Rose Park Head Start

The Holland Christian Schools were established in response to the teaching of Scripture that all life must be lived in loving obedience to the Lord’s will and that the Christian community in general and parents in particular have a great responsibility to educate their children in the love wisdom knowledge and righteousness of their sovereign God. Christian schools seek to assist Christian parents to accomplish the task which Moses assigned to the covenant people of Israel when he said “And these words which I command you this day shall be upon your heart and you shall teach them diligently to your children and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise” (Deut. 6:67). The Bible motivates and regulates us in the development of education for Christian living and Christian service both in Christian community and in society at large. In harmony with the Bible and the Reformed Confessions Christian instruction seeks to achieve the goal so beautifully expressed in the Westminster Confession – that our students may learn “to know God and enjoy Him forever” subjecting their lives and all their activities to His will for His glory.

The Bible is the infallible written revelation of God giving us true knowledge concerning Him concerning our position and task in the world and concerning everything that He reveals in His Word. From this written revelation we learn that God is (Hebrews 11:6) that He created the universe (Genesis 1 and 2) that He made man in His own image to have dominion over His creation (Genesis 1:2627) and that man fell from his high position by disobedience to God thereby incurring God’s wrath (Genesis 3) which He removed through Christ’s death on the cross. Through that sacrificial death God redeemed His people and is restoring them into His image. Through His redeemed people God is building His kingdom and He finally will renew His entire creation. The Bible reveals God’s promises to us and tells us that God calls His people to faith in Him. That faith is worked in the human heart by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the source of all enlightenment. Only He can guide the teacher and the student to view all knowledge through the spectacles of Scripture so that they by faith can perceive the truth which proceeds from the testimony that God is creator of heaven and earth and that our Lord Jesus Christ is the Redeemer of all who repent of their sins and believe in Him as Lord and Savior.

Whatever true knowledge we have has been revealed to us by God. He has made Himself known to us through His Son revealed in the Bible as “God in the flesh the Way the Truth and the Life.” God also displays His glory in the heavens and the earth which He has created. “The heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament shows His handiwork” (Psalms 19:1). This idea is also expressed in Romans 1:20. Our response to this magnificent revelation is an eager desire to learn and to serve. God wants us to be stewards of His creation and ambassadors in His name. Christian education seeks to explore every avenue of learning so that every student may be able to discharge his or her responsibilities faithfully. We study history in the light of the Scriptures to discern how God’s plan unfolds in the course of human events and to find our own place in that plan. We cultivate the gift of language so that we can give clear and powerful expression to what God has taught us both in Scripture and in the works of human culture. In mathematics and in the sciences we learn the structure of God’s universe and how we can use this knowledge in His service. God has given man His highest creation rich endowments of mind and spirit and the joyful commission to roam throughout His universe to create works of beauty in the arts to appreciate what is noble and to develop skills – doing all these things in a spirit of wonder and gratitude in the presence of God.

Christian education views each student as an image bearer of God called to be His servant and called to serve the world in His name. Teachers are charged with the responsibility to give close attention to the individual needs and talents of each student. This love and concern of the instructors invites the student to respond to God in faith and encourages him or her to become a loving and obedient disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ. Each student is challenged to develop his or her talents for the honor of God and the service of fellow human beings in all areas of life. Thus the Christian school broadens its influence upon the community in which the student lives. In obedience to our Lord the Christian school aims to implant in the heart of each one of its students that the kingdom of God is the primary pursuit of all our striving. “Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you” (Matthew 6:33).