Convocation Serivce:

Please take lawn chairs or blankets to use during the dedication service Thursday morning at 8:45 (located behind school). For audience singing, you will also need this file: Audience songs. You may print it or bring a device to read from.

Bus Service information:

There will be NO bus service on the first day of school Thursday, August 22. The bus will NOT run for morning pick up or afternoon drop off. Remember we dismiss at Noon on Thursday. 

Bus routes will start Friday, Aug 23. There will be no Sioux Center end of day route; all other routes run at 3:30 PM. Please contact Terry Schouten at Unity with questions.

Doors Locked

All doors to the OCCS building are locked during the school day. There is a buzz-in system at the front office entrance. Push the button on the west wall and face the camera until the door is released. Office personnel will unlock the door to allow you in. Please stop in the office to check-in. You will only be allowed in the building past the office for pre-arranged academic reasons.

Sign-In and Sign-Out Process

We ask students to sign in and out at the office if they come late to school, have to leave early, or are gone for a period of time throughout the day for appointments or for other reasons. Accurate absences and time away from school needs to be recorded. Parents, please inform your children that they need to stop by the office whenever they come to school late or leave early. 

Hot Lunch for this week

• Monday: No school
• Tuesday: No school
• Wednesday: No school
• Thursday: Noon Dismissal
• Friday: Italian Dunkers, Marinara or Meat Sauce, Broccoli, Fruit, Milk



Note from the kitchen:  At OCCS we are an offer vs serve school. This means kids are allowed to say no to items as they go through the lunch line. See the attached link for a great youtube video to help explain what decisions your kids will need to make as they go through the lunch line: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kn0xImQsaG8

Building Protocol

We continue to allow guests in the building only for pre-arranged academic purposes. All visitors to the building MUST come to the office first to check in. If you are bringing something for your student, you will need to leave it in the office.

After School Pick Up

We're a few days away from school starting and wanted to give you a refresher on how our pick up/drop off area works if your kids will be coming or going from school that way at all this year. Yellow & orange cards with families names will be distributed on Tuesday at our Back to School Bash to be used at the car pick up line. See the video below for details. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E71EgxX5NZc

Our goal is to keep your kids as safe as possible during these high-traffic times at school. 

Also, please avoid using the parking spaces in front of school between 7:45-8:15 and 3:15-3:30.

Thanks for helping us maintain safety in and around our building!

Sack Pack Program:

Preschool-12th grade can take advantage of the community-led Sack Pack Program. The Sack Pack Program provides free food items each weekend to assist families who are struggling to make ends meet. The program gives children a sack of nutritious, easy-to-prepare snacks for the weekend. Items might include EZ Mac cup, soup packets, fruit cup, applesauce cup, juice boxes, Pop Tarts, oatmeal packet, microwave popcorn, raisins, pudding cup, granola bar, cereal bar, cracker and peanut butter packs, fruit snacks, etc. We apologize, but at this time, we are unable to meet the needs of children with specific food allergies. Click the link below to sign up.

Sack Pack

GLC (Grade Level Coordinator) Changes:

We’re excited to announce that we’re changing the title from GLC (Grade Level Coordinator) to Room Parent! We realized that the term GLC often caused confusion about the role, so we’re simplifying it to make it clearer and more inviting. 

Want to make a big impact in your child’s classroom? Become a Room Parent this school year! Help out with field trips, parties, and special events while connecting with fellow parents and supporting your child’s teacher.

We Still Need Room Parents For:

• 4th - Mrs. Witt
• 6th - Mrs. Oordt

Interested in jumping in and being a Room Parent? Email one of the Room Parent Facilitators to let us know which class you’d like to support and if you have any questions. We’re excited to have all our Room Parents in place before the school year kicks off.

Thanks for considering this chance to support your child’s teacher and their classroom! Let’s make this school year amazing together!

Warmly,

Alison Kamp, Jenna Vreugdenhil, and Brittany Kiel

Room Parent Facilitators

Class Lists

Class Lists are now available in JMC. To view, please log into your JMC account (make sure you are logged into the 2024-2025 school year) - find “Register for 2024-2025” - “Downloadable Links” - "Class List 2024-2025." This is also where the 2024-2025 Parent Directory will be located in mid-September. If you have any questions, please contact the office.

Free and Reduced Meals:

We encourage families who are eligible to apply for Free or Reduced Meals. The OCCS Title 1 funding is determined by the number of families qualifying for these meals. Please refer to the income guidelines listed below.

To apply, log into the 2024-25 school year in JMC and select "Register for 2024-2025." Click on "Application for Educational Benefits" and fill out the requested information in JMC to submit the form to OCCS. Thank you!

2024-2025 Kindergarten dates

Because of the 1/2 day on Thursday, August 22, Kindergarten will have a FULL Friday on August 23, 2024. Regularly scheduled FULL Fridays will not begin again until the 4th quarter for Kindergartners.

ESA Families: Approval for tuition amounts is needed!

Tuition charges, music fees, credits for TRIP payouts, and carryover ESA amounts from last school year have been posted to your student’s JMC account. Please review these amounts for accuracy, and log onto the Odyssey Website to select OCCS as your school and confirm the total tuition charges due, as entered by OCCS for your child.

Please note: ESA distribution amounts can be applied to registration fees and music fees if all tuition charges are paid.

The first half of the ESA distribution will be completed within the next 30 days, and the second half will be distributed in January.

If you have any questions regarding the tuition amounts, please contact Lori at financial@orangecitychristian.net.

Upcoming Dates:

• August 22: First day of school, 8:45am convocation at OCCS, noon dismissal
• August 23: Full Day of School (K-8)
• August 26: First Day of Covenant Kids Preschool/Cubs Care
• August 30: 1:30pm dismissal
• August 30: Friday Care begins
• September 2: Labor Day - No School

Job openings for 2024-25 school year:

OCCS is looking to fill a few positions for the 2024-2025 school year. Applicants can bring a resume and completed application to the office or email it to Jason Alons, jalons@orangecitychristian.net.

Open Positions:

• Paraprofessionals - supporting the teachers, students, and classes at our school. Possible openings at multiple grade levels (part time and full time positions are available).
• Custodian - (Full time) - OCCS is looking to hire a full-time custodian for the 2024-2025 school year. We are looking to fill the position before this school year ends to help with the transition over the summer months.

Summer Hours

• The Office/TRIP office will be open in the summer Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday from 7:45am-12:15pm.
• TRIP orders are placed at 10:00am every Monday

• Find information about the OCCS TRIP program on our website by clicking the following link: OCCS TRIP Website
• Need help using the RaiseRight app? Check out the following webpage for more information: https://www.raiseright.com/

Orange City Christian School

712-737-2274 | 604 Third St. SW | www.orangecitychristian.net

Orange City Christian School is a biblically-based community that partners with parents, educating hearts and minds to serve in Christ's Kingdom.