning over our kingdom into God’s kingdom, we are set free from the burden of controlling our world and our lives. Great freedom comes through the cross.” As we walk through this year together, I pray that our students may continue to work diligently “as unto the Lord and not for men” and without the pressure that their value or identity rests upon their performance. Rather, may they see it all as a gift and opportunity to love God and their neighbors better each day as free image-bearers of God.
With thanks,
Miles Colago, High School Principal
Announcements
Dress Code
Parents and students, we have spent a fair amount of time dealing with dress code issues in the first two weeks of school, especially with crop tops showing midriffs. Please take a moment as a family to read together the dress code policy listed below from our student handbook. Thank you for your cooperation:
In keeping with the mission of Holland Christian Schools, the Holland Christian School community recognizes the important impact of student dress on the learning environment. We understand that all of our lives, including our dress, bring honor or dishonor to our God. We also embrace our identity as a Christian school and how we dress impacts our witness for Christ to the world. While these principles impact our most basic commitments regarding dress there is more to which we would challenge the HC community.
- No hats, hoods, earbuds, AirPods, or sunglasses are allowed during school hours. Teacher discretion may be used in class based on class activity.
- Clothing or accessories depicting alcohol, tobacco, sexual or offensive language should not be worn at school.
- Clothing and accessories that can be considered political or divisive in nature are not allowed, instead, Holland Christian is committed to providing venues for safe and meaningful discussion.
- Shirts, shorts, and dresses must be modest and cover what they are supposed to cover.
- The administration reserves the right to determine what constitutes appropriate dress. Students who do not adhere to these guidelines will not be allowed to attend class. Parents will be called if appropriate clothing is not available or the student refuses dress-code-appropriate clothing.
Parking Permits
All students who drive to school are required to display a parking permit on their vehicle. They are available at no charge in the high school office.
Security System at HCHS
Just a reminder that we have an intercom/buzz-in system at HCHS. All of the Holland Christian School campuses have such a system. The doors to the main high school entrance (Entrance A) are locked and you will need to press the intercom button located to the right of the doors to speak to one of the office personnel who will let you in. Parents may drop off items for their students in the office, and visitors who are going to be in the building must sign in the visitor log and wear a guest badge. Thanks for your cooperation with these important safety protocols.
High School Daily Announcements
Announcements are also posted daily on the website.
Student Handbook Updates
Parents and students, please take some time to read through the HCHS Student Handbook. Make sure you are familiar with the attendance policy and the personal technology policy.
Student Medical Information and Forms
If your student has any medical situation that the school office should be aware of or has any medication that needs to be kept in the office, the appropriate forms need to be filled out each school year and kept on file in the office. Please make sure all information is current so that we can help keep your child safe and keep the necessary medications here. All the forms can be found on the Medical Information and Forms page of our website. If you have any questions please email Hendrina Cupery, manager of the Holland Hospital School Nurse Program.
Parent Night
We will be hosting our annual Parent Night on Tuesday, September 2, 2025, at 6:30pm at the high school. This will be an opportunity for you to meet the HCHS staff and learn more about how we will live into our district mission of “Equipping Minds and Nurturing Hearts to Transform the World for Jesus Christ.” Parents will begin in the auditorium and follow their student’s “Friday Schedule” for the remainder of the evening. Please add this event to your calendar and make it a priority to attend.
Senior Picture Information
Here are some details on senior pictures. The deadline for senior pictures is Monday, September 22, 2025.
Counselors’ Corner
We are committed to building relationships with our students and we look forward to meeting with each one over the course of this school year. The counseling department is again assigning students to counselors alphabetically by last name: A – J: Mrs. Sara Christner, K – Z: Mr. Dave DeBlecourt.
Information for Seniors
All seniors will have an individual check-in with their counselor in September or early October. Regardless of the desired outcome–career, college, or another option–we are here to help, support, and encourage seniors as they think about and plan for life after high school. Application timelines and due dates vary by school, so we encourage college-bound seniors to work toward completing and submitting applications by early November. This ensures maximum consideration for financial aid and scholarships, as well. We will assist non-college-bound seniors in the exploration of career options and help them find information on job and trade-specific training.
We held a “Planning for life after high school” session with all seniors on August 25 during Family Flex. In this session, we covered a timeline of things seniors can be doing throughout the school year, including the college application process. Seniors will also be invited to sign up for a Common Application workshop session coming up later this month.
Scholarships
Throughout the school year, various scholarship opportunities will be posted online through the Counseling Department portion of the website. A listing of outside scholarships, both regional and national, will be updated as we receive notices of scholarship opportunities. This will include scholarships available through Community Foundation of Holland/Zeeland that are open to Holland Christian students and also information about internal HC scholarships, which are available to full-time Holland Christian students only.
College Representative Visits
We keep a listing of college reps holding visits at HCHS linked here, that can also be found on the Counseling Department page. This list grows throughout the fall.
FAFSA Night
A college representative will be hosting a virtual workshop for HCHS parents on September 24th at 6pm to speak to parents about filling out the FAFSA and other financial aid opportunities. More details, including a link to the meeting, will be emailed out to parents of juniors and seniors.
Testing Information
- Upcoming ACT test dates are October 18 & December 13, 2025. Register for the ACT.
- Upcoming SAT test dates are September 13, October 4, November 8 & December 6, 2025. HCHS is a testing site for these dates. To register for the SAT.
- Test Preparation: There are free resources for SAT test preparation. There are also free resources available for ACT test preparation.
- PSAT: This test is a precursor to the SAT. It provides excellent practice for subsequent standardized tests and can provide valuable test preparation feedback and tools. The junior year is the only year a score is considered for the National Merit Scholarship consideration.
The PSAT/NMSQT will be administered during the school day on Friday, October 17, 2025 starting at 7:45 am for those who have signed up. Juniors who wish to take the PSAT/NMSQT need to register and pay the $25 fee by Sunday, September 14, 2025 at 11:59 pm. Registration and payment for this is done on Total Registration. All freshmen and sophomores will take the PSAT during the school day on March 18, 2026. There will be no fee charged to students, and they will register through school.
Athletics
Pay to participate for high school athletes is $100/season. We prefer families to pay the fee through their Final Forms account for their child. As an incentive to pay online, the fee is set to $96.15 so the total cost with fees is $100.
Important Dates
25-26 Holland Christian Calendar
September
- 1: No school, Labor Day break
- 2: Parent Night at the HS 6:30-8:30pm
- 4: Picture make-up day
- 22: Senior picture deadline
- 24: College Financial Aid Seminar 6pm
- 27: Homecoming Dance
October
- 2: Parent/Teacher conferences 5:30-8:30pm
- 4: Tuition Grant Fund Auction & Dinner 6-9:30pm
- 9: Parent/Teacher conferences 3:30-6:30pm
- 10: Picture retakes at HS
- 22: No school: Staff development
- 23 & 24: CEA staff development (No school)
- 22, 23 & 24: All Tech Center students must attend Tech Center
