Weekly Update - September 2nd, 2024

Dear ECS Family,

We hope you’ve enjoyed Labor Day weekend! Our next scheduled day off is Monday, October 14th, for Columbus Day.

Our school picture day is scheduled for Friday, September 27th. Students should wear the logo uniform. We are aware of backorders. We have a limited number of logo polos available for sale in the school office, but otherwise students should wear a similarly-colored polo for picture day.

I’m pleased to announce that EC Chess, our school’s chess club, is now an affiliate of the US Chess Federation and we can now participate in tournaments, offer US Chess Federation Membership to our students, and even host our own tournaments.

We’ve been hit with COVID and other respiratory illnesses early this year. The updated guidance for COVID is now the same as all other respiratory illnesses (e.g. - flu or common cold). Once symptoms improve and a student is fever-free for 24 hours without using fever-reducing medications students may return to school. There is no recommended quarantine for exposure unless one becomes symptomatic. Absences related to illnesses are excused, please notify the school office by 9:00 AM the day of the absence (an email works fine).

I want to explain different elements of our school for new families, and we will start with Guilds.

The Guild system is akin to the British house system which began at Oxford and Cambridge universities. Students studying under a professor lived in that professor’s house on or near the university campus. Students were drawn to a professor based on reputation, academic interests, and planned course of study.

At ECS we named our houses “Guilds” because a Guild reflects a common interest, and each Guild prioritizes one of the four cardinal virtues:
- Assassins of Indulgence - Temperance/moderation
- Bravehearts - Courage/bravery
- Knights of Radiance - Justice/honor
- Ursa Veritas - Prudence/wisdom

The Guilds build camaraderie and school spirit, providing a basis for friendly competition. At the end of each school year, one Guild wins the Guild Cup. Guilds also form an opportunity for student leadership, with each Guild having a leadership structure consisting of an alder, dean of order, and steward of games. Guilds are overseen by faculty advisors known as Guildmasters.

While each Guild prioritizes one virtue, all students should aspire to virtuous and godly lives. Think of the Guild as ambassadors for particular virtues, not the sole practitioners of it. This focus means even the Guild competitions must be tempered with virtue, and always lead students toward shared identity and unity as one ECS family.

That’s all for this week.

God bless,
Headmaster Batten