Friday, August 24th was the first day of classes for the elementary students at Christian Academy in Japan(CAJ) where we are equipping students to serve Japan and the world for Christ. Students, staff and parents all seemed excited to be back at school. We tried something new with an information session for parents at the start of the first day. I was pleased with the turnout of parents and will let parents know sooner about other parent gatherings. I will try to cover some of the essential points from that session in this post.

This year our theme will be to help students understand our core values. The board of directors spent quite a bit of time looking at core values of other schools. There are many values to choose from and many schools have very similar values. What makes CAJ unique? The three core values: God is the author of all truth, God created humans in His image, and God created humans for community really are at the core of all we do and believe. Many of the classes have started off the year looking at these and other teachers will be discussing these throughout the year with the students. They will also be presented at chapels throughout the year.

Another important document that was created last year is the Parent Responsibility Agreement. Unfortunately, it wasn’t completed before re-registration, but in the future it will appear as one of the documents necessary for re-registration. This year it is on the parent page when you sign in and we ask that you read it and check each box. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me. We want parents to understand what we except from them as a school.

One of the new systems that I have implemented is a ticket system for the playground before, after and during the school day. They may get a ticket for: being disrespectful, climbing (except on the play structures), eating outside of designated areas, not responding to whistle or bell, leaving a mess, unsafe behavior or using equipment improperly. The duty teacher will not give a warning but will give a ticket which will go to the classroom teacher and a copy to the principal. The student who receives a ticket will get a detention during the next morning recess. This will not become part of any permanent record. The parents will get an email explaining why the child has gotten a ticket. For severe misbehavior: fighting, bullying intent to injure and leaving campus students will immediately be sent to the office or be required to stay with the duty teacher until they can safely be sent to the office. The consequences for severe misbehavior will be dependent on the misbehavior.

Each divisions handbook is presently under construction. We will let you know when the new ones are available for reading.

Some important items to remember.

1. Please drop off and pick up your child outside. We have a lot of students in the hallways and it is much easier if the parents stay outside.
2. School is from 8:30 – 15:30 on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday.
3. School is from 9:30 – 15:30 on Wednesday.
4. Students are allowed on the playground 30 minutes before the start of school.
5. If your child arrives after 8:30 they must sign in at the academic office.
6. Elementary students must leave the playground at 16:00 when the bell is rung.
7. The library is open until 16:25 for students to read or do homework. If a child is being disruptive they will be asked to leave the library.
8. If your child is on campus after 16:00 they must be with a parent who has the child in their line of vision.(Parents cannot be in the plaza and children on the play structure)
9. Always wear your name tag on campus. This is to help us keep all of our students safe.
10. Please fill out the Name Tag request form for anyone who is not a parent who will regularly be picking up your child.
11. If you forget your name tag or bring someone else on campus, please go to the business office for a visitor’s tag.
12. If your child forgets something and you bring it to school for them, please take it to the academic office.
13. Planned absences – please fill out the online form for 2 or more days. If you child will only be missing one day, it is fine to email or call the academic office. You do not need to notify the teacher first.
14. Bicycles – If your child rides a bicycle please pick up a CAJ sticker in the business office.
15. Sickness – We want to keep all of our students and staff healthy. If your child has a fever in the morning or has thrown up in the morning, please keep your child home. If your child isn’t feeling well and you say, “Go to school and if you feel worse go to the nurse.” It is very likely you will get a call from the nurse to come and pick up your child. It might be better to allow your child to rest at home for a while and then see how they feel.
16. If your child needs to take medication during the school day please fill out Permission to Administer Prescription Medication and send with the medication.
17. Communication from school will include the CAJ website, email of the daily bulletin, classroom newsletter, Seesaw, principal’s blog.
18. Communication from home should always begin with the classroom teacher. Please call the school or email the teacher to set up an appointment. Coming to the classroom before or after school without an appointment is strongly discouraged.
19. Parents are always welcome to come to elementary chapels which generally are the first and third Thursday from 8:30.
20. Parents are welcome to use the library, read magazines and check out books.
21. Please LABEL your child’s shoes, jackets, hoodies, lunch boxes, music bags and anything else you want returned. If it is not labeled it will go to lost and found which is in the library and donated to Thrift shop if not claimed.