ECS Open House & Business After Hours

Emmanuel Christian School hosted a Business After Hours through our local Chamber of Commerce last night. This is a monthly networking opportunity for Chamber members to stop by after work. Based on business cards turned in, we had approximately 35 attend from the community. They were joined by our ECS staff and faculty, along with several families that arrived early for our Open House. My thanks to Clark and Jenifer for leading the way in putting it all together, to our Food Service staff for the wonderful array of food, and to our staff and faculty for their participation. I also want to thank Johnna for the Chamber's help and for the leadership she is providing.

Following the Business After Hours, the teachers went to their classrooms and the business leaders were able to tour the school and ask questions of our staff and faculty. We combined this night with an Open House for our community. This was the best Open House we have ever had! Families from preschool to high school walked through, gathered information, and we had enrollments coming in the very next day!

Again, thanks to ALL who attended and helped to host this great event!

Sunday Summary - 3.11.12 (ECS Day)

Today was our annual service in which we highlight Emmanuel Christian School. ECS Day is a BIG event, since ECS is the largest ministry of EBC. Many of our church members don't realize that on any given day there are approximately 1,000 people on our campus just via the school events. These people include: students, parents, grandparents, teachers, athletes, coaches, vendors, etc. We are proud that ECS has been "Teaching the minds... and training the hearts" of students in Darlington County for 48 years!

During this ECS Day service, our EXCEL music students provide the prelude music, the elementary students serve as our choir, high school students serve as ushers and greeters, students make up our band, and faculty members serve as our praise team. In addition, our EXCEL art students set up an art gallery to display their work and for our members to enjoy. This year, we added a new twist as we showed several TV commercials that included personal testimonies from ECS parents and students.

I continued the sermon series "Thy Kingdom Come" with a message about Kingdom Love. Using Mary's act of breaking her alabaster box and anointing Jesus with costly perfume, I challenged our congregation to lavish their love on Christ, to hold nothing back, and to express their worship with disregard for what anyone else might say. Karen sang a beautiful song that tied it all together. God blessed our efforts with Edna joining our church family; and Tiffany, Josh, and Billy being baptized. Billy shared his testimony of being "religious, but lost." He ended his wrestling match with God and accepted Christ as his Savior on the last night of Team Impact.

Emmanuel Christian School Enrolling NOW

This week, Emmanuel Christian School opened our pre-enrollment for 2012-13 to current students and EBC members. In just 4 days, we received over 190 applications! One class already has a waiting list and others are getting close. Don't wait, as seats are genuinely limited! Visit http://www.ecscrusaders.com/ for more information. Enrollment opens to the public on Feb. 1.

The ECS Gossip Train is Rolling

I received an e-mail this morning telling me that a couple of moms, continue to "stir up" other mom's with bad information about supposed changes to class sizes at Emmanuel Christian School for next year. This year, we accommodated parents and over-filled classes. That wasn't fair to our teachers, nor to the other students. In 2012-13, we will be keeping all of our classes within the DSS ratios, rather than over-filling and hiring additional aides. This is a very positive thing for our teachers and school families. That information was recently shared with our ECS teachers, so they could encourage parents to register early.

This very positive change, has been misunderstood by a couple of moms, so let me set the record straight. The rumors about large classes at ECS are false. The fact is that we will be limiting our class sizes -- not increasing them. We don't want to repeat in 2012-13 what we are already doing in 2011-12. If you are an ECS parent reading this blog, please forward it to your ECS friends so they don't get confused by the gossip.

In light of this silly misunderstanding and the rash reactions by some, it is a probably a great time to refer you to a blog post by Perry Nobles. Just click on the following link or copy and paste it into your browser. http://www.perrynoble.com/2011/11/23/my-wife-had-a-bad-experience-at-chic-fil-a/

Emmanuel Bible Insitute

Emmanuel Baptist Church brings another first to Hartsville, as it launches the Emmanuel Bible Institute. In 1963, Emmanuel Baptist Christian Day School was birthed. Forty-eight years later, ECS is still going strong and remains an academic leader in Darlington County. This fall, Emmanuel started a new arm of its educational ministry as it opened the Emmanuel Bible Institute in an effort to help Christians grow in their relationship with God by gaining biblical knowledge.

Emmanuel Bible Institute (EBI) will focus on teaching the Bible, not denominationalism, so it will be a great educational tool for any individual believer, lay leader, or pastor. Since EBI is web based, the church hopes it will not only benefit people locally, but will also benefit missionaries and national pastors world-wide through the online resources and training. EBI is a professionally-planned, state-of-the-art, online Biblical program that will allow Christ-followers around the world to learn biblical truths at a college level from the comfort of their own home. Each student will be able to study at his personal computer, on his own schedule, and at his own pace using online video, integrated presentations, online and printed curriculum, printable student workbooks, quizzes that are auto-graded online, unit tests, and will eventually include an online bookstore.

The EBI program will consist of three courses of study: Old Testament Survey, New Testament Survey, and Systematic Theology. Each of the courses will consist of forty-five lessons, broken down into three semesters of fifteen lessons in each. The fee for each semester is $105 or just $7 per lesson. Upon completing all three courses, the student will receive a Certificate in Biblical Studies. After earning the certificate, the student will have the opportunity to take an Institutional Challenge Exam (ICE Exam) at Liberty University or another participating college and may receive up to twenty-four college credits. In addition, accreditation will be pursued through the Transnational Association of Christian Colleges and Schools (TRACCS).

