Frequently Asked Questions for Our Savior Lutheran School
- How much does the school cost?
- When can we enroll?
- How do you decide acceptance?
- Do you provide lunch?
- What is your curriculum?
- Who are your teachers?
- What successes have you had?
- Do you have Day Care before and after school?
- Do you have Choir or Band?
- What is your Student-Teacher Ratio?
- What if I am not a Lutheran?
- What is the main difference between Our Savior and other schools?
- Is Our Savior Lutheran School Accredited?
- Do you have a Strategic Plan?
1. How much does the school cost?
Most fees are listed at the website under Admissions.
(For perspective: The real costs begin when your children attend college.)
(It’s even more expensive if they don’t get a good education.)
(It’s more costly in permanent terms if they don’t get grounded in God’s Word, Scripture.)
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2. When can we enroll?
Enrollment is ongoing and closes when a class is full.
For the upcoming school year, we open the enrollment process the previous December.
We review the applications January-March. If a class has too many applications, we look for the best fit.
You are informed of your acceptance when all the paper work and testing is completed and the admission committee has made the decision. We begin formally announcing acceptances April 1.
Click here for Admissions forms.
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3. How do you decide acceptance?
We want all our students to succeed.
We do not have resource specialists nor special education accommodations available.
At Our Savior, students thrive who have been trained to work in a traditional schooling environment and who have families who promote and practice faith development.
Therefore, we use the application process to promote the child’s best interests and promote their best learning placement.
(This does not mean that all children should attend Our Savior Lutheran School.)
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4. Do you provide hot lunch?
For preschool, hot lunch and snacks are provided as part of the tuition. All preschoolers eat lunch, even the students just enrolled for the 7:50 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. classes. Preschool food is prepared here, and follows the USDA school lunch requirements. The USDA annually trains our staff and regularly inspects us.
Grades K-8 bring their own sack lunches or they may order the Catering Service lunches through the office. The catered lunches are paid by the quarter. (There is an option to just pay for Pizza Fridays.)
Lunch Order Form
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5. What's your curriculum?
We emphasize strong skill and attitude development to prepare for future learning. Thus, we search for the best curriculums or textbooks for each discipline.
To integrate our curriculums for cross-referencing, sequencing, and to ensure substantive content, we promote the Core Knowledge Curriculum across the school.
Article Showing the Need
Classroom Resources:
Bible Study: “Voyages” Bible Study textbooks for K-8, published by Concordia Publishing House, Missouri.
Students use the NIV Bible sold in the school office. For Grades 7 & 8, we also use the Lutheran Catechism.
Math: “Saxon Math” for K-8, which includes Algebra and Geometry, published by Saxon Publishers, Florida.
Research on Saxon Math
Social Studies: “Core Knowledge History and Geography” by Pearson Education, New Jersey.
7th Graders incorporate several classroom textbooks and online websites for their resources as they follow the Core Knowledge Curriculum Guidelines and the State’s Hawaiian Studies Guidelines.
The textbooks are:
8th Graders use Prentice Hall “History of Our Nation”
Science: “Full Option Science System” by Delta Education, New Hampshire.
FOSS allows our classes to follow the Core Knowledge Curriculum and to bring in outside resources for experiments and explorations.
Grades 3-8 complete Science Fair projects for the Hawaii State Science Fair program.
(It's an optional project in some grades.)
We also use the Prentice Hall “Science Explorer” textbooks.
(We teach the Biblical explanation for initial and ongoing creation.)
Language Arts: We use a multi-faceted approach to developing communication skills. We develop word-attack skills using “Spalding Phonics”, Spalding International, Arizona.
“Open Court Reading”, K-6, McGraw-Hill—SRA, Ohio.
We also promote vocabulary development through annual contests for grades 7-8.
“Scripps Spelling Bee”
We also promote vocabulary development through K-8 weekly spelling tests and etymology studies.
We read novels and promote independent reading of quality literature using Core Knowledge curriculum
http://www.coreknowledge.org/CK/bkstr/bkstr_classics_frames.htm
http://www.coreknowledge.org/CK/bkstr/bkstr_realms_frames.htm
and the “Accelerated Reader” computer programs from Renaissance Learning, Wisconsin.
Grades K-6 also use the Open Court Reading series, Mc-Graw-Hill—SRA, Ohio. http://www.sraonline.com
We develop thinking, communication, and writing skills through our ongoing writing efforts across the curriculum, research paper, poems, computer classes, and in their student-journals. To have the skills to promote their ideas, the students need good grammar skills.
We use Shurley Grammar, Arizona.
http://www.welltrainedmind.com/O00Shurley.html
Students gain poise, thinking skills, and speech fundamentals through classroom debates, class participation, chapel
presentations, and the whole-school “Speech Festival” held each springtime.
Students learn specific art skills and art history through the “Core Knowledge Sequence”
http://www.coreknowledge.org/CK/bkstr/index.htm
Music teachers teach rhythm, note-reading, music appreciation, instruments, and vocal training through the performance scheduling, and the Core Knowledge program, http://www.coreknowledge.org/CK/bkstr/bkstr_music_frames.htm
Physical Education is formally taught twice a week, K-8, along with the extracurricular sports program, grades 5-8.
