The Real Meaning Of Christmas Through the Eyes of a Second Grader.

When asked by her second grade teacher, Mrs. Blom, what does Christmas mean to you Illyana one of her second graders wrote, "Christmas means that its time to celebrate Jesus' birthday. We give toys to the less fortunate. That makes me very happy."

The Bible says, "Raise up a child in the way they should go and they will not depart from it." It's so easy to get caught up in the hustle and bustle of the Christmas season but it is refreshing when we get back to the true meaning of Christmas which is God's demonstration of His love for us in sending His Son Jesus to live, die and resurrect for us and how that translates in our desire to give to others as a sign of our love.

Here at Upper Room Christian School we pray that you would be filled with the love of God this Christmas and that His peace would fill your hearts and homes.

It's Time For Real School Choice In New York

School choice is a nationwide movement that empowers parents by enabling them to make the best possible choice for their children's education. In short, it puts power in the hands of parents to decide which type of education best fits the needs of their particular child – whether that is a public, private or religious institution, or educating their child at home.

School choice also protects parents' constitutional rights to direct their children's upbringing in accordance with the values, principles and religious convictions they hold dear.

Private school choice refers to publicly funded scholarship programs that redirect the flow of education funding to individual families rather than to government schools. In other words, the money now follows the child rather than a bureaucracy. Under these programs, parents can apply for scholarships that allow them to send their child to a private school of their choice, including religious ones.

Without school choice scholarships, parents who want their kids to go to a private school would have to, in essence, double pay. In other words, they would pay for a private education while also paying taxes that go toward public education. It would level the playing field for families of different incomes by allowing parents to redirect their tax dollars toward schools of their choice.

REAPING THE BENEFITS OF A CHRISTIAN SCHOOL excerpt from Dr. Charles Walker

A child’s teacher is an important role model. Your child spends a major portion of the school day under the influence of one or more key teachers. You value the importance of the exemplary model set by your child’s teacher. In the Christian school classroom, the teacher openly teaches the truths of Scripture because his commitment compels an open, unashamed love and service to Jesus Christ. The government does not hinder these teachings, nor the reading of the Bible, nor prayer; all three are common every day occurrences. The teachers openly demonstrate and model Christian principles, one of the reasons you send your child to a Christian school.

The academic instruction in the Christian school exceeds that of the public schools. With strict standards of behavior enforced and high academic standards expected, the Christian school provides your child a better education, opening more doors in his life for future success and satisfaction. The benefits of the sound education offered in the Christian school are far-reaching and long-term, another reason you send your child to a Christian school.

Christian values and attitudes are taught and emphasized in the Christian school. The overt effects of violence and immorality so common in today’s public schools clearly demonstrate the need for a Christian education. The Christian ethics and morals expounded in your home and church are reinforced in the Christian school classroom. Nurturing a child with Biblical truth is an excellent way to equip him for maturity. The Christian values taught in the Christian home and reinforced in the Christian school enable your child to deal with a troubled world without succumbing to its troubles, another reason you send your child to a Christian school.

Opportunities for Christian friends and fellowship abound in the Christian school. Negative peer pressure is downplayed by emphasizing the relationship of each child with Jesus Christ, and magnifying the Biblical standard of true friendship which calls for love, forgiveness, and accountability. The positive influence of a child’s Christian peers has no substitute, another reason you send your child to a Christian school.

Teacher-pupil ratio in a Christian school is lower than that of most public schools. This smaller class size permits a teacher to spend more time with each child. Consequently, your child receives more individualized attention from the teacher, and this, of course, greatly benefits him academically and personally, another reason you send your child to a Christian school.

Obeying Biblical guidelines is essential when seeking the best for your child. Scriptural admonitions concerning the rearing of children in the Christian faith, such as Deuteronomy 6:5-7 and II Corinthians 6:14, can only be truly adhered to if children are taught in a Christian environment. The public schools cannot prepare a child for a fruitful, Christ-honoring life. In the Christian classroom, your child learns the Biblical truth absolutely necessary for living a balanced Christian life, another reason you send your child to a Christian school.

