Covenant Classical School

Dear Covenant,

It’s been a good run! I am filled with thoughts of gratitude and joy as I write these words, albeit mixed with a bit of bittersweet. I am incredibly thankful for the nearly 20 years!

When I first arrived at Covenant in 2006, many things looked different from today. One thing, however, remains the same: Our school’s motto, “In all things Christ preeminent” (Colossians 1:18), remains our bedrock.

Prior to my family’s arrival, many other families laid the deep foundations that provided for the stability that our school experiences today. We all owe a huge amount of gratitude to those who went before. I am grateful for  the sacrifice and the surrender of these pioneers.

Personally in the early 2000s, I was thrilled to no end when I found that this school existed – a school with like-minded parents who wanted a solid Christian education for their children and also fostered a flourishing lifelong love of learning. I could not get here fast enough. For more of the recounting of my story, listen to the free audio of my book Train.

Back in the day, onboarding older students into Covenant was more of a laborious process. My daughters met with Mr. John Rutherford. He is now teaching again at Covenant, and I love these full-circle moments! They met in his classroom twice a week at 7 a.m. from January through May of 2006 just to learn enough Latin to enter Covenant the following fall as 8th and 9th Graders. I remember those early morning, sleepy-eyed tutoring sessions.

We were thankful for this time, but it was hard work! The sacrifice and struggle were real. Being an idealist plus a believer in classical education helped immensely, but the daily grind of it all began to wear and tear. Truly anything worth doing though has a hard edge, a flip side, and yet, pain causes perseverance and sacrifices serve to strengthen.

Taking the long view of things is the only way to cultivate beautiful habits that will last a lifetime.

Thankfully, we now have Latin Academy in the summer which makes the Latin on-ramp a much shorter and easier transition. That, among a myriad of other improvements, have been created along the way to make Covenant the school we see today.

Travel with me on a little trip down Memory Lane as I muse a bit over my nearly 20-year Covenant journey.

First stop on our trip, the old building on Judd Street! We were at a different location, renting space in the old Normandale Baptist Church (actually our school’s third location) when our family arrived on the scene. In fact, we shared space with two other entities in this rented facility before moving to the land we now own today. I always likened it to three teenagers sharing the same bathroom. The possibility for all kinds of tension was ever present, but by God’s grace, we made it work.

I can remember students exclaiming when their ruler or scissors turned up missing in the classroom, “The church people took it!” Me: “No, they didn’t.” The items inevitably just shuffled and shifted as we moved desks every Monday and Thursday mornings after the Sunday and Wednesday night church services.

The idiom “many hands make light work” comes to mind after the moving and replacing of so much furniture. What would we have done without the vim and vigor of the faculty kids to help with these processes? I don’t know if we ever said thank you; they just did what needed to be done. So, thank you now to all the faculty kids who arrived early, stayed late, and moved copious amounts of desks! Unwittingly, those times of “misery loves company” teamwork created sweet camaraderie and shared experiences.

Additionally, musical productions felt like the body of Christ beautifully working together to employ all of their various gifts. Every student from 3rd to 12th Grade and many parents and faculty played a part – from main stage singing and dancing to backstage sewing costumes and prepping props. Teamwork made the dream work. It still does. Our school plays are amazing!

In 2007 at the YMCA gym on White Settlement Road, down the street from our old school, we won our first-ever basketball game. Practically the entire school came out for this (all 150 of us), and we, the fans, erupted in joyous expressions that bounced off the rafters! I’m sure, the other team was thinking, “What’s the big deal? It’s just a win. Haven’t you ever won a game before?” Us: “Yippee!!!!” The joy was palpable.

Camaraderie in Community

Next stop down Memory Lane: The big move to the new campus! We all had different-colored dots to mark our boxes and books as we unloaded truckload after truckload into the staging area of the Great Room. This area in the current K-1/Music Building served as the cafeteria and chapel and recitation/Senior Thesis space of the school. I think I still have some red-dotted items on my shelves to this day.

So many creative and collaborative moves have occurred that I’ve often thought about how cool it would be to make one of those movie montages of the various moves from space to space over the years. It sure would capture lots of zipping and zapping around. We all moved many times and shared many spaces — some staff even officing in a closet!

