Welcome!
We are excited about this opportunity to provide our community with a Christian School that loves Jesus and loves people. This is not only an excellent school, but a great ministry, and team to join with parents in providing the "very best" for their children. We realize that children are fearfully and wonderfully made by God; therefore, we take your child's education and well-being very seriously by providing an atmosphere that is Christ-centered, happy, rewarding, meaningful, safe, clean, and secure.

Mission, Vision & Beliefs

Our mission is: "To know Christ and to make Him known through Christian education."

We believe this can be accomplished through...

Our school verse...
Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you. ~Matthew 6:33

Our vision defines our purpose here at HGCS and directs the pathway for student learning.

Our vision states...
To equip students to serve God in the 21^st century by providing a quality academic program founded upon a biblical worldview.

Our Beliefs...

1. Christian faith is the basis for all endeavors of the school as we seek Christ first in all that we do. (Matthews 6:33)
2. We believe that all subjects should be taught through a biblical worldview.
3. We believe that Christian education is a collaborative effort among the home, church, and school.
4. We believe that the primary goals of Christian education are the salvation and discipleship of the next generation, and must have an eternal perspective.
5. We believe that success at HGCS is measured not only by the student's leadership, personal excellence, and integrity, but moreover by their life commitment to Jesus Christ.
6. We believe in an academically stimulating environment that will fully prepare students to meet the challenges they will be faced with in their future.
7. We believe students have varied learning styles. As they are engaged in the learning process, we provide a variety of instructional strategies to support their learning.
8. We believe that each student is created in God's image and possesses unique physical, social, and academic needs.

Teachers

• All teachers are strong Christians and committed to giving their very best. They love Jesus, children, and teaching.
• All teachers are college degreed and are very proficient in their area of instruction.
• All teachers are creative, organized and resourceful.
• Transitional Kindergarten through second grades have full-time teacher assistants involved in the classroom.
• Third grade has part-time assistants.

Kingdom Education Principles

Kingdom Education is the life-long, bible-based, Christ-centered process of leading a child into a new identity with Christ and developing him/her by Christ so that the child will be empowered to live a life characterized by love, trust, and obedience to Christ.

1. The education of children and youth is the primary responsibility of parents.
2. The education of children and youth is a 24-hours-a-day, 7-days-a-week process that must take place from birth through maturity.
3. The education of children and youth must have as its primary goals the salvation and discipleship of the next generation.
4. The education of children and youth must be based on God's Word as absolute truth.
5. The education of children and youth must hold Christ preeminent in all of life.
6. The education of children must not hinder the spiritual and moral development of the next generation.
7. The education of children and youth, if and when delegated to others by parents, must be done by teachers chosen with utmost care to ensure that they all follow these principles.
8. The education of children and youth results in the formation of lifestyles or worldviews that will be patterned after the belief systems or worldviews of their teachers.
9. The education of children and youth must lead to true wisdom by connecting all knowledge to a biblical worldview frame of reference.
10. The education of children and youth must have a view of the future that includes the eternal perspective.

Parent Expectations

The administration, faculty, and staff will strive to maintain an atmosphere and guidelines for the students that will promote positive behavior. The teacher will be spiritually prepared and enthusiastic about classroom management. Therefore, it is imperative that parents cooperate and reinforce the same. Following are some suggestions:

1. Pray daily for teachers, administration, and the children.
2. Be positive about the school in front of the children.
3. Be encouragers; build one another up.
4. Do not gossip. Know the facts and support them.
5. Don't assume. If you don't understand something, ask the right people.
6. Be a team player, not an individual.
7. Remember, your suggestions are important. Let us hear from you. School Administration does not read unsigned letters.
8. When there is a concern or suggestion, please take the following steps:
   • Pray; seek the will of God.
   • Get all the facts (do not assume that your child or the person who gave you the information has given you all the facts).
   • Make an appointment to meet with the teacher to discuss your concerns. Then if you are not completely satisfied, the teacher and the administrator will meet together with you to address the situation.  Please do not meet with or challenge the classroom teacher or assistant teacher without first making an appointment.
   • Your concerns are not everyone else's concerns; therefore, do not involve others with concerns of your family.
   • We have an open door policy; therefore, please be assured that we do care about your concerns and suggestions, and will treat these with integrity and fairness.
9. Remember to have Christ-like character at all HGCS activities on or off campus. Please be a part of the solution and not part of the problem.
10. Remember, we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but principalities and powers of the air. (Ephesians 6:12)

Holidays & Activities

Holidays that will be observed are Thanksgiving, Christmas, Valentine's Day, and Easter. All activities, parties, decorations, etc., need to focus on Jesus Christ and His love.

Volunteering at HGCS

Hickory Grove Christian School invites and encourages our parents to volunteer to help out with school activities. One of our greatest assets is our parents, the time and devotion that they put into our school is greatly appreciated.

Parents who volunteer at HGCS not only support the school but they have a unique opportunity to meet other parents as well. They also learn more about the happenings of a school day and the on going education process.

We have numerous opportunities for volunteers. Listed below are only a few for more information contact your child's principal.

• Room Mom or Dad
• Moms In Touch
• Parent Council
• Lunch Room Monitor
• Reading Partner
• Math Helper
• Computer Lab Monitor

Accreditation

What is accreditation?

The high school of HGCS is accredited with SACS, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. Accreditation is a method of quality assurance developed more than 100 years ago by American universities and secondary schools. The goal of accreditation is to evaluate, verify, and improve on quality education. In order to be accredited, a school must meet high standards set forth by SACS, engage in a continuous improvement plan and demonstrate quality assurance through external review.

Benefits of Accreditation

• Mark of quality - external recognition for a school's commitment to quality education
• Proven success for Improvement - constant school improvement grounded in best practices from education fields
• Reciprocity - transferability of credits for students from school to school
• Access - greater access to federal loans, scholarships, post-secondary education, and military programs that require regional accreditation

2010-2011 School Improvement Plan

School Improvement Plan (PDF Download)