Placing your child in a Christian school may necessitate a financial sacrifice, a geographical inconvenience, or a drain on your energy, but the joy received from watching your child grow academically and mature in the Lord makes all the effort, all the time, all the money worth it. You should praise the Lord for the wisdom and direction He has given you, and thank Him for the blessings of a Christian school.

Dr. Charles Walker is a former education director of the American Association of Christian Schools and the executive director of the Tennessee Association of Christian Schools.

The Origin Of Humanity - Creation vs. Evolution

"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth". Genesis 1:1

"Then God said, "Let us make human beings in our image". Genesis 1:26

"Then God formed man from the dust of the ground". He breathed the breath of life into the man's nostrils, and the man became a living person". Genesis 2:7

" It is now commonly accepted in scientific circles that human beings have become what they are today as a result of millions of years of evolution. Beginning as a one-celled animal..." Excerpted from a commonly used Public High School Textbook.

One of these views is correct and one is not. Which one will your child who spends more than 14,000 hours in school believe? 

Sound Christian Education takes the Bible seriously. Truth is seen as absolute. Christian Education believes a Christian worldview can make a positive difference. It gives students a strong foundation in a world of shifting values and morals. Christian Education recognizes God’s sovereignty and Christ’s Kingship, and …therefore God’s claims over all of creation are taken seriously. No subject or curriculum is outside the orbit of God. Students are recognized for who they are: sinners in need of God’s grace in Christ. Also students are given a vision of God’s Kingdom and their place in it. Good Christian education recognizes the unique, God given gifts and talents of the students and challenges them to achieve their amazing potential. It assists parents in their God given mandate. Sound Christian Education treats the student as a whole person whose aim is to grow in Christ-likeness. A foundation in God and His world prepares the student for tomorrow. Healthy Christian Education develops critical thinking by having the courage to explore other world views from the perspective of its own worldview.

Two Opposing World Views

There is a vast difference between these two views! Only one can be right! Either God is our creator and finding His eternal purpose and plan for one's life is central and essential or "there is no God" and there is no eternal purpose or plan. Either we were created by God and for God or we are just creatures of circumstance.

One of the goals of Christian education is to bring the students into a deeper relationship with their Creator. The opposing goal of secular, public education is self-centered. The Bible, which is one of the few textbooks outlawed in public schools, says, "What does it profit a man if he gains the entire world and loses his soul"?

As the public education system moves further away from the acknowledgement of God the Christian school centers all of it's education towards the service of God and others. While striving for and believing in academic and physical excellence it also strives for spiritual excellence. Which world view do you want for your children and grandchildren? "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord"!

CHRISTIAN EDUCATION FOR THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY

For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the LORD shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee (Isaiah 60:2).

We are living in a time when the contrast between the philosophies governing the world and the apostolic truth of scripture has never been so vastly different and the divide grows more every day. To whose charge shall we commit the education of our children? What forces will we permit to shape and mold their impressionable young minds? Will we turn our children over to the charge of men and women who are the proselytizers of a world order founded upon satanically inspired systems designed to destroy all those to whom they are taught? Or will we allow the truth of God’s word to shape and form their worldview? Surely this is a crucial choice for us all! Our children are our most precious blessing.  It is they who will carry the light of the gospel to future generations.

 

The most significant influence by far upon our children’s lives in their formative years is the education they will receive. A Christian education is no longer an attractive option; it is imperative. It is the only education that is founded upon the truth of the word of God, which is the only shield against doctrines of demons designed to destroy our children before they are even able to understand what is happening to them. Will we abandon them to the merciless grip of our archenemy? God forbid! We urge you with all that is in us: choose Christian education for your children today, so that they may be preserved from the darkness and corruption that is rapidly consuming our society today.

