Principal’s Office

As head of school, I often find myself standing at the entrance of our building greeting our students as they arrive. Most of the time, I find myself giving high fives, hugs, and smiles as we chat about the upcoming day. I also am able to catch up with the classes as the students make their way to the lunch room. Sitting down with them, I get to hear stories about their life, catch up on the latest and greatest, or even take part in a create-your-own-adventure story. These interactions with my students are by far the favorite part of my job. I soak it up and relish the opportunity to just be present and let them know that an adult, who isn’t mom or dad, cares about them.

Often, we are taught that the most important thing we can do as leaders in education is to ensure that we are creating a rigorous academic program – led by expert teachers with classrooms full of curriculum aligned to standards, coursework aligned to match or exceed that of our state standards. We are told that we have to prove ourselves worthy in a system that is governed today by a machine that was created to churn out identical thinkers – kids who will be the square peg in the square hole. The paradigm of education today is conformity not uniqueness and individuality. There is no longer any room for going outside of the standards and teaching the common-sense concepts that kids need to know. Instead, there is only the perpetuated mediocracy of the curriculum moving our world forward into the bleakness of uniformity.

I see it on the shoulders of our students. The burden that our kids are carrying – one after another walks in with a down trodden look ready to begin yet another day of academic study. I see it in the lack of interpersonal skills as kids struggle to build appropriate friendships while learning that there is give and take in all that we do together. I see it in the disrespect towards parents and authority figures. I asked myself recently a question that challenged my personal philosophies: Have we missed it?

The answer was simple yet so complex. We have missed it in the fact that we have modeled our academic institutions after a system that is already failing. Look at our Christian schools and compare it to the public school across the street – we have days created to mimic the traditional. From academic subjects to schedules, gradebooks to report cards – we are of the same system. What currently sets us apart? Is it the fact that we add chapel to our day? Intermix a prayer over our lunch? Maybe add a bible class into the mix? Even in doing that – we find ourselves monitoring the progress of those items with the same tools that our public-school counterpart thrives in: lesson plans, lectures, assessments and grades.

We have students that are begging for something different. Something more. We have students that want deeper relationships with those around them, teachers to care for more than just grades and academic progress. We have students that want to know their creator and experience His love and goodness in ways that they could never imagine. We have students who want to hear that it is completely ok to lay the daily burden down at the feet of Christ – being set free to focus on the destiny that the Cross empowers them to achieve.

Please know that I am in no way saying that academic development is not important – but it is less important than the spiritual formation which provides the foundation for EVERYTHING else. Here at HCA, we want to develop students who first love God and others authentically.

When asked about the greatest commandment, Jesus said “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” Matthew 22:37-40

We want our kids to excel not because of self-driven desires for wealth and status, but because of a desire to love those around us – living courageously and taking every opportunity to impact a life for the Kingdom. And yes – we do want our students to think deeply, applying themselves to the work that God brings us to. As our student’s spiritual foundation is set like concrete, the necessary framework of academic success can be built! And that my friends, is the way education should be.

Over the last few months, there has been much discussion in the media regarding student safety and security in our schools – especially after the terrible tragedy at Parkland High School in Florida. With these recent events, I felt the need to reassure our families by sharing the efforts of the HCA school board and our staff as we ensure the day to day safety of our students and employees.

During our last school year, I partnered with several members of the school resource officer team from Orange County in an effort to modify our existing emergency plans and create a lockdown procedure. We have continued to tweak these plans as we have run drills periodically throughout the school year.

Last November, our school board began the process of reviewing the safety of our building and grounds. At that meeting, we decided to begin the process of modifying our facility to increase the level of security on campus. The process of identifying and modifying an existing building does take time, but I can happily share that we are now at the install part of that process. The following upgrades will be taking place over the next several weeks:

1. New entry doors are being installed at every entrance. These upgraded doors are break-resistant. At all three of our school entries, we will have key card and keypad access, negating the need to lock/unlock doors manually. This will ensure that our building remains secure 24 hours a day.
2. A new video entrance system will be installed at our main office entry – allowing our school administration team to identify our visitors prior to granting access to our facility.
3. A DVR system with security cameras are being installed on campus for school administration to monitor throughout the day. These cameras will give us a full view of our campus.

We have identified several additional areas that we are continuing to explore – including our visitor system, student check-in/check-out, and student pick-up. We also have a capital project planned for this summer, with our main entrance receiving a facelift to ensure accessibility and encourage a higher level of school safety. Additionally, our staff has recently undergone training that we provided in partnership with the Orange County Sheriff’s Department to prepare for a number of situations, including active shooter situations.

