Program Committee makes pupil/teacher ratio a top priority
Monday, November 13, 2006 -- Michelle Strutzenberger
The Program Committee at Rhema Christian School is working on the school’s pupil/teacher ratio to ensure that it services the existing needs of the community, says Chair-person Karl Nielsen. This is one of several top priorities for the committee.

The Committee is also currently focused on “revising and tweaking our mandate and making our communication and cooperation with the Board as fluid and effective as possible,” says Karl.

A third top priority is the revision of the school’s volunteer policy to make it more reflective of the present state of the school community.

“These are priorities that the Board has identified for us,” says Karl, identifying the primary reason for these specific concerns. “We take our direction from the Board and we report to them on a regular basis.”

The mandate of the Program Committee is to oversee the running of the school in terms of programs. “This encompasses educational and curricular items, as well as any policies or procedures which have direct bearing on the carrying out of the school’s vision,” says Karl. He notes that the vision of the school is to “provide Christian day school education to those who desire it in the Peterborough area.”

Karl adds that the current Program Committee is “simply excellent.”

“We are a diverse group of people with a broad range of skills and personality types. We have worked hard to form a unit in which opinions can be expressed directly without fear of hurting feelings. We laugh together a lot and we get a lot of work done. Our meetings are lively and focused on how we can support the accomplishment of our school’s vision. Each of us takes his/her role very, very seriously. I find it invigorating and challenging to work through the issues, and we all experience a great deal of satisfaction in our work.”

People are nominated and approached for participation on the Program Committee. Karl says that expressions of interest from the general school community about serving on the committee would be taken very seriously. All appointments to the Committee are made by the Board on the recommendation of the Program Committee.