10 Reasons to choose a Christian Education Reason #5 ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT!

ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT

Students at Christian schools consistently out-perform their public school counterparts. Their standardized test scores are way above the curve, and they're better prepared for college upon graduation. 
Even in the areas of math and reading, subjects that are "less spiritual" in content, students at Christian schools have proven their superiority. The best colleges are likely to pay your children more attention, not less, if they attend a Christian school.

10 Reasons to choose a Christian Education Reason #4 Safety

Simply put, Christian schools are a safer place for your children to receive an education. In addition to physical well-being, Christian Schools offer a much safer emotional and spiritual environment. While not devoid of problems they are far less likely to occur, and far more likely to be met with firm disciplinary action. Our goal is to provide a safe, loving and caring environment that is conducive for greater academic success, emotional well-being and spiritual growth.

10 Reasons to choose a Christian Education Reason #3

THE SCHOOL SHARES YOUR VALUES

If you're like most Christian parents, you've taught your children about God since the day they were born. You've taken them to church, read them Bible stories, sung "Jesus Loves Me." Imagine their shock and dismay when they're thrust into an environment in which God is removed, ignored, or both.
Even the best public schools are prohibited by law from reinforcing the values you teach at home. They either compete against them or disregard them altogether. And because you care about the mental and spiritual development of your children, you may spend countless hours trying to bridge the philosophical gap between Christianity and humanism - a gap that would never have existed had they attended Christian school. By entrusting your children to educators who share your values, you'll have more time for ball games and bike rides and meaningful conversations, instead of debriefing and re-educating them. "To commit our children to the care of irreligious persons is to commit lambs to the superintendency of wolves." Timothy Dwight

10 Reasons to choose a Christian Education Reason #2

 GOD TELLS US TO TEACH OUR CHILDREN THROUGH THE WORD

It is a sad but true irony: public schools, the self-proclaimed shapers of the human mind, have chosen to ignore the God who created the human mind. To their chagrin, they have robbed themselves of their most valuable "textbook," and the only available source of absolute truth.
"The school system that ignores God teaches its pupils to ignore God; and this is not neutrality. It is the worst form of antagonism, for it judges God to be unimportant and irrelevant in human affairs. This is atheism." Gordon H. Clark
"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom," writes Solomon. "And knowledge of the Holy One is understanding" (Proverbs 9:10). As students pursue the knowledge of math, biology and music in a Christian setting, they're chasing after the knowledge of God. And the by-products of such an endeavor - wisdom and understanding - are the God-given rewards for which every good student strives.
God expects you, as a Christian parent, to plant and nurture His Word in the hearts and minds of your children. This is best accomplished in settings where home, church and school all send the same message, teaching God's truth with clarity, conviction and consistency. And while the benefits of such a commitment are often realized much later, here's one you'll notice in relatively short order. An education that uses God's Word as its foundational text does more than produce spiritually-mature Christians. It makes them wiser and more knowledgeable. It forces them to be better thinkers. And isn't that the goal of education in the first place?

10 Reasons to Choose Christian Education Reason #1

GOD'S WORD IS TAUGHT

"I advise no one to place his child where the Scriptures do not reign paramount. Every institution in which men are not increasingly occupied with the Word of God must become corrupt...I am much afraid that schools will prove to be the great gates of hell unless they diligently labor in explaining the Holy Scriptures, engraving them in the hearts of youth." Martin Luther
The place to start is at the beginning, with the first nation, the first educational system. When deciding how to manage your children's education, it only makes sense to ask the One who invented education.
"You shall therefore impress these words of mine on your heart and on your soul .... And you shall teach them to your sons, talking of them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road and when you lie down and when you rise up." (Deuteronomy 11:18-19)
What we have here is a clear biblical mandate to saturate our children's minds with the Word of God. It's a difficult task under any circumstances, but virtually impossible in a public school setting. Once inside those doors, children spend 30 to 40 hours a week being told that God, if He exists at all, is no longer relevant. No matter how spiritually grounded your child may be, the repetition of such destructive ideas can't help but have an adverse affect.
The harsh reality is that our Supreme Court kicked God out of the public school system more than 40 years ago. A generation later, scientific naturalism and a host of other anti-God values are not only being taught in American classrooms, they're being championed.
Christian schools offer a refreshing, biblical alternative. Not only is the Bible taught for what it is - the inspired Word of God - but it forms the foundation of all other texts. In math, in social studies, in biology, all academic roads lead to God, in whom all knowledge has its origin. Your children won't travel that road in the local public school.

