First Impressions of LCS: A Great Place to Send Your Kids
Impression: an idea, feeling, or opinion about something or someone, especially one formed without conscious thought or on the basis of little evidence.
We all form opinions dozens of times a day about many things. Our opinions are often based on impressions, thoughts that simply come to mind without really thinking long and hard about what we have seen, heard or experienced. Anyone who knows me very well knows that I can quickly form an opinion about a place based on the temperature of the air in that place. If my initial impression is that I will be cold, then my opinion is that this is not a place I want to be. I am a Florida girl indeed!
First Impressions
Even though many of our initial impressions about people or experiences are not always based on solid facts, these first impressions do have an impact on our thoughts and emotions. Sometimes impressions are hard to change even when more information is gathered. Thankfully though, if we have an initial impression that is not so good, most people are open to learning more about things they are genuinely interested in.
First Impressions of LCS
All of this to say – impressions are a fact of life, and impressions are important as we consider how families that visit the LCS campus experience our community for the first time.
I recently polled some of our newly enrolled families for the 2014-15 school year. I asked them to share three words that describe their initial impression of our school. I was very encouraged by their feedback. Here are some of their descriptive words:
- informative…caring…welcoming
- articulate…kind…gracious
- passionate…quality…serving
- innovative…clean…orderly
- professional…attentive…informative
- hopeful…safe…genuine…peaceful
From First Impressions to Continued Experiences
God has richly blessed LCS with faculty, staff and students who care about and are attentive to the value of creating a welcoming environment on our campus. This speaks volumes to guests who have been introduced to the mission of our school and then walk our hallways and see the character of Christ demonstrated. We pray that as visiting families enroll their students and spend more and more time on campus, their first impressions are born out in continued experiences with the LCS community. I believe this is really happening. I wish I could share all the stories I have received from many of our newest families. Please enjoy just a few of their encouraging words:
“I have particularly loved how much the teachers love my son, and I have seen his love for Jesus grow as well. He has made some good little friends in class that he also sees every week in church. They are attending summer camp together and building such a special little friendship.”
“As an LCS Alum and former faculty member, I thought I knew how much I loved LCS. Now as a school parent, my love and thankfulness for the school has only grown. I see my son blossoming and growing with the kind nurturing of his teachers. He is excited about learning, he has made wonderful friends, and most importantly, he is being taught witheternity in mind. I couldn’t be more pleased with his first year of school and I’m looking forward to many more!”
“Coming to the LCS family has been a blessing every day for my son and our family. If I look back over this school year it is not friendships he has begun to foster that make me know this is the right place for him, it is the sheer joy of listening to him take school seriously. To watch him feel successful and see him determined to maintain that success. It is also him getting in the car and wanting to check out a new Christian song he heard in chapel that he wants to download because he loved it so much. It’s sitting in church on Sunday and having him reach over and tap me excitedly saying… I know this verse mom.”
Let’s continue to work toward promoting great first impressions here at LCS as we seek to daily focus on our mission of “Education in the light of God’s Word.”