Follow Up On The Monday Parents Meeting
And so, our Emmaus journey has begun. As we continue to develop our school, our projected enrollment is between 15-20 students. Twenty seems to be an upper limit because while we want others to join our community, we must first form that community, and a smaller initial group helps that community build correctly.
Important milestones:
1. We are starting in July.
2. Our Great Theme for 2023-24 is “Freedom to Speak.” This will be a main theme that will recur throughout the year.
3. Tuition is still being determined. Because we qualify as a private school, ESA funds can be used to cover most of the expenses. But we must be wise because we want a quality school with quality resources.
4. In the first month, students will try out state-of-the-art online programs to help us best match each student’s learning style, and we will make recommendations to the family. But ultimately, parents will determine the curriculum their child will use. Parents will be able to log in at any time and see the progress of their child.
At our parent meeting last night, there were many insightful questions, but the one that challenged me the most was, “What does success look like for Emmaus Academy at the end of the first year?” It was an excellent question that made me think – a great example of the power of the Socratic method.
Year One Goals
I’ve been so focused on startup issues I really hadn’t thought about where we would be in a year. So here are my initial thoughts on the goals for this first year. We will probably modify this as we go down the road, but here they are at this stage of our journey.
1. Each student will discover one deep truth from God’s word that unites them with Christ.
2. Each student will begin to learn to recognize the leading of God’s Spirit.
3. We see our ecclesia develop as each student learns to “One another…each other” (love one another, serve one another, be kind to one another, pray for one another…).
4. Each student discovers they are really good at learning!
5. Each student will be able to recognize excellence in their work and in the work of others.
6. Each student will understand the importance of freedom of speech.
7. Every family is engaged and serving their local church.
8. The Emmaus leadership team is joyful, united, and learning.
While we are confident that we are on the right path, we recognize that it is still a road that we must walk. While the Acton Academy videos help us to understand what is possible in THEIR model, it is not OUR model. The Bible still says, “Parents train up your children in the Lord.” God puts the training of children in the hands of the parents, and Emmaus is here to assist. This is why Emmaus is parent-directed. We will be soliciting your ideas and suggestions. We are the ecclesia – the called-out ones. We expect the Spirit of God is going to place great ideas into the hearts and minds of our parents so that we can raise up great kids ready to change the world as they go.
A MUST READ
While Acton Academy is a superb model, the principles of great education they use are more clearly spelled out in a book they recommend to parents called: “A Thomas Jefferson Education – Teaching A Generation of Leaders For the Twenty-First Century.” It’s available on Amazon.
While we will never have all the answers, with your help, we are forming the right questions. What we do know is that we’re in the center of God’s road going in the right direction. We sure hope you will join us as charter members!
Comments, Ideas, Suggestions are DESIRED. Email me andy.white@faithfc.org
Pastor Andy