Recently, a class from the Forest Park Adventist Christian School walked to a nearby city playground in Everett, Wash. A family there began to interact with the kids and started asking questions about the school. The next week, their son was enrolled at FPACS.
The mom’s reason? “This doesn’t seem like a school, it’s more like a family.”
One of the advantages of a small- or medium-sized Adventist school is that connected relationships become like family. With 52 students and three teachers, FPACS is a place where everyone knows everyone.
The community prays for each other, give thanks for friends and write notes of encouragement. Every student has a "buddy" — they sit together in chapel, work together on Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) projects and become special friends. The school family has fun together, too.
Earlier this school year, the FPACS held a grandparents' breakfast event. Invitations were sent and grandparents responded positively. Some drove across the state, and one set of grandparents even flew in from California! They didn’t want to miss this opportunity to attend their first-ever school grandparent event! Some students had family that were not able to attend, so members of the Forest Park Church were invited as surrogate grandparents.
The pandemic meant that most of the event had to be held outdoors, but all was well because God provided a miracle of great weather!
The event was a feast for the senses. The tables were decorated with student-created place mats and fall decorations. Families and groups of friends took pictures at a hay bale photo-booth. The K–1 students performed two songs with their hand bells; both their music and cuteness were highlights of the morning.
Teachers came to each table to share a prayer of blessing over the meal, then dismissed the group to get their breakfast. Grandparents were amazed at the variety of food served. There were vegetarian sausages, eggs, fruit, pastries and juice.
One grandparent said, “We can’t thank you enough for the wonderful grandparents brunch! We will never forget that special time with you all, and the awesome food, decorations and music. One of the best highlights was when [a teacher] came and personally prayed at our table with us.”
At Forest Park Adventist Christian School, God is the Father, and the school community is family.
