The prophet Isaiah offers an interesting insight into the opinion he and many of his Jewish relatives held about the Persian king, Cyrus. In chapter 45, Isaiah calls the pagan king the "anointed one of God." After toppling the Babylonian empire where the Jews had been held in captivity for 70 years, Cyrus demonstrated his tolerance for religious and cultural differences among his vassals by allowing the Jews to return to Jerusalem to rebuild their temple and to re-establish their own local rule. How could a non- believer earn such a title among God's chosen people? The answer is actually quite simple: God will use whom He chooses in completing His work. A more pertinent question for us is how are we going to allow God to use us? If God can complete mighty works through a pagan king, then how much more can He complete through those of us who recognize Him as the Great I Am?

The faculty and students at St. Thomas Episcopal School consider this question as a vital link to our understanding of God's will for us. While we recognize that education is essential to living lives of excellence, we also recognize that life entails far more than what we can glean from books, projects, and field trips. Our goal is to help our students recognize the special relationship the Creator of the universe desires to have with them and then to understand they have been called for a very special purpose. We take every opportunity to teach these principles. Students participate in daily chapel, practice acts of service for charitable organizations every month, and even learn to demonstrate kindness to others in simple ways like opening doors, sharing the sidewalk, and saying hello.

Spiritual development is critical to the program at St. Thomas. Even so, academic preparation is one of the pillars on which St. Thomas is built. Elementary students are benefitting from the adoption of a new math curriculum that encourages them to think more while offering repetition in learning math concepts. Third, fourth, and fifth graders have also taken huge steps in vocabulary development with the new vocabulary curriculum that focuses on word usage in a variety of contexts. In the last two years, most of the curriculum has been updated in the elementary school to ensure continued success for our students. In addition to a thorough curriculum, St. Thomas teachers also emphasize the importance of personal responsibility. Preschoolers learn how to put away their tote bags, turn in their take home folders, and clean up after themselves. By first grade, students learn how to use daily agendas for recording homework, developing study habits for tests, and planning for upcoming school events. By the time students graduate from the fifth grade, they are very capable of taking care of their academic needs with little prompting from teachers or parents.

St. Thomas offers a unique blend of academic preparation and spiritual awareness. The consistent results are students who are well balanced and who love school but who recognize that life involves more than conducting science experiments and working math problems. Our students know Whom they serve; they make the most of every opportunity to do so. I encourage you to take a tour of the school so you can see for yourself that St. Thomas is the best place to be.

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