Summer Program

For those of you who have been interested in our summer program this year, the information can now be found on the church website:  www.franklinchristianchurch.com.  You will find detailed information about the program, dates, and fees.  There are some discounts available if you opt for the eight week program.  There is also a registration form available for download that we would encourage you to submit as soon as possible. We only have room for 48 children due to the number of teachers available to work this summer.  If you have any questions, please e-mail us at ShiningLightsummer@franklinchristianchurch.com.

Alerting Parents

Yes, Sunday night caught me completely off-guard as I was at an Oscar watching party when one of my teachers texted me about Williamson Co. closing schools.  I was completely baffled; had no computer with me, and had to rely on information from various sources.  Needless to say I missed much of the party!  While we can debate all day whether Wms. Co. made the correct decision, I can only say that since the suspect was caught in the general area of town where the church is located, that I would not have wanted to have him still out there when we began on Monday morning.

A couple of weeks ago, I began a text group app for me to contact all 25 teachers quickly if needed.  The eventual plan was to have each classroom add parents to a group text, so if I texted the teachers, they would forward the information on to you.

Little did we realize that procrastination can get you in trouble!  I'm sure some of you have already received an e-mail from your child's teachers asking you to help them set their group texts up.

Please help us communicate with you quickly and easily!  In order for this app to work, you must text the number that the teacher sends you.  The teacher cannot simply add your cell phone number.  It does not work that way; you have to initiate it.

We apologize for any inconvenience that this closing caused.  I have mentioned before that we follow Wms. Co. schools due to the number of teachers' children that we have.  Most of our teachers have children in the school system and are able to teach while their children are at school. 

Thank you for your understanding! 

School Closed Monday February 25

Subject: Schools closed/extended care on snow schedule

Reply-To: email@blackboard.com

Hello parents and staff. I wanted to let you know that the manhunt ended Sunday evening around 10.

Due to the late hour in which Mr. Vaughn was apprehended and because of the logistics of trying to reach employees and parents after school had been cancelled, the decision was made to keep schools closed on Monday but open extended care on a snow day schedule. 

Thank you for your understanding,

Carol Birdsong

This e-mail has been sent to you by WILLIAMSON COUNTY SCHOOLS. To maximize their communication with you, you may be receiving this e-mail in addition to a phone call with the same message. If you wish to discontinue this service, please inform WILLIAMSON COUNTY SCHOOLS either IN PERSON, by US MAIL, or by TELEPHONE at 615-472-4000.

NO SCHOOL MON., FEB. 25th, 2013

Due to circumstances beyond our control - there will be no Shining Light School tomorrow, Monday, February 25th, because of the cancellation of Williamson County Schools. More details relating to the closing of WCS may be found on their website or possibly on local newscasts tonight or in the morning. We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused you.

FYI

Thank you to those who picked up Scholastic catalogues this week!  Marcy Cookingham, one of our former teachers and a church member at FCC, orders for us each Thursday.  She has done a terrific job finding us books that coordinate with our thematic curriculum.  We have also used bonus points to order teacher materials from resource books to puzzles and manipulatives for the children.  So please take a look and see if there are some books that you would like to order for home use.  Just a reminder in case you have not ordered before:  it is done online (www.scholastic.com/bookclubs) and to set up a link to our school, the code is GPTH7.  Books are sent to the school each week, and we will place them in your child's tote bag.  If some happen to be gifts for your child, just shoot me a quick e-mail to let me know, and we will make other arrangements to get them to you.

Latest news on the PDO Ruling.  It has been approved for passage - yeah!  We are following the governor's proposed bill which allows any religious institution to have as many programs as they would like as long as they keep no child more than two days.  We will need to register with the Dept. of Human Services and keep records.  We keep good records, so this should not be an issue for us!  To check the status, go to:  www.tn.gov - click on legislative bill search under the government tab and type in HB0172.

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Statewide tornado drill

One of our teachers alerted me that there is a statewide tornado drill planned for this Wednesday (20th) at 9:00 AM.  I can't find any specific details except that it says that they plan to set off sirens sometime around 9:00 AM...right when we are doing car lane.  Right now (Monday evening) I plan to just continue as usual.  If I find out more information on Tuesday, I will have teachers e-mail you our plans.

Miscellaneous

I would like to ask for prayers for our Shining Light teachers this week.  We have several with serious illnesses or medical conditions and some with loved ones who are seriously ill.  We could just really use some prayers right now for healing and comfort!

Just a reminder if the orange cones are NOT out, we are unable to do car lane that day.  Right now with our situation, I'm not sure that we will be able to do it each day.  We will definitely try though.

We are in need of some Scholastic orders!  I will set new catalogues out this week on the foyer desk, so stop by and pick them up.  Now is a great time to order for Easter!  Your orders allow us to purchase books for free and to build up our library.  We concentrate on purchasing according to the themes that we are teaching, so new additions to the library are always welcome.  In addition we are able to order games, puzzles and other curriculum-based materials.  So please consider helping us out by adding to both our library and yours!

The last word that I had on the PDO ruling is that it is to be discussed by the House on February 20th.  We have been assured by those close to the situation that it looks very good to work out in our favor.  Add that to your prayer list too :)

CAR LANE

Okay, crazy car lane day!  I was unaware that there would be landscaping work blocking the parking lot this morning.  We thought that we had fixed the issue and forgot that Wednesday morning Bible study began, and seeing all those empty spots, some of them decided to park right in the middle of our car lane!

Just a few reminders though since car lane is on our minds:

• If the cones are NOT out, there was some reason that we just couldn't do car lane that day.  It could be anything from a traffic delay for our teachers or construction on our site.  We've even had cases of cars breaking down and ending up in our lot with no owner to be seen, and the car is blocking access.  So please do not wear your pajamas to bring your child just in case....  
• Please, please, please - do not unbuckle your child and then move forward!  We will unbuckle your child for you.  This is a safety issue for us.
• You do not need to get out of the car to help us.  Again, it's a safety issue as we have two lanes that exit, and if someone should not see you hop out, but I've directed them to go then we have a problem.
• I was extremely nervous doing car lane today since our visibility was somewhat limited because of the cars parked everywhere and the cones ending up in various places.  I realized how quickly there could be an accident when the system is changed unexpectedly.  So please be patient when we have some rules to follow.

Thanks for your cooperation and understanding!

FYI

New service times for FCC:

Sundays:  9:00 AM and 10:30 AM beginning this Sunday, February 2.  Come join us for worship!  Children's programs both hours.  Just check in the downstairs foyer.

Thank you families for all of you who came to Donuts with Dad this week!  We loved seeing you and getting to spend some time with you.

The PDO bill has been introduced at this legislative session.  It looks like it has been referred to a health committee (government website confusing, go figure).  If you haven't e-mailed one of the names below, please try to do so and tell them to vote YES, we support churches offering two separate programs.  Once we have a vote, we can finalize the Mon/Wed program.  Thank you so much for your support!

Tennessee House of Representatives

Glen Casada

Charles Sargent

email: rep.glen.casada@capitol.tn.gov

email: rep.charles.sargent@capitol.tn.gov

Tennessee State Senate

Jack Johnson

email: sen.jack.johnson@capitol.tn.gov

Have a great weekend!  Stay warm!