Covenant Parent Connection Meeting

Friday, November 22nd | 8:15 am | CCA Cafeteria

Parents, please join us for the Covenant Parent Connection meeting to learn how you can support upcoming activities and events. Stay for our first Covenant Commentary of the year, which will take place at the end of the meeting.

For questions about Covenant Parent Connection, please contact Andrea Bergstrom, Grammar School Principal, at andrea.bergstrom@ccamail.org.

Covenant Commentaries: Anxiety and Our Children

Friday, November 22nd | 8:45 am | CCA Cafeteria

Our first Covenant Commentary of the school year, “Anxiety and Our Children” will be held on Friday, November 22nd following the Covenant Parent Connection meeting at 8:45 am. 

Sarah Libby, LMHC will be presenting this brief talk in hopes to empower parents to better understand, explain, and approach anxious patterns in their children. Parents will leave with a few basic, practical strategies they can implement at home and several resources to dive deeper for further learning and support. 

Sarah Libby is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor, Visiting College Instructor, and Certified Clinical Supervisor and runs her private practice in Danvers. Sarah has provided professional development to CCA Grammar School faculty and and has two sons in the USLR.

This session will be recorded for those who cannot attend.

If you have questions about Covenant Commentaries or would like to suggest topics for future Commentaries, please contact Nicole Wise Williams, Chief Advancement Officer, at nicole.williams@ccamail.org.

Thanksgiving All-School Chapel

Tuesday, November 26th | 8:15 am | PAAC

Please join us on Tuesday, November 26th, at 8:15 am in the Performing Arts and Athletics Center for our all-school Thanksgiving Chapel. 

We have much to be thankful for and pray you each find this Thanksgiving holiday a time of restoration and gratitude, feeling the warmth of the Lord’s love through the power of His Holy Spirit. 

Support Covenant with Christianbook’s Giveback Program!

Covenant is excited to announce a partnership with Christianbook’s Giveback program—a simple and automatic way for you to support your local church or organization (that’s us!), every time you shop, at no cost to you!

Here’s how it works:

1. Link your Christianbook account to benefit Covenant.
   • Click here
   • Enter Organization ID: IYEPJO
2. Shop at Christianbook.com for your favorite books, gifts, and more.
3. Christianbook will automatically donate 4% of your merchandise total to Covenant!

It’s an easy way to make a difference while you shop. Start supporting today, and thank you for being part of our community!

Questions about the Christianbook Giveback program can be directed to Rita Detwiler: rita.detwiler@ccamail.org. 

Family Volunteer Day

Saturday, November 23, 2024 | 9:00 am–1:00 pm | CCA

Family Volunteer Day is a global day of service that celebrates the power of families who work together to support their communities and neighborhoods. 2024 will be CCA’s inaugural year to participate, so save the date and bring the family. Some of the projects will include:

• Courtyard Beautification
• Compost Containment
• Bench and Riser Building
• Old Furniture and Garbage Removal
• Replacing Filters, Lights, and Ceiling Tiles
• Painting
• Installing Shelves and Hooks
• Library Book Sorting

All skill levels welcome, with a few projects needing expertise in carpentry, construction, electrical, landscaping, and plumbing.

USLR students will receive House points for participation.

Register by November 14th to receive a Family Volunteer Day t-shirt! 

If you cannot make it on November 23rd but would still like to contribute, please consider donating a Home Depot gift card to be used for supplies. 

To sign up for Family Volunteer Day, contact Chief Advancement Officer, Nicole Williams: nicole.williams@ccamail.org. 

Giving Tuesday

As we each prepare our hearts and households for a season of expressing gratitude for God’s love and faithfulness, Covenant is encouraging students, families, and members of our community to consider stewarding their God-given gifts of time, talent, and treasure – leading up to and on Tuesday December 3rd and beyond – to reflect His love and advance His Kingdom.

Why Give on Giving Tuesday? 

Your support reaches further than you might imagine:

• Scholarships and Financial Aid
• Enrichment and Resources
• Campus Improvements

How to Participate:

Whether through prayer, your time, or a financial gift of any amount to the Covenant Fund, each and every contribution strengthens our school’s mission. The Covenant Fund goal for 2024-2025 is $300,000, which if reached, will be used for school-wide eco-friendly upgrades and parking lot and playground improvements, among other program and facilities needs.

To read more, click here. To give now, click here! 

Grammar School Family Roller Skating Social

Tuesday, November 19th | 5:00 pm | Roller World, Saugus

Lace-up your skates and join us for an evening of fun and laughter as we glide around the rink together! All Grammar School students and family members are invited to join us for roller skating and available concessions for dinner at our Roller Skating Social at Roller World in Saugus on Tuesday, November 19th from 5:00–6:45pm! 

$10 per person (skating or non-skating, includes skate rentals or bring your own skates)

Limited space available. Click here to reserve your tickets today. 

Questions about the Roller Skating Social can be directed to Andrea Bergstrom: andrea.bergstrom@ccamail.org. 

