We continue to focus on the virtue of COURAGE throughout the rest of this quarter. The new year is a good time to remember that courage, like all virtues, is a habit that is built over time through repetition, often through things that seem like small actions. Talk together as a family about ways to practice courage.

The Spelling Bee is next Wednesday, January 11. Classroom bees will begin immediately after Morning Prayer. Three to five finalists from each room in Grades 3-8 will go on to compete against one another in the school bee starting at approximately 10:15 a.m. Students are encouraged to continue studying the 2023 Spelling Bee Lists. Consider turning those Bee words into a creative family game of your own design!

Thank you to Mr. Marth, Sam H., Joanna L., and 2016 graduate Owen T. for leading us in Morning Prayer on Wednesday. What better way to start 2023 than by coming together in a service of Scripture and song.

We are pleased to announce that we are halfway to our fundraising goal of $75,000! There are still $12,249 of matching funds available until December 31. Online donations can be made here.

Please keep the school in your prayers as we continue to seek out and receive annual fund gifts and, even more importantly, as we use those gifts to provide an education that’s rooted in the desire to be good stewards of all the good gifts God has given. Remember: Every dollar counts. Every gift matters. Every donor makes a difference!

It’s not too early to start preparing for the 2023 Spelling Bee which will be held on Wednesday, January 11. More details about the Bee will be coming, but we want to share the word lists with you before the break. Please note that students in grades 4–8 who hope to advance to the all-school round should study all the lists. Lists with definitions will be added the week of December 18.

Grade 1 Word List
Grade 2 Word List
Grade 3 Word List
Grade 4 Word List
Grade 5 Word List
Grade 6 Word List
Grade 7 Word List
Grade 8 Word List

Please note we will return from Christmas break on Tuesday, January 3. (When January 1 falls on a Sunday, the break extends through January 2.) Parents are invited to join us for a special “re-gathering” chapel on Wednesday, January 4. Mr. Marth will lead us that morning in a service of Scripture and song.

A trip to the Grand Rapids Public Museum is like five field trips in one! Here’s just a few of the things our students did last Friday: animal habitat dioramas, carousel rides, streets of old Grand Rapids exhibit, planetarium show, poison temporary installation, river water testing class. Thank you to the parent volunteers who served as chaperones that day.

Thoughtful Reader Book Club is here! An information sheet and book mark were sent home with your student. Christmas break is a good time to read, read, read good books! (Consult our Summer Reading List for suggestions.) Don’t forget to include fables by Aesop and Arnold Lobel (grades K-4) and The Magician’s Nephew by C.S. Lewis (grades 5-8). Even if you’ve read these before, there is a special pleasure in re-reading a good book. And even more pleasure in reading it and discussing it together! Watch for discussion questions to be emailed over break.

Parents, don’t forget about your book club opportunity! We’re planning a discussion of C.S. Lewis’s The Abolition of Man for Thursday, January 26 at 7:00 p.m. Watch for details after the break.

Christmas break is a good time to engage with our worship and virtue materials together! Don’t forget to take a few minutes to fill out your November and December forms. They contain links to the various PPC materials as well.

Over the holidays, we will all hopefully have opportunities to spend time with people we know well and even some we don’t know so well. It’s a good time to practice the virtue of COURAGE by talking with family members and others you don’t often talk to. You can share, for example, things about school, recent events, and hobbies. Be sure to ask them about their lives too. You can also practice COURAGE by inviting someone new to be a guest in your home for a meal, dessert, or a fun activity.