Whitinsville Christian School
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| Whitinsville Christian School | |
|---|---|
| Location | |
| 279 Linwood Avenue Whitinsville, Massachusetts United States |
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| Coordinates | 42°06′23.5″N 71°39′13.6″W / 42.106528°N 71.653778°WCoordinates: 42°06′23.5″N 71°39′13.6″W / 42.106528°N 71.653778°W |
| Information | |
| Type | Christian day school |
| Motto | Servatus Venia Per Fidem |
| Established | 1924 |
| School district | Worcester County |
| Principal | Mary Masselink (elementary) Don Godeke (middle) Chris VanderBaan (high) |
| Headmaster | Lance Engbers |
| Faculty | 60 |
| Grades | K-12 |
| Number of students | 640 |
| Campus size | 6-7 acres |
| Campus type | suburban |
| Athletics conference | Dual Valley |
| Mascot | Crusader |
| Affiliation | Christian Schools International |
| Website | http://www.wcs.mec.edu/ |
Whitinsville Christian School is a K-12 Christian day school, one of the oldest in Massachusetts. The school is organized into an elementary school (grades K-5), a middle school (grades 6-8) and a high school (grades 9-12). It is a member of Christian Schools International [1] and is accredited by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges.[2]
Contents |
[edit] History
In 1907, a group of fathers from the Christian Reformed Church [3] of Whitinsville[4] organized a Society for Christian Instruction. It was their desire and purpose to educate their children in a school where the Scripture was central to all of learning. In 1924, the Society was incorporated by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts as an educational institution. Classes began in 1928 in the basement of the Christian Reformed Church on Willow Street in Whitinsville.
In 1966, a 28 acre (11 hectares) site was purchased from the Whitin Machine Works, and on March 30, 1968, ground was broken for a new school building, which was completed in November, 1969. In August 2006, the school, located at 279 Linwood Avenue in Whitinsville, Massachusetts, serves about 640 students with about 60 faculty and staff.
[edit] Music
WCS also has an orchestra program for students in grades K-12. The students are taught using the Suzuki Method[5]. Over 125 students participate in the WCS strings program. Every two years the most advanced members of the orchestra go on a tour to play their instruments and interact with the people in that area. Many trips are to places in the U.S., although past trips have included the Dominican Republic in 2005 and England in 1998. The most recent trip in the spring of 2010 was to Gary, West Virginia Many middle and high school students audition for the Central District orchestra, which is composed of musicians from the Central Massachusetts area. The high school orchestra is directed by Sylvia Thayer, while the chamber orchestras is directed by Monica Vanderbaan, and middle school orchestra is directed by Tammy Kaye.
WCS also has a talented high school band which plays regularly. The band performs two major concerts during the course of the year: the Christmas Concert and Band Finale.
WCS's Choir has also gained acclaim in recent years. The WCS Choir also embarks on a tour of the Eastern United States each April and has recently performed concerts tour in Washington, D.C., Maryland, New Jersey and New York. A documentary will be produced in the Spring of 2011 chronicling the Tour Choir's most recent tour.
For high school students who want a more prestigious vocal experience, the singing group, "Encore", which meets after school once a week. Encore is a by-audition vocal ensemble which rehearses once a week and performs a variety of different music genres such as musical theater, pop, rock, gospel and jazz. Almost all of Encore's music is specifically arranged for the group[1] and they engage in a number of performances[2] throughout New England each year sharing their music.
[edit] Sports
Whitinsville Christian School belongs to the Dual Valley Conference, along with Blackstone/Millville, Douglas, Hopedale, Nipmuc,and Sutton.
Facilities
The school's sports facilities were updated in 2005-2006. At the end of the 2005-06 school year a track was completed. It circles the varsity soccer field that was added the year before. In 2005, a softball field was built in the memory of the late Karen Taylor. The school also has six tennis courts that were built in the memory of Kaitlin Sperry Koopman. Whitinsville Christian School also has a gym, a cross country course, and a junior varsity soccer field.
Fall Sports
The boy's cross country team is coached by Chris Vanderbaan,[3] while the girl's team is coached by elite runner Ann MacKay.[4] Middle school is coached by Charlie Ewers[5]. Both cross country teams often qualify for states, and many runners qualify as individuals.
The school has varsity, junior varsity, and middle school volleyball teams open only to girls. They are coached by Kris VandenAkker and Tahnee Ellens.
The school's soccer program includes boy's and girl's teams in varsity, junior varsity and middle school levels. Bert Bowden and Mike Holt coach boy's varsity soccer.[6] Dan Belanger coaches girl's varsity soccer, while Kevin Conway coaches girl's junior varsity soccer.
Winter Sports
The indoor track team is coached by Charlie Ewers and runs its meets at the Northbridge Field House. Various athletes have qualified for districts and states. More recently, a few have qualified for the New Balance Nationals Meet, which is run at the Armory in New York City.
