Welcome Back from the Head of School

from The Year Ahead 2023-2024

Chapel Theme

Dear Veritas Parents,

I hope you have had an amazing and rejuvenating summer. Many of my colleagues have been planning and preparing for this upcoming school year, and we eagerly await our school to be filled with your children's smiling faces and joyful noises! This year is our 20th anniversary for Veritas, and we are so thankful to the Lord that we get to celebrate this new milestone and chapter. Please mark Saturday, September 30th, on your calendars for a special 20th-Anniversary Celebration on campus, where we will invite Veritas community members from the past and present.

Together, we get to begin writing a new chapter, guided by the foundation laid and tradition created two decades ago. We are excited to welcome a group of new, energetic Christian educators who will complement our returning faculty. I invite you to learn more about our new teachers in this publication and intentionally get to know some of them during our welcome back-to-school events. Many of our new teammates are multifaceted professionals with experience in education and other fields, and we are excited to see their unique skill sets translate directly into student success.

We have many new initiatives this year, and the first and most important one is not merely to maintain but rather to expand the Christ-centered foundation that Veritas is built upon. Part of how we will do this is by adding a Monday Chapel that all community members are encouraged to attend so that we can begin each week with corporate worship. During Monday’s chapel, we will introduce the Bible lesson of the week, followed by a deeper dive in Wednesday's Chapel. The new curriculum will be reinforced in all grade levels, including middle school advisory. Then, as the Bible exhorts us, we as a community will be listeners of the Word and doers of the Word.

Furthermore, we are rolling out a Veritas House system! The House system is a tested program at many schools nationwide that helps create a strong sense of belonging and identity, promotes positive peer relationships, encourages mentorship and leadership, elevates academics and character development, and enhances school spirit and tradition. You will receive more information about the Veritas House system before school starts and throughout the year.

Thank you to all those who contributed toward accelerating our STEAM efforts this year, which has translated into the renovation of our STEAM lab with new furniture, technology, and a new curriculum. Please read more about our STEAM initiatives in this publication.

Finally, this year our theme is “Community: Growing Together,” with the associated verse from Phillippians 2:2-4: “[M]ake my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility, value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.” Indeed, may this year be an incredible one filled with Gospel-catalyzed growth for all of us!

Blessings,

David Q. Hao, MA, JD Head of School

David Hao Head of School david.hao@veritasca.org

Kim Berger Assitant Head of School kim.berger@veritasca.org