Yes. As a private Christian school that integrates classroom academics and Christian commitment, every student’s growing faith is of utmost importance at Vacaville Christian Schools. Preschool to 12th graders worship weekly during scheduled chapel times. Parents are welcome to attend chapel with their children. Chapel dress is required for elementary students.  Middle and high school students follow standard dress code.  Uniform and Dress Code standards can be found in our Parent Handbooks. 

Our elementary students wear the approved VCS uniform, which parents can order from Lands’ End. Find your school using the Preferred School Number: 900140211 or your School Name and Location. Create or sign into your account and start shopping with your personalized product checklist.  The Lands’ End website gives detailed descriptions and pictures of the approved uniform.

In general, our middle school and high school students are expected to adhere to biblical standards of modesty (I Timothy 2:0, Romans 12:1). Students must have a neat, clean, and attractive appearance and should dress in such a way that would complement and promote the educational process and mission of VCS. Logos, pictures, or verbiage that could be considered negative or contrary to biblical guidelines must be avoided. For specific details regarding our dress code for preschool to high school students, please read the appropriate parent handbook.

Yes. Each VCS family has the responsibility to complete a minimum of 20 hours of service for the benefit of the school community. Single parent households and families of parent(s) deployed for more than five months of the school year should complete 10 hours of service. Parents must record their hours on a HIS Form, available in any of the school offices, and submit their form to the business office. The classroom teacher or staff member responsible for overseeing the volunteer project will validate the hours recorded. Families may opt to donate $25 per hour in lieu of volunteer work, but it is our hope that most will opt for the work hours, as this is more beneficial to the school and helps keep tuition down by reducing paid labor expenditure.

Yes. Parents and grandparents can be classroom volunteers. Parents and grandparents may sign up with their child’s classroom for volunteering during the school day as often as they would like. To help us avoid untimely interruptions during testing times or individual student presentations, please schedule with your child’s classroom teacher before planning a general visit. Upon arrival for volunteering or visiting in a classroom, please check in at the appropriate school office to receive a visitor’s pass. If you need to bring something to your child, such as a forgotten lunch or school project, please go to the appropriate school office and our office staff will be happy to deliver the item to your child.

Our News and Calendarare great resources for keeping current on school events. On the News page, you’ll find weekly newsletters, which will keep you informed of all the happenings at VCS. You should also receive a copy of this weekly newsletter in your e-mail inbox each week. In addition, all parents have access to an Internet-accessible program called PowerSchool. Both students and parents have a password that enables them to access their appropriate areas of the site. We highly recommend that all VCS parents become familiar with PowerSchool and use it frequently. On PowerSchool, you can see your child’s assignments and tests, check your child’s grades, send e-mails to teachers, check attendance information, and opt to receive daily, weekly, or monthly updates. You will find a link to PowerSchool in the parent links on the Home page.

Many people misunderstand Common Core State Standards (CCSS) to be a new curriculum, when it is, in fact, a set of broad, national standards in English language arts and mathematics meant to prepare students in kindergarten through 12th grade for college and careers post-graduation. Today, 43 states have adopted and implemented these standards. California is one of these 43 states. The standards include English language arts and math because those are the foundational areas upon which students build skill sets for use in other subjects. This allows the standards’ effectiveness to stretch beyond the classroom to college and career readiness in multiple disciplines.

For now, CCSS applies only to public schools in those states that have adopted the standards. Federal law prohibits federal education mandates from applying to home schools and private schools that do not receive federal funds. Thus, private schools have flexibility when considering the Common Core, and they are under no obligation to implement any piece that they do not feel best serves their educational goals. Instead, private schools can embrace ideas from the Common Core that they feel will contribute to their students’ success. Many private schools recognize state standards as a springboard while maintaining their own standards that go beyond those minimum state standards. However, CCSS will have an impact on home and private education in expectations for higher learning. The CCSS emphasize college readiness, and agencies that administer national standardized tests used to determine a student’s readiness are rewriting those tests to align to the Common Core. One of the architects of the English language arts standards is David Coleman, the current president of the College Board. He is overseeing the renovation of the PSAT and SAT in both format and content to fully align with the CCSS. The redesigned PSAT will debut in 2015; the new SAT will be used beginning in 2016. These realities mean it is important for private schools to meet CCSS at a minimum to ensure their graduates will be successful in post-secondary school endeavors.

English (or English language arts, as it is referred to in the CCSS) requires that students cover certain content, including classic myths and stories from around the world, foundational American literature and documents, and Shakespeare. Vacaville Christian Schools cover these topics extensively at all levels, from early education’s heritage day, to middle school studies of Shakespeare, to high school’s U.S. government and politics classes. In addition to content exposure, the CCSS push students toward critical reading, reasoning, analysis, and expression. At Vacaville Christian Schools, our curriculum has always focused on these goals, pushing students to be attentive and intentional about what they are reading, learning, and communicating. As students move through our program, they learn to approach and respond confidently to various writing styles and situations. Vacaville Christian Schools ultimately prepares them for college and careers that will require them to comprehend and communicate concisely and well.

Common Core State Standards seek to lay a solid foundation in whole numbers, addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, fractions, and decimals. Mastery of these elements, interwoven with problem solving, collaboration, communication, and critical-thinking skills, supports a student’s ability to learn and apply not only more demanding math concepts, but concepts in other disciplines as well. The focus is a greater depth of application and understanding of important key elements. These goals have always been a cornerstone of the mathematics curriculum at Vacaville Christian Schools, and we meet and exceed the standards even if our approach differs at times. As always, Vacaville Christian Schools is committed to a level of excellence that prepares our students to shine both in the classroom and the real world situations they encounter every day.

Several different agencies accredit private schools.

• WASC: The Accrediting Commission for Schools, Western Association of Schools and Colleges (ASC WASC) is one of the six regional accrediting associations in the United States.
• ACSI: The Association of Christian Schools International (ACSI) gives accreditation to schools that exhibit academic excellence based on a solid Christian philosophy.
• NAIS: The National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS) is a nonprofit membership organization that provides services to more than 1,700 schools and associations of schools in the United States and abroad, including 1,400 independent private K-12 schools in the U.S.
• College Board: Vacaville Christian High School is a member of the College Board, the only member in Solano County. College Board is a non-profit organization responsible for the PSAT, SAT, and Advanced Placement (AP) tests.