As an HCA Parent, there are several ways that you can help us ensure security on campus.

• Always enter campus through our main entrance by pressing the call button. School administration will buzz you through.
• When entering/exiting, never hold or prop open the door for others.
• When visiting, always check-in at the main office.
• Please use your signs provided by HCA in the child carpool line.
• When on campus, please report any suspicious individuals, vehicles, or behavior to school administration.
• The most advantageous thing that you as a parent can do each and every day is cover our campus in prayer.

Let me also make a general plea for your assistance. Providing a rigorous academic program starts by securing exceptional faculty and staff and partnering it with a safe and secure atmosphere and an excellent curriculum based on our Christian worldview. These items are budgeted every year based on our current student enrollment.

Our current school security/safety endeavors mentioned at the beginning of this email are unbudgeted items. If you are interested in supporting these initiatives financially, you can do so by sending in a check with “School Security” marked in the memo line. Any donations made to Hillsborough Christian Academy (beyond normal tuition and fees) are tax deductible according to current IRS guidelines.

It is our hope and prayer that our emergency training will never be needed, but please be assured, we will do everything we can to keep our students safe. We are grateful for the trust you place in us every day for your child’s academic and spiritual development, and we look forward to our continued partnership for many years to come!

Serving Passionately,

Bryan K. Turner, MA
Principal
Hillsborough Christian Academy

One of the most told children’s stories from God’s Word would have to be the story of Daniel in the Lion’s Den. In case you haven’t heard the story, it is about Daniel, a servant of the Lord, who was serving the kingdom of Babylon after the tribe of Judah found themselves in exile around 600 BC. Daniel and his friends were taken into the service of King Nebuchadnezzar as was custom when Babylon conquered a civilization.

In order to make the transition easier, Babylon was extremely acceptant of religious beliefs other than their own. This custom of “absorbing” other religions into theirs made the nation of Babylon a mix of different cultures and religious beliefs. For most in captivity, this was a welcomed practice. It meant that the captive nation could continue to worship their God as long as they were acceptant of all the other beliefs.

In some cases, this practice caused great confusion. It caused a people who were monotheistic to suddenly become polytheistic. This was the case for many of the Israelites taken into captivity. We are fortunate though that the Word of God records for us a man who simply refused to give in to the rule of the land – and continued to seek steadfastly after God’s heart.

We see the heart of Daniel throughout the book of that carries his namesake. From the very beginning of the experience, Daniel refused to defile himself or the Word of God. In fact, the very first chapter begins with Daniel and his friends (Hananiah, Azariah, and Mishael) forced to eat from the kings table – full of delicious items that were forbidden by the law. Daniel, knowing the law, decided not to defile himself by eating from the kings table. Instead, he and his three friends found favor and was granted the opportunity to live off of fruits, vegetables, and water. All while watching his friends enjoy themselves with a diversity of delicacies from the king’s table.

Of course, the stories continue throughout the life of Daniel as he steadfastly held to his beliefs in the one true God. When face with the hungry mouths of lions or his prayer life, Daniel chose to honor God by continuing to pray openly three times a day. Notice that he didn’t just pray in his closet – Daniel continued to honor God by praying in front of his window, where those who sought to injure him could see.

Daniel was bold in his love for God. When King Darius came to see if he survived that lonely night in the Lion’s Den, he said “Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to rescue you from the lions?” Everyone knew Daniel was a servant of the Living God. They knew it not just because of these stories that were recorded for us, but through the character and personality that overflowed from Daniel’s heart.

Have you thought through the parallels of Babylon and where America stands today? We stand in a society that has seen countless religious messages pour in only to subvert the eternal truth that Jesus Christ is Lord. In this society, our students walk through school hallways that have become places of indoctrination. Moral issue after moral issue, students are now being told that right according to the Word of God is wrong according to today’s culture. Students are encouraged in today’s schools to create their own truth. To live a life that follows their heart instead of the heart of Christ.

Hillsborough Christian Academy exists to fill that void in the educational world. Our faculty work tireless to instill a biblical worldview in each student – being careful to teach our students to know God in a powerful way. We want our students to experience God just as Daniel did – living day by day in a powerful relationship with Christ, making the right choices so that people around them will see our God we serve continually. This isn’t just about Christian schooling – it is about a spiritual warfare that goes on day by day, with the most precious gift from God being in the middle of the battlefield. This is about setting apart a generation to passionately pursue Him in all they do. This is about Kingdom Education.