Mr. Robert Johnson, who will soon complete his Ed.D from Liberty University, will serve as the Dean of EBI. Mr. Johnson also teaches Bible classes at Emmanuel Christian School, and will implement the EBI curriculum into the ECS Bible classes in 2012-13. This will mean that ECS students who complete all three EBI courses, could attend a participating Christian college, take an I.C.E. exam and receive up to twenty-four college credits toward Bible or electives.

Those interested in more information, may call the church at (843)332-2271 or visit the EBI website at www.emmanuelbibleinstitute.com.

ECS & Kite Day - 3.13.11

Yesterday was ECS day at Emmanuel. One Sunday each year, we highlight Emmanuel Christian School during our morning church service. ECS is the largest ministry of EBC and we are blessed to partner with parents and local churches for the purpose of providing a quality education from a Christian world-view. Our elementary students filled the choir loft and sang beautifully. Students served as our praise band, faculty served as our praise team, upper school students served as ushers and greeters, faculty and alumni were recognized, artwork was displayed, the EXCEL students performed the prelude, newscasts provided updates, and Brooke knocked it out of the park with her song! I continued my sermon series on "Back to Basics" and we had 2 recommit their lives to Christ, 2 baptized, and 1 adult joined the church.

Following the morning service, we hosted "Kite Day" for the kids. There wasn't much wind, but there were almost 200 adults and children who participated. They brought picnic lunches and kites were flying all over our campus. This is definitely something we plan to do again.

A special thanks to all of the parents who brought their children to be part of our special ECS day, to Greta for preparing the Elementary choir, to Alex & Justin for the media projects, to the EXCEL teachers for helping the students prepare, and to Heather for coordinating the entire day!

Emmanuel Christian School 2011-12

ECS enrollment for the 2011-12 school year opened to the public on February 1. I was informed today that we already have 201 enrolled for next school year. Classes are filling fast and there are limited spaces in our 2K-6th grades. We have already filled one class in a couple of grade levels, and we only offer 2 classes on each grade level. The second class is only offered if there are sufficient students to fill the class -- So, don't delay in getting your application fee turned in to reserve your space!

For those who are not aware or are comparing schools, ECS became a State "Licensed" Preschool in 2010, which sets us far above the average church daycare which only meets the minimal "registered" status. To our knowledge, we are the ONLY church related school to have voluntarily taken this step to make ECS accountable to the State of SC and to meet their requirements in all areas of safety, inspections, documentation, and academics. Make no mistake, we are still unapologetically a Christian school and teach academics from a Christian world-view; but we believe "whatever bears HIS name deserves our best!"

If you have questions about ECS, call (843) 332-0164 or visit http://www.ecscrusaders.com/.

Emmanuel Christian School

Emmanuel Christian School is well underway for the 2010-11 school year. In spite of the economy and several schools closing or eliminating upper grades, ECS is going strong! We are within 2 students of last year's enrollment and some who left to try other schools have already returned.

Some highlights for this year include:

• Addition of a Director of Development
• Implementation of our Accelerated Reader program
• Implementation of our new Promethean board
• Addition of a third class of 3 year olds
• Addition of new desks for several of our classes

For more information, visit our website at www.ecscrusaders.com.

ECS Graduation - Class of 2010

Last Saturday, Emmanuel Christian School hosted its 35th commencement ceremony. Among those graduating was my middle daughter, Bethany. It's always an honor to participate in graduation as the President of ECS, but even more special to have a part in my daughter's graduation; and to have her grandparents, aunts, and uncle present.

This year, we had a tremendous group of graduates, of which 100% plan to attend colleges in the fall including College of Charleston, Liberty University, Pensacola Christian College, Florence-Darlington Tech, USC, and Clemson. Some wonder if our students are prepared for life when they leave ECS... you decide. ECS alumni are now pastors, missionaries, teachers, college professors, cardiologists, pediatricians, nurse practitioners, NICU nurses, dentists, hygienists, mental health professionals, journalists, forestry managers, business owners, and more. Some are currently training to be Christian workers, doctors, anesthetists, and lawyers. A local attorney hired an ECS student last summer and was so impressed that he enrolled his son at ECS. Another ECS alumnus recently graduated in the top 10 of her class of nearly 2,000 at Clemson! We are VERY proud of our students and alumni.

We have many new and exciting things in store for 2010-2011 at ECS. Our enrollment is strong, our future is bright, and we remain focused on teaching the mind and training the heart. We've hired a new Director of Development, attained Licensed status for our preschool, and will be implementing the Accelerated Reader program. We're doing some summer renovations and already planning for another exciting years.

In closing, I remind you again that ECS is a Christian School, not a private school. Our academics are now very strong as evidenced by our SAT scores being only 4 points behind the top-rated magnet school in our area; so in 2010-2011 much more emphasis will be placed on spiritual development and the making of disciples. Please continue to pray for our faculty and students.

3rd Grade Awakening

Today, during her Bible lesson, one of our ECS teachers was telling her third grade class about the prophecy emphasis at EBC yesterday. One student expressed his interest in knowing for sure that he would spend eternity in Heaven, then another, and then another. After the lesson was over, 14 of the 16 students in her class came up to her desk expressing their desire to make sure they had a right relationship with God. Twelve of the fourteen students accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, two rededicated their lives to Christ, and the other two were already confident of their salvation. PRAISE THE LORD!

This is a great reminder of "why" we have a Christian school. Our goal is to glorify God by providing students a Christ-centered, Bible-based education, by influencing them for salvation, by instructing them in values for Godly living, and by providing a program of academic and extra-curricular excellence.” Any school can make an academic impact, but Emmanuel CHRISTIAN School is making an eternal impact!