Special Open House Brunch July 25th from 11am-1pm!

Upper Room Christian School will be having a "Brunch Open House" on Saturday, July 25th from 11am - 1pm! Come and join us for a bite to eat as we discuss the value of Christian Education and our program here at Upper Room. Our address is 722 Deer Park Road, Dix Hills, NY 11746 and we are less than 1/2 mile South of the LIE and 2 miles North of the Southern State Parkway.

Salvation is Allowed in Christian Schools!

Praise Report: "We are overjoyed to share the following news. Yesterday during 8th grade Bible Class we returned to the topic of origin of the "Fall of Man" & the "Gift of Salvation". We ended the class with a prayer for salvation. During the prayer, we asked if there were any students that have not accepted Christ as their Lord and Savior that would be ready and willing to do so. Two students stood and said they were ready to accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior!!! The entire class prayed together with them. Salvation." "I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents."Luke 15:10

Our Latest Video

This video describes a bit of our purpose, mission and vision. Located in Dix Hills, New York, Upper Room Christian School has a 34 year history of providing quality education in a spirit controlled, disciplined, academic environment that is conducive for learning and spiritual growth. Our atmosphere is warm and caring. Our school is safe and vibrant. Come to our next open house on Saturday, April 18th at 10 am or just call our school office at 631-242-5359 ext.201 for more information. You can also visit us on the web at www.URCS.org.

Upper Room Christian School

UPPER ROOM CHRISTIAN SCHOOL

722 Deer Park Road

Dix Hills, NY 11746

www.URCS.org

631-242-5359 ext.201

Growing Up In Christ

Spirit, Soul and Body

Since its founding in 1981, Upper Room ChristianSchool has been providing a college-preparatory education based on Biblical principles in a safe, loving environment for children Kindergarten age through 12^th grade. By integrating the Word of God into their teachings, students receive a Christian view of the world. Upper Room uses state of the art curriculum, smart boards and the latest teaching strategies all taught by Christian teachers with an average of over 9 years of experience  in their subject matter.

Christian education has a goal that children be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ while preparing them to be successful throughout grade school, high school and college. The teachers, staff and administration of Upper Room Christian School are committed to the Biblical training of children spiritually, academically, emotionally and physically. The curriculum is developmentally appropriate while incorporating daily Bible/Devotional classes, reading, writing, math, history, literature, science, creative arts, music, computer, physical education, foreign language and critical thinking with small teacher to student ratios.

Upper Room Christian School also offers many college-level courses accredited by St. John’sUniversity and a comprehensive special education program in conjunction with the Half Hollow School District for students with IEP’s. Upper RoomChristian School is a federally - approved 1-20 school accepting international students from around the world. Upper Room offers after school Varsity and Junior Varsity team sports such as Basketball, Baseball, Volleyball, Taekwondo and Cheerleading. Upper Room features a full hot lunch program, an after-care program on site, a dance academy and private vocal, drama and instrumental lessons. At Upper RoomChristian School students can qualify for a New York State Regents or Advanced Regents Diploma and take both the ACT and PSAT exams on site. Upper Room Christian School also partners with Wilson Tech which offers career training in over 22 different specialties and students can graduate with both a NYS diploma and a Certificate of Completion from Wilson Tech. Ninety-Seven percent of Upper Room Christian School  students go on to some of the best public and private colleges and universities. Many graduates receive scholarships.

Located in Dix Hills at 722 Deer Park Road on beautiful Long Island, Upper Room Christian School is centrally located between the Long Island Expressway and the Southern State Parkway and less than 1 hour from New York City and Connecticut. Transprtation is provided by the local school districts for students residing within 15 miles of the school and the school provides bussing, for an additional fee, for students in Roosevelt, Uniondale and the Queens border.

