MISSION AND MINISTRY STATEMENT
“Promoting the Christian faith and life-long learning of the whole child in a changing world.”
I. Mission: Affiliation, Mission, Purpose, Goals, Expected Student Learning Results
AFFILIATION
Our Savior Lutheran School (OSLS) is wholly owned and operated by Our Savior Lutheran Church (OSLC), a non-profit corporation, which together with over 1,800 United States and Canadian Lutheran schools, belongs to the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod (LCMS); a “synod” is a group of congregations professing the same doctrine. OSLS is locally administered through the OSLC Board of Education, and additional assistance is obtained through our LCMS District Office in San Francisco and national office in St. Louis, Missouri.
The Hawaii State Department of Social Services and Housing (DSSH) annually licenses the staff, program, and facilities of OSLS preschool and grade school daycare. The preschool is licensed to serve 70 children and the staff-to-child ratio varies from 1-12 to 1-16, depending on age. Our before-and after-school Day Care program for kindergarten through grade 8 is licensed to serve 80 children.
The Hawaii Council of Private Schools (HCPS) gives us our operating license, and we are a member of the Hawaii Association of Independent Schools (HAIS). We subscribe to HAIS standards of professional conduct, thus assuring public confidence in the integrity and service of educators in admitting students. We are fully accredited with the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) and the National Lutheran Schools Accreditation (NLSA).
PURPOSE
Our staff recognizes that our school is uniquely Lutheran. Our primary mission is sharing God’s Gospel message of Grace and Salvation. In addition, our ministry is serving God’s people, which involves serving the whole child, the whole family, and the whole community. We strive to develop faith and educate students and help families promote success in God’s Purposes for each child. The Christian teachings and practice of Our Savior Lutheran Church & School are based upon our beliefs in the Triune God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, as revealed in Scriptures. We accept the sixty-six canonical books of the Old and New Testaments as the inspired Word of God, and we accept Lutheran writings to be true and genuine expositions of the Bible’s doctrine. Our Savior Lutheran School, a coeducational, Christian day school, encompasses preschool and
kindergarten through grade eight. Our student body primarily comes from central O’ahu, thus serving a typical cross section of our island community. Students are selected and retained on the basis of their attitude and involvement in our mission, as well as our ability to meet their spiritual, academic, emotional, social, and physical needs. While we seek as many students and as wide a range of families as possible, we realize we cannot serve every student who applies. The faculty and staff of OSLS strive to create a supportive Christian environment. Through our Christian example, instruction, and discipline, we endeavor to help them succeed in all aspects of their life. At the same time, we work to establish and maintain a partnership with parents, to involve them in school activities and decisions, and to actively create open communication between home and school.
PHILOSOPHY AND GOALS
1. Christian Faith
We believe that God creates and nurtures Christians, the body of Christ. Through daily worship, praying, serving, sharing, studying, and reflecting on God’s Word, and knowledge of the demands of the law and the comfort of Christ’s Gospel, God’s people learn to express their faith. OSLS students learn what it means to be Christ’s followers, the knowledge and use of worship and prayer, sharing their faith with others, and serving others. Students learn God’s Law and Gospel as found in the Scriptures. The Law gives us order and direction. The Gospel recognizes that we sinners cannot follow the direction perfectly; we need forgiveness, and we need God. The Gospel shows us that God loves us unconditionally. Students learn how Christians react to God’s love and forgiveness. They read and reflect on God’s Word, developing a personal relationship with Christ. They interact with others in the body of Christ. They pray formally and spontaneously, accept and treat others as God’s children. They worship daily in the classrooms and weekly in Chapel. They forgive and accept forgiveness, practice Christian virtues as presented in scriptures (Galatians 5:22-23), share their faith life through service and word, and respect their bodies as the temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19)
2. Life Long Learning
We believe life-long learners will continue applying their Christian principles and beliefs, productively serving their Lord and others in a constantly changing technological world. We believe that life-long learners think critically, analyze problems, identify appropriate resources, and explore and evaluate possible solutions, and have the discipline to follow-through. Finally, we believe that life-long learners need to develop an on-going appreciation for knowledge, contributing spiritually, intellectually, and aesthetically to their communities. Our students view and appreciate knowledge and learning as God’s gifts, enabling them to serve others. They value and appreciate learning, communicate effectively, set obtainable goals for themselves, use learning resources, obtain and increase knowledge, use a positive outlook, and forgive others and themselves. Students use God’s gift of learning and achieve goals consistent with His will. They see learning as a building experience, that successive knowledge builds on prior experience. They form and ask pertinent questions, read and listen for pertinent questions, analyze written and media values and messages, plan, organize, and impart their thoughts by written or verbal expression. They set goals and make plans to accomplish them and periodically reevaluate 0and adjust those plans in pursuit of success, develop information retrieval skills by accessing a variety of information from printed material, interviews, media computers, and other technology. They develop their life skills to handle both successful and discouraging situations, recognize their mistakes, through identifying the situation come to the realization that one can forgive and be forgiven, and positively move forward knowing that God has a purpose for them.
3. The Whole Child
Our teaching and learning in this ever-changing world must strive to help each child grow as a whole person spiritually, intellectually, emotionally, aesthetically, socially, and physically. We help students recognize themselves as unique, redeemed and forgiven by God. Our students know the Triune God as taught in the doctrine, history, and worship practices of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod. They grow in their Christian acceptance of others’ individuality and acknowledge their special talents. They deal with their emotions in a Christian manner. They grow toward their intellectual potential and live and cooperatively work with others. They recognize and understand the physical and emotional development of their body as it grows and matures. Students accept themselves as redeemed children of God who express their joy through worship and service to others. They use their knowledge and skills in exploring. They accept responsibility for their own actions and feelings and respect people as God’s children. They appreciate God’s creative beauties and self-expressions through the fine-arts media and develop their intellectual and physical abilities. We don’t aim for perfection, but we do aim to follow God’s will. Our Savior’s community strives to live for God, accepting our need for him. We know this is the best purpose that we can offer.
