Dear Parents and Friends of CCS,

I pray this Advent Season has you longing for the return of Jesus.

As we approach our Christmas break, I want to ask you to be praying for Abundant Life Christian School in Madison, WI, the site of the most recent school shooting.

ALCS is an ACSI school with about 420 students, and so is very similar to ours in size and scope. I think the incidents of this past Monday have hit our faculty and admin especially hard because of that.

Whenever we hear of these tragedies taking place, the leadership of CCS takes the opportunity to review all of our security protocols and see how we can continue to improve.

Here’s a list of our key responses so far:

CCS has deployed members of the CCS Rapid Response Team (RRT) to provide an additional presence at drop off and pick up today and throughout this week.
The CCS Security Director, Ray Hernandez, has been following the incident closely and briefed our Executive Admin Team at 11:30am today.
I have provided a personal brief and protocol update to the receptionists at the Main and Secondary Offices.
All Senior Team Members have reviewed the Crisis Chains of Command and the Active Shooter protocols listed in the Emergency Management Manual, and Principles have reviewed the protocols for Active Shooter response with their respective faculties.
I have met with the Communication and Engagement Team and completed a review of our Crisis Communication Response protocols.
I will meet with the Security Director and the Business Manager in January to consider additional security equipment and protocols for 2025 to enhance our already robust security posture.
In January I will meet with the School Nurse and Chaplain to review spiritual and emotional health incident response protocols.
We had already began the external numbering of buildings and increasing the detail of internal room layouts to help 1st Responders should an incident occur, and these will be completed over the Christmas Break.
CCS will continue the work we have already begun in scheduling an FLDE and TPD Active Shooter Law Enforcement Response training on our campus in Spring 2025.
We will be posting prayer prompts on our social media platforms for the ALCS community.

Back in the day I spent time in Madison, and I remember it as a warm community with a lot of friendly people. I can’t imagine what they are feeling right now, and they desperately need our prayers.

I’ve been so encouraged by the testimonies of the ALCS families interviewed, who time and again have reinforced the necessity of faith in God and a loving community in the most difficult and challenging situations.

So we grieve with the ALCS community, but not as ones who have no hope.

As we prepare our families to enjoy this Christmas season, may we actually take the time to hug our kids extra tight and celebrate this amazing season of the Incarnation of the Son of God.

In the immortal words of Linus (Charlie Brown Christmas), “And that’s what Christmas is all about.”

And, most importantly, may we not walk in fear! The only fear that is worth our time (and worthy of our standing as God’s beloved children) is the fear of God, best understood as “awe in the presence of an infinite and living Father”.

Now may God the Father, His Son Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit who proceeds from them, receive all of the glory as we continue to move step by step toward becoming a truly extraordinary school, for the greater glory of God.

For CCS and the Kingdom,

Tom