Upper Room is called by God to train up children in the way they should go so they will be equipped academically, socially, physically and spiritually to fulfill their calling and destiny as leaders in the 21^st Century. Call 631-242-5359 ext.201 or go to www.URCS.org for more information or to schedule an appointment. Your child’s future is in your hands.

Christian Education

The importance of Christian Education cannot be overstated! The Bible says to, "train up your child in the way they should go and when they are old they will not depart from it". Here is one of our 1st graders in action filmed in her home by her proud mother.

The Bratcher family has sent 3 of their Children to Upper Room Christian School. This is what her Mom has to say, "That is my daughter in the video. Thank you so much Upper Room Christian School, Dr. Eck and Pastor Dono. My son started in 9th grade and graduated from the school in 2009. My daughter started the same year in 4th grade and will be graduating from 12th grade this June. My last child started in Kindergarten and loves her teachers and the Lord. Upper Room has helped to reinforce all of the values in Christian living as well as provide them with a GREAT education. I want to thank all of the teachers and support staff for the great work you do. Praise God!"

Christian Education

These bulletin  boards help demonstrate some of the value of Christian Education! The teacher is expressing her faith in her student's ability, her desire to hear them deeply, her concern and care for them and her love.

The students are reminded daily that they are alive, holy, wise, blessed, victorious, bold, free and righteous in Christ! These boards would be considered unacceptable in our present public education system! The environment in a Christian School is much more loving, safe and encouraging. The students are taught to love themselves, love others and love God with the same if not a higher level of academic and athletic emphasis that is presently found in our public school system.

GOD'S MESSAGE: Upper Room Christian School Chapel Sept. 12, 2014

Come to our Open House

Upper Room Christian School is a New York State Regents School.
We offer an innovative developmental elementary program that focuses on Spiritual, Social and Academic growth providing small class size with low student/teacher ratios.  We have a complete academic program that includes Art, Dance, Music and Technology as well as several Advanced Placement classes for High School students accredited through St. Johns University. We offer competitive sports programs and are the the Boys Varsity Baseball and have been Basketball Champions for the IPSSAL League.  We occasionally compete in both the NYSMA and SCMEA Music Programs.

Our graduates have been awarded scholarships to such prestigious Higher Education Institutions as:
Adelphi, Boston University, Brown University, Columbia University, Cornell, Culinary Institute of America, Dowling, Erskine College, Fordham University, Florida A&M, Georgetown, Hofstra, Ithaca, Johnson and Wales, Kings College, Long Island University, Messiah College, New York institute of Technology, Oral Roberts University, Penn State University, Quinnipiac, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, St. Johns University, Temple University, University of Rochester and Virginia Tech to name a few!

We have Bible Devotions four days a week and a Chapel service each Friday.

We are a non-denominational multi-racial and multi-cultural educational extension of Upper Room Christian World Center and serve families from over 100 churches in the Queens, Nassau and Suffolk County Areas. We are an approved I-20 school with International Students from China, Korea, Germany, England, Haiti, Dominican Republic and Spain. We also have the largest special education (IEP) program of any private school on Long Island.

• Safe
• Loving
• Christian
• College Prep

 

Our "Open House" will be held in the school's lobby on Saturday, March 23rd at 10 am.

 

Blessings!

Pastor Ed

E-Scrip Fundraising Program

Our school just signed up for the E-Scrip Fundraising Program. It's simple, free and powerful. You just go to http://www.escrip.com and search for Upper Room Christian School. Then you just enroll your Pathmark shopping card and/or selected credit cards and a percentage of your qualifying purchases will be donated to the school.

They also have an online mall you can shop from and a rewards dining program. So each time you use your registered cards they send a portion of that purchase to the school. It's a great way to help us as we continue to provide a Christian Education to underprivileged students here on Long Island and throughout the world!

Sincerely,
Pastor Ed