I would be remiss if I failed to mention the “riding the Normandale bus” days to and from the Normandale parking lot once we outgrew our school parking lot at our new location. More opportunities for faculty bonding times! “Don’t forget to catch the bus over lunch or at the end of the day to go get your car," the email would remind us, and we would frantically grab our keys and head out to catch the faculty bus once again. All that to say, I love our new parking lots!

And then there’s football…

“Woohoo!!! Hooray!!!” What was that celebratory sound?

It was the collective shouts and cheers when we, Covenant Classical School, celebrated our 2021 State Championship win — like it was the first one we had ever won. Oh yeah, because it was!

Not all moments were joyful and full of elation, though. Many were laced with sadness and sorrow. We not only rejoice well together, but mourn with one another as well. Gathered groups of people praying. Shared messages for urgent prayer to lift up a brother or sister or family in deep desperation.

What was that sound of sadness? It was the collective groans and cries when one in our Covenant community hurts. When one hurts, we all hurt. When one celebrates, we all celebrate.

"Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep" (Romans 12:15).

The “Once a Cavalier, Always a Cavalier” bell rings loudly, tolling the heart of our school. Care, concern, and community abound.

As a side trip on the historical-foundational tour of Memory Lane: Prayer has undergirded us as a people from the beginning. Prayer initiatives like the Nehemiah Bible Study to Moms in Prayer to grandparents praying a blessing at Grandparent Days – sharing stories and prayers of faith passing on from generation to generation.

Strong foundations have been laid from our beginning to enable us to thrive going forward.

May we always be a praying people and seek the Lord first and foremost in all of our endeavors. “Oh give thanks to the LORD; call upon his name; make known his deeds among the peoples!” (Psalm 105:1).

When we celebrated our 20th anniversary, the powerful founding story of God’s faithfulness was shared by the early leaders of our school.  The 2019 Tis Arete article ended with a paragraph stating, “What was clear from the beginning was that God’s hand was guiding our school. The same holds true today.”

Five years later, when we celebrated the 25th anniversary, we continued to be filled with gratitude and praise for the Lord’s sustaining power over these 25 years, hearing even more stories of God’s faithfulness along the way – stories of grit and determination. That's our history. God has called, carried, provided, and caused us to thrive and flourish. We have so much for which to be thankful. Let’s keep telling the stories!

“Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised, and his greatness is unsearchable. One generation shall commend your works to another, and shall declare your mighty acts” (Psalm 145:3-4).

Storytelling and story gathering are instrumental in truly knowing a place. Knowing about one’s history as well as engaging in shared experiences unifies our life together and strengthens our purpose and mission as we continue on the journey together.

To quote Bono from his book Surrender, “A storyline is everything.” And, here at Covenant, we have a good one! It is a powerful story of God’s providence and provision.

Belonging to something bigger than ourselves is in the warp and weave of our Covenant tapestry. The people who make up Covenant are like the many strands that make up a beautiful blanket — all woven into one singular piece of fabric. A blanket often tells the story of a family — whether passed-down heirloom quilts or beautiful Native American weavings. A blanket bears many stories of comfort, warmth, purpose, hope, history, love, and security, like an alma mater (Latin nurturing mother).

Our school, Covenant Classical School, teems with stories of us striving together to fulfill our mission of educating students to become lifelong learners for the glory of God!

A memorable movie scene comes to mind from Miracle, the story of the US vs. USSR hockey teams vying for gold in the Winter Olympics of 1980. The “team” is full of hotshots from their various colleges — individually showboating — and when the coach intentionally repeatedly asks: “Who do you play for?” they would each respond with the name of their own college. After one incredibly painful workout, one of the players finally “gets” what the coach is trying to communicate and answers his ubiquitous question with the unifying rally cry: “The United States of America!”

Now they understood. They were to be a team. A family was born.

As we wrap up our nostalgic school field trip, I recently learned that an alumnus or alumna need not have graduated from an institution to be considered an alumni. Attending an alma mater for any length of time makes you automatically one. You are part of the family — forever.

Whether you were here for a short or long time, graduated or returned, the students, faculty, and families who have attended Covenant for any amount of time are part of the Covenant Family.

Once a Cavalier, Always a Cavalier!

In closing, I am incredibly thankful for all of the students, fellow teachers, faculty, and families I’ve known and worked alongside. The education of children is a beautiful thing.

"In all things Christ preeminent" (Colossians 1:18). May this motto be our mainstay forever.

Love,

Mrs. Boss