Dear MCS Parents,

Welcome to 2014!  God has great things in store for our children and school in this New Year. The MCS faculty, staff, and administration consider it a privilege to partner with you in meeting the academic, spiritual, and social needs of your child(ren).  Together with you, we are preparing students to be leaders and ambassadors for Christ, to discover the gifts and talents God has given them so that they might use them for His glory.

  As a Christian community, Mariners Christian School is committed to these distinctives:

 1.  ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE - Christian education taught from a biblical worldview by an exemplary faculty and staff to prepare students for the next grade level and future success.

 2.  SPIRITUAL FORMATION - Influence the heart and character of students by nurturing and encouraging them to grow in a personal relationship with Christ.

 3.  CHRIST-HONORING ENVIRONMENT - Promote a Christ-honoring community that fosters the social-emotional well-being of students and provides for their physical safety.

 As you know, January marks the start of our re-enrollment season.  We offer priority re-enrollment for current MCS families during the month of January.  With record enrollment and several grades hosting waiting lists, it is important that we are aware of your intention for the 2014-15 school year.

 A separate email was sent out from the Admissions Office inviting you to begin the re-enrollment process earlier this week.  Only one parent should complete the re-enrollment process for each student to avoid duplication.  If you are intending to return to MCS, please complete the online re-enrollment process by January 24 to ensure that space is reserved for your child(ren).

 Please note that a 4% tuition increase has been approved by the school board this year.  The 2014-15 Schedule of Fees is available on our website under the Admissions tab (click "Tuition").  Two key considerations help to govern the process of assessing our tuition costs:

• The desire to provide an affordable, high quality Christian education that remains as accessible to as many Christian families as possible.
• The desire to reward the hard work and dedicated service of our faculty and staff by providing a cost-of-living increase.  Clearly, our staff remains our greatest asset.
• This year in particular we are also adjusting for increased health insurance and medical costs in order to care for our staff in the most effective manner possible.

I anticipate another outstanding year of serving your family.  We will continue to focus our efforts on advancing the academic preparation of our students, strengthening our faculty through professional development, and increasing extracurricular opportunities that allow students to thrive in areas of interest and/or need. Once again, please take a moment to review the separate email that was sent from the Admissions Office on January 2nd with re-enrollment instructions.

 Your partner in Christian education,

  Bob Sladek

Head of School