COVID-19 Video Message from Rick Yost, Superintendent, May 7, 2020

Hello FCS Families,

I haven’t addressed you in a while, so I’m anxious to talk with you for a few minutes today. I pray this video update finds you all healthy and well. I know that many of us may be a little stir crazy. We may have eaten a little too much or watched too much t.v., or stayed glued to our devices a little too much, but I hope you also had more family time, more time with the Lord, and more time for reflection. In any case, I think most of you would agree that we’re all ready to do a little breaking out.

So, the first thing I want to do is to give thanks to God for all He has done to allow us to navigate the last part of this school year so successfully. He has given all of us the strength and commitment to see this through to the end, and for that we want to give Him all the glory. To say that it’s been hard work would be a wild understatement. It has been hard for all of you, for your children, for our teachers, for our Instructional Technology staff, and for FCS Administrators.

What a TEAM effort this has been.  It’s hard to believe we have only a few days left in this school year. And my guess is that though we are all committed to finishing well, most of us are ready to be done with Online Learning, celebrate the victory, and move on to a well-deserved summer break. We learned a lot about ourselves in the last 10 weeks or so.  I’m speaking of us as a school, but also of us as parents and students. We learned many things that we would do differently, but we also learned what we are capable of when faced with a new, difficult challenge. And I for one, am gratified with both.  I am also gratified with the effort that all of you put forth.

Thank you! Thank you for making this a team effort and for going above and beyond for the benefit of our students and for the glory of God.

As we assess the plans, processes and procedures of the last 10 weeks, we need to know if we executed effectively.  We know that we have accomplished the curriculum and competency goals we set for all of our classes, but to fully measure the effectiveness of our Online Learning program, we need input from you, our parents, who spent many hours helping your students and seeking clarification in a new learning paradigm. So, sometime around May 15 you will receive a short survey to complete. The value of your feedback will be invaluable to us as we plan for the future.

And speaking of the future, based on what we know now, we are planning on starting school in August with students in the classrooms, doing school at FCS. But because we are being told that flare-ups or breakouts of the coronavirus could happen in the fall, we are also planning for short periods of time that we may need to re-enter an Online Learning platform. So we are making contingency plans that would allow for smoother transitions into Online Learning, and then back into on-site learning. We will be prepared for both and plan to provide all of the information and necessary training in case that happens.

As I said, our plans are for on-site classes in August, and that is particularly exciting for our Lower School students who will be in a BRAND NEW building. We are on schedule with construction, and Mrs. Cheatham and her teachers are almost completely packed up at the old building…ready to move as soon as we get our occupancy permit. I am spending a lot of time over there these days, watching the final touches being put on it.  It is an absolutely beautiful facility, but it will be even more beautiful when it is full of our precious students. I just can’t wait! We will be having tours and open houses this summer, and are making plans for a building dedication this fall.

Before I close, I want to ask you to be in prayer for our graduating seniors, the FCS class of 2020. Their culminating year at FCS has been disappointing in so many ways.  Many of them have been at FCS since Preschool or kindergarten. They were looking forward to a very special year, and it got cut short.  We are planning a special graduation ceremony for them on May 23rd as we send them out as ambassadors for Christ and for FCS. Please pray that the Lord would give them, in spite of the altering of a great senior year experience, a sense of how special they are to Him and to all of us.

With that, Sherry and I would like to express once again our love for you and our gratitude for the partnership we have with you at FCS. God must love these children a LOT because He has given them parents and grandparents like YOU. Finish the year FCS STRONG, have a great summer, and we will see you in August.

We ARE the FCS family!!