Please ask our principal or teachers for other specifics: Staff Directory
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6. Who are your teachers?
Our teachers are credentialed Christian teachers who love to help children and families grow.
Click Here for the Staff Directory
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7. What successes have you had?
250 students interact with us daily. We share Christ. We talk about what really matters. Children are baptized. People dedicate themselves to God's Plan. We plan ahead. We grow together. We get mad. We get happy. We deal with failures, and we deal with successes. Our students attend a variety of high schools and tell us how they're doing. We watch each other grow old. We have a relationship, and we share the relationship given us with God.
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8. Do you have Day Care before and after school?
Answer: Yes, we do: 6:30-7:30 a.m. and 2:45-5:30 p.m.
K-8 Students dropped off 7:00-7:30 a.m. may sit on the outside bleachers where an adult is supervising.
At 7:30 a.m. the bell rings and they are dismissed to their classrooms where they prepare for the 7:50 a.m. class start. (We prefer that parents deliver the students before 7:30 a.m. to reduce traffic congestion and give the students adequate preparation time.)
Arrivals, Departures, & Day Care:
Detailed Schedule for Before-School and After-school Supervision:
6:30-7:00 a.m., only people who have signed up for Day Care are allowed on campus.
Otherwise, “Drop-Ins” are charged $8.00 per morning.
7:00-7:30 a.m. An adult supervises K-8 students outside.
This is “free-of-charge”. We encourage you to bring the children during this time.
7:00-7:45 a.m. Students go to classrooms.
They prepare for class, get their books ready, unload backpacks, turn in notes,
ask teachers about homework issues, and get ready.
Traffic-delayed parents are now arriving onto the campus.
7:45-7:50 a.m. All students have already arrived and are in their classrooms.
Late, negligent, and highly-stressed parents are now rushing themselves and
their children onto the campus.
7:50 a.m. Students are in their seats ready-to-go. The bell rings.
Teachers take attendance and send records to the office.
7:50-8:15 a.m. Late students report to office before going to class. They receive passes.
2:25 p.m. Kindergarten & 1st graders wait for pickup outside or go to day care.
2:30 p.m. 2nd & 3rd grades wait outside or enter day care.
2:40 p.m. 4th & 5th grades wait outside or enter day care.
2:50 p.m. 6th-8th grades wait outside or enter day care.
3:00 p.m. Students who are still on campus report to supervised day care, sports,
Heavenly Harmonies, clubs, detention, etc.
No one stays “unsupervised”. No one leaves and then returns (even with parental permission).
Drop-in Day Care children are billed $15.
For Early Dismissal days, Drop-In Day Care children are billed $30.
For more info click here: Day Care Program
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9. Do you have Band or Choir?
Yes; it is required. Grades 5-8 students must choose between choir or band. We teach these music classes at least 3 times per week. Both Band and Choir students are graded on practice, effort, attitude, and performance. Choir and Band have required performances, which are usually scheduled for Sundays.
Click Here for the Program Details.
Check our school calendar for the major Christmas, Combined Lutheran Schools, and Spring Concerts at:
School Calendar or Parent Saint Newsletter
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10. What is your Student-Teacher Ratio?
We have 250 students with 14 full-time teachers and 1 full-time principal. Thus, we have an 18-1 student-teacher ratio, but one teacher is our computer teacher and one teacher is our music/afternoon preschool teacher; thus, we should actually take the 252/12 ratio, which gives us a 21/1 student-teacher ratio.
Preschool classes have full-time aides. Grades K-5 have part-time aides. We also have part-time choir, band, Japanese, and art teachers.
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11. What if I'm not Lutheran?
Our families profess a wide variety of faiths. We do however insist on sharing God's love and plans through His Word, the Scriptures. The faith that we are training our students to understand and accept is that we are sinners, God loves us, and we respond to His saving forgiveness. (The "God" we refer to is Jesus.)
We encourage all our families to know what we are teaching the students. You may research the Lutheran faith further at: http://www.lcms.org/pages/internal.asp?NavID=112, http://www.lcms.org/pages/internal.asp?NavID=2135 , and http://www.bookofconcord.org/whatisalutheran.html .
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12. What is the main difference between Our Savior and other schools?
We are a church school, created and administrated by Our Savior Lutheran Church. Our academic programming and results show our students' high success rates, our testing results, graduates' destinations, the alumni's achievements, and parents' evaluations. Nonetheless, we are not an "elitist" school, choosing only the most academically capable children; rather, we focus on integrity--articulating and living our faith; placing, teaching, and evaluating students; working and playing to the best of our abilities. We realistically know our needs for forgiveness and for our Savior, and we respond to all that He has given us. Thus, we offer the best curriculum and programs that we can, and our students also do the best they can, while we greatly value the differences among our students, families, and community.
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13. Is Our Savior Lutheran School accredited?
We are fully accredited by the National Lutheran Schools Accreditation organization and the Western Association of Schools and Colleges. The accreditation process involves an intensive self-study, a visit by inspectors, and a long-range Action Plan to improve. Schools who voluntarily choose to seek accreditation are committed to continuous improvement, and these outside agencies provide the expertise, accountability, and assistance to help us effectively and efficiently do so.
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14. Do you have a Strategic Plan?
Yes, we have a strategic plan. Click here for more info.
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