Guidance
Suggestion for Parents:
Your home should be a place where there is a reverence and respect for God and His Word, the Bible. There should be conversations about God and how His principles apply to life. Read the Scriptures regularly as a family. We encourage you to engage your children in family devotions. After mealtime or at bedtimes are great times to do this.
Regular church attendance by the entire family at a Bible believing, evangelical church is necessary for spiritual growth. Those who do not attend a church are invited to attend Manhattan Bible Church. The church meets in the same building as the school every Sunday. There is accommodation for both English and Spanish speaking families at 11:00 AM. Wednesday service meets at 7:00PM. Classes for infants, children and teens are available during the services.
Parents should seek to live a godly and moral lifestyle as an example and role model to their children.
1. Faithfulness to one's spouse and celibacy for the single parent is the standard of morality in the Bible.
2. Parents should provide a home free of the abuse of drugs and alcohol.
3. The home should be free of any worldly influences and media such as: pornography, sex and violence. Entertainment such as movies, videos, music, computer games, comics and magazines should be monitored to make sure they are wholesome.
4. Parents should provide a home full of wholesome language and encouragement. It should be free of cursing, using God's name in vain, sexual innuendoes, racial slurs, or demeaning and derogatory language.
5. The child should be protected from physical and sexual abuse.
Your relationship to the school will be one of agreement and cooperation. Speak positively about the school, administration and faculty. If there are concerns or complaints, please follow the Matthew 18:5 principle and go directly to the person with whom you have the complaint and seek resolution without telling anyone else first.
If you feel that your child has been hurt or wrongly treated by another child please speak with the teacher first and do not confront the offending child on your own. No child should have to face another parent without their own parent or teacher present. Under no circumstances should you touch the other child or speak abusively to them. Treat any child in the way that you would want your own child treated by another parent.
Homework needs to be seen as a priority. Establish a set time and place where a child can concentrate on their homework each day. Use of a timer is suggested to help the child who tends to daydream and get off track. Your child is to be encouraged to do their homework on their own, as much as possible. Look at daily assignments to check for completion. Establish consequences (both positive and negative if needed) for academic and behavioral performance in school. ("Discipline your son, and he will give you peace: he will bring delight to your soul". Proverbs 29:17)
No television should be watched until homework is completed. Television viewing should be limited to weekends only. Research indicates that children who watch only a little TV do best in school (i.e. less than ten hours per week). TV actually slows down the brain. Reading and playing stimulates and sharpens the brain.
Reading with and to your child, through the eighth grade, is encouraged for at least 10 - 20 minutes a night. When children are old enough, have them read to you as well. Children should read on their own for 15 - 30 minutes each day.
Encourage Scripture reading, application of what they have read, and prayer, which are important to your child's spiritual success.
Parents and the Faculty and Administration: MCA encourages parents to work productively with teachers and administrators by staying informed about their child and important events in the life of the school. MCA encourages and welcomes thoughtful questions and suggestions. MCA further believes that in instances where problems arise there should be a climate of trust and mutual respect that would permit open and constructive discussion between any parent(s) and the administrators and/or teachers closest to the problem. Efforts by parents to lobby other parents will be viewed by the school as counterproductive.
While parents may not agree with every decision by the school, in most cases, the parent and school should find enough common ground to continue a mutually respectful relationship. In the extreme case, however, where an impasse may be so severe that the parent cannot, in the discretion of the school, remain a constructive member of the school community, the school administration may decide that the parent would be best served at another school. |
