Read a Million Words Challenge:

We’re thrilled to kick off our winter reading challenge - Read a Million Words Challenge - to inspire a love for reading and build stamina in our students! 

Here's how you can support this initiative at home:

1. Encourage Reading: Motivate your child to read regularly—during free time, after school, or before bed.
2. Track Words Read: After your child finishes a book or a few books, submit the total number of words in the book(s) using this Google Form. You can use ARBookFinder.com or https://wordcounters.com/ to find the word count of a book. (If the word count isn’t listed, an estimate based on the number of pages is fine!)

Together, let’s celebrate our reading journey! Stay tuned as we display our growing word count each morning at school. Thank you for helping us reach 1,000,000 words!

School Hours:

Please do not have your children arrive at school before 8:00. We do not have supervision for them until that time. As a reminder, the first bell rings at 8:10 am. Students may go to their classrooms at this time.

Sickness Reminder:

Reminder: If your child is sick they may come back when their symptoms improve and are fever free for 24 hours without the aid of medication.

Please help us keep our students healthy and able to attend school. If you have any questions, please contact Nurse Anna.

NICSTO Donations:

Northwest Iowa Christian School Tuition Organization (NICSTO) is receiving contributions to provide tuition assistance to those who qualify. Anyone who contributes will receive a 75% tax credit up to the total amount of Iowa income tax that he/she pays. For example, if you donate $2,000 to NICSTO, your state income tax liability will be reduced by $1500 while NICSTO uses your contribution to help qualified students attend a Christian school. 

We use these funds to bridge some of the gap between ESAs and tuition. We also use these funds to help families (for instance a pastor family who moves into the area) who apply to our school after the ESA deadline. What a privilege to be able to use some of our state tax dollars for non-public education! 

Our school still needs close to $235,000 before the end of the year. You may also donate non-cash items such as grain, stocks and securities. If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact Mr. Van Velzen at 712-348-6106 (NICSTO Treasurer) or Mr. Alons at 737-2274 or stop by the school office. The donation forms are also available here or on the school website under "Donate Now", "Support Us", then "NICSTO Contribution Form.

Dazzle Days:

Two weeks of bonuses on eGift cards AND physical gift cards

Shop bonuses on 150+ brands

It's the most wonderful time of the year—for earning, that is. Take your holiday budget further and earn even more with bonuses on popular brands for holiday shopping.

Things to know

• Bonuses start on November 30 at 12:00 am ET and run through December 13 at 11:59 pm ET
• See which brands are on bonus in the app or online at RaiseRight.com

• TRIP hours are Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday from 8:00am - 3:30pm. and Wednesday and Friday from 8:00am - 12:00pm.
• 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.