Halton Hills Christian School

Halton Hills Christian School (HHCS) is an independent Christian school located in Halton Hills, Ontario, Canada. HHCS is a member of the Ontario Alliance of Christian Schools.

History

In January 1957, a group of parents who felt the need for Christian education, came together to begin plans for their vision of a Christian school. In October 1960 the school became incorporated as Georgetown District Christian School and gradually enough money was accumulated to buy to property which is 8 acres on which the school now stands. The property is worth about $12,713.00. The school became a reality in 1965, when it was dedicated for service. Psalm 111: 10, was chosen for the cornerstone: "For reverence of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom." Three staff members welcomed ninety-nine students to three classrooms that September morning. The cost of building the school was $48,013.06. The cost of the school supplies and furniture, flag, and flag pole was altogether $4,551.11. Since that time, the school building has been enlarged four times in order to accommodate the increasing number of students coming from Christian homes in the community. A pre-school for four-year-olds was started in 1997. In the fall of 2008, a process of re-branding was initiated by the board and development committee, with the goal in mind to make sure that the school's "brand" was relevant and "current" with respect to their vision for excellence and growth. In the spring of 2009, a new name and logo were presented and approved by the school membership. The school's name is officially change in September 2009 from Georgetown District Christian School, to Halton Hills Christian School, a name more reflective of the community where the school is located and the area that it services. Halton Hills Christian School continues to serve Christian families from a large geographical area.

Academics

Students learn a variety of subjects. The subjects the school offers are art, bible, French, language arts, spelling, mathematics, social sciences, music, and physical education. The school also meets and exceeds the provincial requirements for education. New this year, HHCS is running an enrichment program called “CEIADA.” CEIADA stands for Christian Education in a Digital Age. In this program, students from various schools in the lower Ontario area take part in projects such as making their own Autobiography and posting it on YouTube, making a full Wikipedia article on their school, and making podcasts every other week that will be posted on iTunes.

Co-Curricular

Choir- Students from Grade 1 to 3 participate weekly in Primary Choir as do Grade 4 to 6 students in Jr. Choir. Grade 6 also learns chimes. Grade 4 and 5 learn to play the recorders. Choirs also perform for local churches and nursing homes on ongoing basis during the year. Science Fair– Every other year, students in Grade 1-8 participate in a school wide science fair. Several projects from Grade 7 & 8 are selected to go on and complete at the Provincial level. French– French language program begins in Grade 1 and continues to Grade 8. Students are given opportunity to learn to speak, write and read our second national language.

Band– All students in Grade 7 and 8 participate in Band class and take instrumental music. The band practices 2 times week to prepare musical pieces for chapels, concerts, church services and community events.

Chapels– Are held once a month. Activities range from class presentations, to having local pastors or other speakers from Christian organizations to speak. These times are the corporate worship times for the staff and students. Parents are also welcome to join.

Electives– On a bi-annual basis, students from grade 1-6 have opportunity to explore a leisure activity for 4 winter afternoons. Some examples are: pottery, horseback riding, writing and publishing. Students in Grades 7&8 get to go outside of school to act as interns in different work places for 6 half days.

Community Service– Each grade participates in different ways to help out the community of Halton Hills every year. The school, participate in food drive for the local food bank, collect items for Operation Christmas Child, host a toy drive during Christmas and/or hats/mittens drive during the winter every year.

Intergrade Connection– Younger grade students are paired up with older grade students for various classroom activities ranging from reading buddies to making crafts together to helping Preschoolers and Kindergarten students with their hats, mittens, and coats before they go home or out to play.

Musicals/Dramas– Each year the students and staff host a major musical production to celebrate a Christian holiday. All students from Pre-school to Grade 8 participate.

Harmony PreSchool Harmony Preschool is affiliated with Halton Hills Christian School. The staff and students come from many different Christian denominations and with the support of their surrounding Christian community.

Arrowsmith

Following the methods developed by Barbara Arrowsmith Young of Toronto, they have started a cognitive abilities class. The Arrowsmith program is a different approach to dealing with students with learning disabilities. Previously, students were taught strategies to compensate for their learning disabilities and the classroom environment was modified to accommodate these students and their needs. The Arrowsmith program is only in certain private schools across Canada and the United States.

The Arrowsmith_Program is based on the theory of neuroplasticity. It is now a recognized fact that the brain is pliable and elastic, not fixed as we used to believe. Therefore, it is now possible to physically change the brain in response to stimuli and develop new neural pathways. The exercises created by Barbara Arrowsmith Young over the past 25 years now make it possible for the brains of children with certain learning dysfunctions to be strengthened to the point of average or above-average functionality.

HHCS has students coming and going out of the Arrowsmith room for 50%, 62%, or 74% of the school day, depending on their individual program. To assist them, they have 2 experienced teachers, trained in the Arrowsmith methodology, and 1 teaching assistant to aid in the classroom activities.

Students work on a variety of 11 different cognitive exercises. All students complete pen and paper work, some students work on computers, and some students use MP3 players to complete auditory work. Students are required to do 70 to 100 minutes of homework, 6 times a week. The exercises work the brain as if it is a muscle. The new promise is that, as the exercises change the brain’s abilities, children begin to learn at the natural rate of their peers; they no longer require remedial support, program modification, or other forms of compensation.

Renovation

Halton Hills Christian School renovated their school in 2013. The construction is now complete, and the school has been expanded. The school was 6 weeks ahead of the estimated completion time.

References

http://www.haltonhillschristianschool.org/

http://www.hh-cs.org/

http://www.ceiada.org/

http://www.arrowsmithschool.org/