 World Impact’s Newark Christian School (NCS), established in 1984, is dedicated to facilitating the goals of World Impact-Newark in its ministry to urban residents of the greater Newark community, but especially to those in the inner-city areas who lack access to the resources of society. NCS is located in a former vocational training high school building, which also houses other World Impact-Newark ministries, including Bible study classes, sports programs, a thrift shop, and a partnership ministry, The Potter’s House Church.
Newark Christian School is unique in its ability to minister to the urban poor families and supports the church-planting goals of World Impact ministries. NCS supports urban families by equipping students for a life of discipleship by helping them develop academic competence, Christian character and self-confidence. Like all World Impact schools, NCS prepares its graduates to take advantage of educational opportunities and make substantial and positive contributions to the Kingdom of God.
The kindergarten through sixth grade student body of 80 is more than 90 percent African-American or immigrant families from Africa and the Caribbean Sea, and the remainder are Hispanic. To allow for high levels of student-to-teacher interaction, each class has a maximum enrollment of 16 students. Families from the neighborhood who are involved in the ministries of World Impact, or other local churches, or who receive a recommendation from a Newark Christian School family, are invited to apply for enrollment of their children.
Faculty
 Most of our teachers are missionaries who raise their own support and live in the same neighborhood in which they teach. This enables them to be involved in the family life of their students outside the classroom. Our missionary teachers are unusually committed to their community. All of the missionary teachers live within half a mile of the school. Half of our teaching staff have lived near, and worked in, Newark Christian School for more than five years. Two teachers hired from the Newark community bring added experiences to our school staff.
As in all World Impact ministries, the NCS teachers also serve as part of a missionary team committed to planting churches in the inner cities and among the disenfranchised urban poor. The teachers actively cultivate their personal spiritual lives through individual and group prayer times, Bible studies and involvement in a body-life. Teachers also have opportunities to attend seminars and workshops, meet with excellent teachers in other schools and take college classes to enhance their teaching skills as well as learn about new trends in urban elementary school education.
Each year Newark Christian School has openings for qualified elementary school teachers who are willing to raise their financial support.
School Program
Newark Christian School students participate in a rich and demanding curriculum which emphasizes the development of multiple learning strategies. All classes study the Bible as an academic course and teachers and students regularly consult the Bible for guidance, devotional thoughts and worship throughout the school day. Like all World Impact ministries, prayer undergirds all of Newark Christian School's activities.
NCS seeks to develop language skills through an emphasis on literature and the arts. Students at every grade level take home library books of their own choosing each evening, develop their dramatic and storytelling abilities through creating their own plays and through regular participation in both major and minor school performances. Each class travels outside the school for the purpose of exploring places and meeting people outside their normal life experiences. The trips include zoos, farms, the Newark Museum, the Liberty Science Center, plays in Newark and New York and excursions to Philadelphia, Boston and Washington, D.C. All students take physical education, health and music classes. There is an after school chess club, bell choir and a Bible study where the students also learn how to knit.
Parental Involvement
 The school faculty and administration seek to enhance the family feeling of Newark Christian School through parties, picnics and special events. School personnel recognize their role to support families in the godly nurture of the children. Parents volunteer in many roles at NCS and are required to attend three individual conferences with their child's teacher, as well as supervise nightly homework assignments. NCS enjoys a high level of parental involvement in school programs and other events.
When a student is accepted for enrollment in Newark Christian School, he or she is granted a tuition scholarship, which is raised through a variety of funding sources, including sponsorships for each student. Parents pay the remaining tuition costs based on a sliding scale which takes into account a family's gross income and family size. The tuition ranges from $200 per year to $5000 per year with the majority of students paying less than $680 per year.
Support
As part of a faith ministry, Newark Christian School depends on the generosity of God's people. The administration and faculty not only raise their own support but also seek to raise support for the school by representing the ministry to interested groups. NCS welcomes volunteers in a variety of positions, ranging from office work to teacher's aides to serving on the school advisory board. We are grateful for in-kind gifts of classroom supplies and equipment, and because NCS ministers to the urban poor, it will always be appreciative of student sponsorships and gifts to continue the ministry.
For more information, please contact Fred Clark at the address above. |