Operation Christmas Child: A Simple Gift with a Big Impact

Boxes due: Wednesday, November 20th

We are once again excited to provide you with an opportunity to participate in the Samaritan’s Purse Operation Christmas Child initiative this holiday season. This is a wonderful way to share the love of Christ with children living in poverty around the world—many of whom may receive their very first Christmas gift through your generosity.

Here’s how you can get involved:

• Fill a Shoebox: A shoebox filled with small necessities and gifts can make a world of difference to a child in need. We encourage you to use sturdy plastic shoeboxes for durability, though we will provide a cardboard box for each GS Family available upon request. (Durable plastic boxes are especially valued by recipients, so we encourage their use where possible.) For packing suggestions, click here. 
• Return by Nov. 20th: All filled shoeboxes must be returned to school by Wednesday, November 20th at 8:00 AM. Due to delivery deadlines, late boxes may not be accepted.
• Attach a Label: Be sure to use the included label to mark your shoebox before returning it.
• Shipping Fee: We suggest a $10.00 shipping fee per shoebox, which helps cover the costs of getting these gifts to children in need. Please include a check made out to Samaritan’s Purse inside the shoebox. (One check can cover multiple boxes.)

Although this time of year can be filled with charitable requests, we believe hands-on service initiatives like Operation Christmas Child help our students better understand poverty, privilege, and compassion for others.

We are also looking for two parents who would be willing to help deliver boxes to a nearby drop-off site on Thursday, November 21st or Friday, November 22nd. 

We hope you’ll consider participating in this meaningful initiative, and thank you for your generosity and heart for those in need. Let’s make this Christmas brighter for children around the world!

Questions about the Samaritan’s Purse Operation Christmas Child, or to volunteer your help, contact Grammar School Principal Andrea Bergstrom: andrea.bergstrom@ccamail.org. 

Classical Roots Weekly Blog: Two Ways of Wilding the Grass 

Click here to read this week’s blog post, Two Ways of Wilding the Grass, and to subscribe to the Classical Roots Substack. Download the Substack app to be able to comment and ask questions. Help us spread the word by sharing this link with your friends. 

If you are interested in learning more about this program or getting involved, please contact Alex Miller at alex.miller@ccamail.org. 

Join us in welcoming Caleb Ingersoll as the USLR Dean of Students! 

Caleb comes to us with a background in pastoral ministry and a passion for teaching and mentoring our youth. Caleb initially joined the team as an Upper School teacher and moved into the role of USLR Dean of Students in January. 

What is your role at CCA? Upper School Dean of Students

Can you tell us a bit about your background and previous experience? I was the lead pastor of Calvary Baptist Church in Peabody for 11 years. For the last three years, here at CCA, I taught Bible, History, and Rhetoric and transitioned into the Dean of Students role in January.

What drew you to join CCA? My wife and I have loved being a part of the CCA community since my 8th-grade daughter, Jillian, started pre-K here. I stepped down from being a pastor to work on a start-up aimed at providing preaching resources for pastors. That endeavor didn’t quite work out and as I started to consider what God had next for me the teaching opportunity opened up here. I believe strongly in the mission of CCA and have seen the impact this school has had on my children year after year, so I was excited to serve first as a teacher and now as Dean of Students.

What are you most looking forward to this school year?Spending time with the students. I love that the last several years of teaching mean that I know almost every student in the upper school. While I won’t have the daily classroom rhythms as a teacher anymore, I look forward to seizing opportunities to talk, hang out, encourage, challenge, joke with, and cheer on these students.

Favorite food: I love to eat so it is hard to pick one, but I might have to go with TACOS!

Favorite book: I love to learn and therefore I love books. A student in detention in my office recently passed the time by counting the books in my office – 853 according to his count. I have lots of favorite books, each for different topics or ways that they have shaped my thinking. Some favorites: Desiring God, by John Piper; Decision Making and the Will of God, by Gary Friesen; Confessions, by Saint Augustine; Freedom of the Will, by Jonathan Edwards; and last, but not least – a book that I admittedly haven’t read, but love to display on my desk – a book published in 1880 and found by a friend at a used bookstore – “The Mistakes of Ingersoll and His Answers.” Last year I decided to let students sign the inside cover if they caught me making a mistake.

Favorite Bible verse: A passage about my namesake that makes me want to live up to his example: Numbers 14:24, “But because my servant Caleb has a different spirit and follows me wholeheartedly, I will bring him into the land he went to, and his descendants will inherit it.”

What are your hobbies or interests outside of work? I love spending time with my family – traveling, taking drives and seeing where the road and the day take us, going out to eat, or staying in for a movie marathon. I also enjoy walks with my mini goldendoodle, Hawkeye.

Share a fun or unique fact about yourself: I have most of the soundtrack of Hamilton memorized.

If you were to participate in the USLR Lip Sync Battle, which song would you sing? So many good options. “I Am Ken” from the Barbie movie seems like it could be a lot of fun.

If you were to participate in the GS Star Wars dress-down day, which character would you be? Darth Vader

Is there anything you’d like to say to the community as you start your journey as Dean of Students here? I am for your kids and want to see them thrive and succeed and mature. I really value the partnership I have with parents and hope you feel free to reach out if there is anything that I should know to better support them and partner with you.

We’re glad to have you on our team, Caleb.