A lot of you are probably wondering what school is going to look like next year. Right now we are in the process of putting together a protocol to ensure that we are doing what we can to keep our community safe while also ensuring that our students get the education that they need and that you all desire. When it comes to the details of our plans, a lot of what we will be able or have to do will be dependent upon state mandates that have not yet been announced. We, like all the other area Christian schools, will open when we can and will comply with state law, but what that law will look like is at this time unknown (as I am typing this I see that the Wisconsin Supreme Court has ruled against the extension of Governor Evers’s ‘Safer at Home’ order. But it looks, as I understand it, as if their order will be stayed for six days and in the interim Dane County has issued its own order. I am not sure what all this means yet, but I will continue to follow it and watch for new developments.)
This being said, I think that we all recognize that our collective response to this virus has in many places divided our country. My hope and prayer is that this virus will not divide our school. Our mission and our vision have not changed, but the circumstances in which we pursue and live them out have. These circumstances will not last forever, but for the time being we need to learn to deal wisely with them.
I have put together a short video
(https://www.dropbox.com/s/lttpy8zm2q89efc/Approach%20to%20Next%20Year.MP4?dl=0)
in which I talk about the approach, the posture, that I hope we will all adapt. No matter what decisions we make as a school, some of you will want us to do more and some of you less. And that is ok—godly people can disagree and nonetheless find a way to remain in fellowship with one another. If we walk with grace and patience and mutual forbearance; if we listen in love and defer to one another in humility; if we trust in God and seek to honor Him in all our thoughts, words, and acts, this can be a great year no matter what we face! But if we interpret our school policy through political lenses we’ll drag the division and disfunction that we see all around us into our school and we will set ourselves up for frustration and failure. My prayer is that we will not be divided by what is passing and temporary (e.g. the virus and our response), but will be united in what is lasting and high above us, namely Jesus Christ.
Thank you for your time. You know it is a good video message when the Headmaster discusses The Thirty Years’ War, plastic straws, and Thomas Jefferson. Please let me know if you have any questions, thoughts, or concerns.
