Valley Christian Families,

Today, Governor Ducey announced the closure of Arizona’s K-12 public and charter schools through the end of the current school year and gave private schools the opportunity to follow federal guidelines for school closures. In order to keep our students, staff, and families healthy and safe and to help stop the spread of COVID-19, we believe it best to plan on our physical campuses being closed through the end of the academic year based on the current projections. If this outlook drastically changes and we can guarantee a safe learning environment on our campuses, we do currently have the ability to alter this decision and return to school on May 1. However, that scenario remains unlikely.

While we were beginning to anticipate a long-term extension of the school closures, the physical closing of our campuses for the remainder of the year is difficult for all of us to process. Please know that Valley Christian will continue to fulfill our mission and deliver our distinctly Christian education online to our students. We will continue to prepare our students academically and connect with them in order to provide some normalcy and structure. Teaching, learning, and our community – although done remotely – will continue.

As a result of today’s announcement, it saddens us to announce that all campus extracurricular events are cancelled for the remainder of the year. This includes all performances, athletic contests, dances, and trips. We will continue to seek out new ways to connect and engage remotely during this unprecedented time.

Valley Christian remains committed to our mission for students to know Jesus Christ as their personal Savior, live like Him, and prepare academically, physically, socially, and spiritually, so they are enabled to make a difference in the world…even though that looks different than normal right now.

We also recognize the special situation in which our graduating classes find themselves. In the coming days, we will send a separate communication to the members of our Class of 2020 and their families about senior activities, including Commencement.  We will also be communicating specifically in the coming days to our 8th grade families and Kindergarten families about their end of year activities. We promise this, while we may be unsure of what it will look like or when exactly it will take place because of statewide restrictions, we will gather together in person to celebrate our graduates and their accomplishments.

Our community, our Trojan family, is one of the most valued and unique things about our school. Already, we feel the loss of not being together physically as a community. We miss the athletic competitions, spring performances, and community celebrations. Today, this feeling has been worsened. However, we are so impressed by the efforts of faculty, staff, students, and parents to stay connected and to continue to find ways to celebrate our community while continuing the education at Valley Christian. With the reality of today’s announcement, we will commit to finding even more ways to stay connected and celebrate our community.

Please continue to reference our website, valleychristianaz.org/emergency, for the latest information regarding VCS. This site includes all of our updates and COVID-19 resources.

As always, we thank you for your partnership and will continue to be in regular communication with you.

VCS Families,

In response to Governor’s Ducey’s latest announcement to extend school closures until April 10, VCS will continue with remote education through that time. Needless to say, this has been a huge change for all of us. While we must change the way we interact, it does not change what we do. Valley Christian Schools will continue to provide an excellent education for our students.

We realize this is a learning experience for all of us. We will continue to monitor and adjust how this form of education is delivered. We appreciate your suggestions so far. It takes a very willing and caring faculty and staff to suddenly change the way we educate. We are blessed to have teachers and staff that worked extremely hard to make this happen in such a short amount of time. Students, thank you for being flexible and patient. Parents, thank you for supporting us as you take on a bigger role in your student’s education. If your student has questions, please do not hesitate to have them reach out to their teachers or the IT department.

Additionally, all school events through April 10 are canceled or postponed. We will be evaluating events beyond that date, including our end-of-year events, and will notify our community of any additional cancellations or postponements. Please reference our website, valleychristianaz.org/emergency, for the latest information regarding VCS. This site includes all of our updates and COVID-19 resources.

Isaiah 26:4, “Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord God is an everlasting rock.” God is sovereign and none of this takes Him by surprise. Let’s lean on Him and remember all of His promises as we encourage one another through these challenging times.

Valley Christian Families,

In conjunction with the State of Arizona and Governor Ducey, we are extending our campus closures through Friday, March 27. As you know from our communication last week, we will transition to online learning for all students on Wednesday, March 18. This will look different for each grade level and class. Your campus principal and teachers will be communicating specific details regarding the continuation of academics at Valley Christian.

All scheduled events, practices, and athletic contests through Sunday, March 29 are postponed.

We will continue to keep you all informed as we navigate through this fluid situation. At this time, our school offices will be staffed Monday through Friday from 9am to 2pm to continue operations and answer any phone calls and emails from our families but will not be open to any guests.

Please remember to follow social distancing recommendations and good hygiene practices – especially frequent hand washing. You can reference our website, valleychristianaz.org/emergency, for the latest information regarding VCS. This site includes all our updates, event postponements, FAQs, and COVID-19 resources for families.

Remember, “do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.” We continue to serve a mighty God and will continue to place our trust in Him!

Valley Christian Families,

The leadership of Valley Christian has been monitoring the spread of COVID-19 for weeks and meeting regularly to discuss the potential impact it could have on our school community. It is our desire to preserve the health and safety of our entire community while also maintaining educational continuity for our students.

While we continue to have no cases of COVID-19 at VCS,  it is becoming evident that it is not a matter of if a community spread occurs, but when. It is also becoming more evident that social distancing practices help slow down and contain the spread.

After prayerful consideration and discussion, we have decided to postpone classes across all three campuses until Wednesday, March 18. At that point, we will transition to online learning or flexible learning accommodations through at least Friday, March 20. We will then assess where things stand with COVID-19.

Additionally, all athletic and community events until Monday, March 23 are postponed. This includes any practices or rehearsals.

You will receive information from either your campus principal or your student’s teachers in regard to how classes and instruction will take place when we resume online on Wednesday. Our faculty and staff will receive a separate communication with plans for staffing, instruction, and continued operations while our campuses are closed to students.

Our leadership team will continue to meet and develop plans, and remains in close communication with local and statewide health agencies. We ask for your prayers and continued grace as we navigate this unprecedented and fluid situation.

This will pass. We continue to place our trust in God and pray for his protection over our community, for healing for those who are sick, for the healthcare workers, and for our leaders.

Please remember to practice good hygiene, frequent hand washing, and avoid public places and social interaction if you are feeling sick.

Should you have any specific questions, please feel free to reply to this email or reach out to your campus principal. Again, your campus principals will be sending out a communication specific to their grade levels that will help clarify procedures for learning when we resume online on Wednesday.

VCS will resume on-campus classes when we are confident we can ensure a safe and healthy learning environment for our students and faculty.  We will be issuing regular updates in the coming days. Please reference our website, valleychristianaz.org/emergency, for the latest information regarding VCS. This site includes all of our updates and COVID-19 resources. We will be adding more information, including event postponements and FAQs over the next few days.

VCS Families,

We trust you are having an enjoyable and safe spring break. Our school leadership has been closely following the COVID-19 pandemic and public health recommendations for Arizona schools. We want to reaffirm that at this time there are no confirmed cases of COVID-19 at Valley Christian.

Out of an abundance of caution, we are going to be cancelling our high school choir and instrumental trips scheduled this month to California. Our directors will communicate additional information to those students and families affected by those trip cancellations. At this point, we are also going to be postponing any K-12 field trips scheduled through the end of March.

Following the continued guidance of the Arizona Department of Health Services, public events (including athletic and community events) will continue at this time unless otherwise announced. This is obviously a very fluid situation and one that we are constantly monitoring to ensure the safety and health of our community.

We continue to place our trust in our Almighty God. We encourage you to follow the important hygiene recommendations and will continue to update you as this progresses. You can always find updates specific to VCS and resources specific to COVID-19 on our website at valleychristianaz.org/emergency. Thank you for your continued prayers and support during this time.