The boys varsity basketball team was the 2004-2005 division 3 state championship winner, and they have been district champions three years in a row: 2004, 2005, 2006. They have reached the district finals three years in a row: 2009, 2010, and 2011. They were the district champions in 2010 and have won again in 2011. The '10-'11 team also won the second Division III State Championship in school history.
Spring Sports
The Outdoor Track team, containing boys and girls at both the varsity and middle school levels, has dominated in the Dual Valley Conference for years. Many athletes qualify for both districts and states.
Tennis, which contains Varsity and Junior Varsity, is a spring sport. Boys are coached by Dirk Koopman, while girls are coached by Julie Bowden.
Baseball and softball are other the spring sports.
[edit] High school classes offered
As of 2009-10: ^denotes required courses. /denotes semester courses. 'denotes classes with Honors components. %denotes courses with both Level 1 and Level 2 classes. Level 1 is harder and moves more quickly. Level 2 students cannot move up to Level 1 without approval from the administration.
[edit] Science
- Physical science^
- Health/^
- Biology^
- Chemistry'
- Genetics
- Physics
- Kinesiology/
- Anatomy/
- Ecology/'
- Marine Biology/ (summer course, compressed to three weeks)
[edit] Mathematics
- Algebra I^% & II%
- Geometry^%
- Trigonometry/Pre-calc
- AP Calculus'
- Discrete Math/
- Statistics/
[edit] History & Social Sciences
- U.S. History^
- European History^
- Cold War History/
- American Government/^
- Psychology/
- Philosophy/
- Modern American History/
- Ancient Civilizations/
[edit] Bible
Four Bible classes, one semester each, are required for graduation. Juniors and Seniors can choose which Bible class they want to take. *Hermeneutics (9th Grade)/^
- Christian Life (10th Grade)/^
- Biblical Palestine/
- C. S. Lewis/
- Marriage and Family/
- New Testament Theology/
- Foundations/
- (Evening) Jesus the Rabbi/
[edit] English
- English 9^
- English 10^
- American Literature^
- British Literature'
- Contemporary Literature
- Advanced Literature and Composition'
- Creative Writing/
- Speech/^
- Junior Paper^
- Senior Paper^
[edit] Technology
- Computer Applications I/^ & II/^
- Java Programming/*
- (Evening) Java/
- Spreadsheeting
[edit] Spanish
- Spanish I^ & II & III' & IV'
- (Evening) Spanish I & II
[edit] Fine arts
- Band/
- Choir/
- Orchestra/
- Music Theory I/ & II/
- Music Composition I/ & II/
- Design Fundamentals/
- Drawing/
- Printmaking/
- Sculpture/
- Photography/
- Painting/
- Senior Art Studio/
[edit] Misc.
- Architectural Design/
- Accounting I & II
- Business Law/
- Economics/
- PE (Required for grades 9 and 10, optional for 11 and 12)
- World Cultures/
[edit] Extracurricular activities
- Sports - m=boys only, f=girls only, b=both
- Basketball-b
- Baseball-m
- Softball-f
- Cross Country-b
- Outdoor Track-b
- Indoor Track-b
- Tennis-b
- Soccer-b
- Volleyball-f
- Robotics Club- FIRST [6] team 663, students given 6 weeks to design, build, program and test a robot.
- Drama Club- Stages two productions each year.
- Student Government
- Student Council: In charge of Spirit Week and the dances.
- Class Officers: Responsible for hosting class events and raising money for the class fund.
- Yearbook Committee
- Impact
- Crusader Outreach
- Choir
- Middle School
- High School
- Encore
- Band
- Middle School
- High School
- Brass Ensamble
- Orchestra
- Elementary School
- Middle School
- High School
- Chamber
- Power Chamber
[edit] Performance
WCS students score near the 90th percentile on standardized tests. Over 90% of students earn college degrees. The WCS average on each of the parts of the SAT is generally 100-200 points higher than the national average.
[edit] References
- ^ Encore's website. http://www.wcs.mec.edu/encore.cfm
- ^ Encore's YouTube channel. http://www.youtube.com/user/Joshuamarklawson#p/c/F1A019E95E26DD21
- ^ "Error: no
|title=specified when using {{Cite web}}". http://www.wcs.mec.edu/Boys-Cross-Country.cfm. - ^ "Error: no
|title=specified when using {{Cite web}}". http://www.wcs.mec.edu/girls-cross-country.cfm. - ^ "Error: no
|title=specified when using {{Cite web}}". http://www.wcs.mec.edu/Boys-Cross-Country.cfm. - ^ "Error: no
|title=specified when using {{Cite web}}". http://www.wcs.mec.edu/boys-varsity-soccer.cfm.
