First day of 2017-2018 school year to follow the next day
In order to continue the quest for excellence in education, Mountain Lake Christian (MLC) commenced two major remodeling projects this summer.
One is the conversion of a large assembly room east of the library into two permanent classrooms (for grades 4-5 and Spanish/English), along with a hallway between the gym and library. A second reconstruction project is the total remodeling the kitchen, with the pantry and freezer closet opened up to make one larger kitchen with a new serving window (out into the old student lounge). The kitchen renovations will place MLC in compliance with state inspection standards, help with student traffic flow and free up the gym for recess on rainy and cold days. Both of these changes required the relocation of doorways and walkways.
Dr. Michael James, MLC Administrator, “We were blessed to have been the beneficiaries of more than $100,000 worth of volunteer work in the remodeling.”
The scope of these two projects necessitated a very tight timeline in order to complete prior to the originally-scheduled first day of school for the 2017-2018 school year on Wednesday, August 23. To that end, MLC recently postponed the opening day of school to Tuesday, August 29 in order to provide plenty of time to complete the construction correctly and safely.
This school year MLC will break its upper level grades into a middle school (grades 6-8) and high school (9-12). On occasion, the three middle school grade levels will have classes together, while, at other times, sixth grade and grades 7/8 will separate into their own curriculums.
Other grade levels will include:
- A. M. Pre-K – Four-year-olds.
- P. M. Pre-K – Three-year-olds.
- Grade 1.
- Grades 2 and 3.
- Grades 4 and 5.
New staff members include Lisa Behrends as Director of Extended Learning and Emily Arevalo as Middle School/High School science and math teacher, following the “second” retirement of Wade Nelson, who had also been a chemistry and physics instructor at Mountain Lake Public High School.
Enrollment for the new school year for preschool through 12th grade stands at 121.
In addition, MLC’s “Back to School Night” and “Remodeling Open House” was moved back to Monday, August 28, beginning at 7 p.m. The open house event is for anyone interested in touring the facility. Tours will begin at 7:30 p.m.
The schedule for the evening will be as follows:
- 6 p.m. – Sixth and Seventh Grade Orientation in the MLC Library with Kim Friesen.
- 7 p.m. – Kick-Off Meeting for all Pre-K-through-Grade 12 families in the Music Room. New curriculum will be introduced and the MLC Board will lead a Prayer of Rededication.
- 7:30 p.m. – Building Tours for everyone to see the new classrooms and take a peek into the newly-remodeled kitchen.
- Until 8:30 p.m. – Teachers will be classrooms for visits with parents and students.
MLC is an inter-denominational school in Mountain Lake offering high quality Christian education to students in preschool through Grade 12. The school’s mission is to produce graduates who love God and are prepared mentally, physically and spiritually to influence the world.
