Board of Trustees

BY-LAWS

of

DESERT CHRISTIAN SCHOOLS

Tucson, Arizona

(as amended 05/29/19)

ARTICLE I - NAME

The name of this corporation shall be DESERT CHRISTIAN SCHOOLS, Inc.

ARTICLE II - PURPOSE

IT IS THE PURPOSE of the corporation to establish and maintain a Christian school system in Pima County, Arizona.

IT IS THE PURPOSE of the school to provide an excellent academic program permeated with Christian love and faith. To this end every person connected with the school (board members, administrator(s), teachers, staff members) must be capable and well trained for their particular task and have a deep concern for the spiritual as well as the educational development of the student.

IT IS THE PURPOSE of the school to establish and maintain an atmosphere which will encourage personal faith in Christ and the building of Christian character. The selection of teachers and staff members, the criteria for student admission and dismissal, the choice of literature and textbooks, the rules and regulations for conduct, shall be designed to create an influence toward healthy, normal, Christian living.

IT IS THE PURPOSE of the school to be cooperative with every other sincere Christian effort but to be independent of all denominational ties. The Faith Statement and Philosophy of Education as set forth in Article V herein is not subject to compromise. In matters in which there may be denominational interpretations, students must be referred to their parents and pastor. Each student is urged to serve faithfully in the church of which he or she is a member or normally attends.

ARTICLE III - MANAGEMENT

This organization is a non-profit corporation incorporated and operated under the laws of the State of Arizona. Its affairs are conducted and controlled by a Board of Trustees of not less than twelve and not more than twenty members. The actual number per year is to be set by the Board of Trustees.

ARTICLE IV - FISCAL YEAR

The fiscal year shall begin with the first day of July of each year and close with the thirtieth day of June of the following year.

ARTICLE V - FAITH STATEMENT AND PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION

Section 1 – Faith Statement

Recognizing that all people possess a worldview, a set of fundamental assumptions through which they interpret and respond to life, and recognizing that organizations also operate from a worldview, DCS puts forth the following faith statement and philosophy of education as part of the school’s worldview.

God

We believe in one eternal supreme being, God. He is infinite, but personal. All His thoughts, motives and actions are morally pure, righteous and good. God is triune, existing as one God in three distinct persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, each simultaneously sharing the divine essence and co-equal in nature, power and glory. God is the all powerful, all knowing, sovereign creator and sustainer of all that exists apart from Himself. While transcendently separate from His creation, He is also among it (Deuteronomy 6:1, Isaiah 44:6-8, Genesis 18:25, Exodus 34:6-7, James 1:17, Psalm 25:8-10, Genesis 1:26, II Corinthians 13:14, Daniel 4:34-35, Isaiah 45:5-7, Colossians 1:15-17, Romans 8:28-29, Psalm 139:1-12, Psalm 90:2, Romans 8:15-16).

Scripture

We believe the Bible (the 66 books of the Old and New Testaments) is God’s special revelation to man. Each word in the Bible as originally given, is “God-breathed.” When rightly interpreted (i.e., using such standards as literary, historical, contextual principles) the Bible addresses truthfully, without error, moral, historical, scientific and spiritual matters. The Bible, though not an exhaustive revelation of truth, is a reliable, sufficient and authoritative source of truth for all of life, because it reveals God’s being and His purposes for creation and man (II Timothy 3:15-17, John 17:17, II Timothy 2:15, II Peter 1:20).

Creation

We believe everything that has being, outside of God Himself, was brought into existence and is sustained in existence by God. Everything that exists in the universe was created by God out of nothing, and therefore has meaning as a purposeful creation of God. The creation includes both the spiritual unseen universe and the physical seen universe. The spiritual realm includes angels and other spiritual beings and is a place where God’s presence is especially evident. The cosmos, God’s complex, orderly physical creation, declares God’s existence, majesty, and divine attributes. The truth revealed in God’s “Book of Works,” the physical cosmos, will never contradict the truth revealed in His “Book of Words,” the Bible. The cosmos operates uniformly under laws designed by God but is also open to His divine intervention as He chooses (Genesis 1:1, Psalm 90:2, Colossians 1:15-17, Psalm 33:6-9, Psalm 104:24-32, Jeremiah 10:6-13, Revelation 4:1-11, Romans 1:18-20, Luke 1:36, Exodus 4:1-5).

Christ

We believe that Jesus Christ, the second person of the trinity, is Himself God. Christ, as God incarnate, possessed a human nature, though sinless, while simultaneously existing as divine. We acknowledge and accept as actual: Christ’s entrance into time and space through the virgin birth, His works of power, His sinless life, His death on the cross, the resurrection of His body from the dead and His ascension into heaven. Currently, Christ sits at the right hand of the Father, interceding for His people while awaiting the consummation of His Kingdom (John 1:1-5,18, John 8:58-59, John 10:31-38, John 14:7-9, Matthew 1:18-25, Colossians 1:15-19, Philippians 2:5-8, John 5:36, John 2:11, Hebrews 4:15, Romans 8:34-39, Hebrews 7:25, Hebrews 9:9-13, I Peter 2:22).

Holy Spirit

We believe the Holy Spirit is the third person of the Godhead. The Holy Spirit is not just an impersonal “force,” but is Himself God, possessing all of the divine attributes and exercising divine authority. The Holy Spirit glorifies Christ and saves people by: convicting them of sin and righteousness, regenerating them, indwelling them, and empowering them for a life of service to God (I Corinthians 3:16, II Corinthians 13:14, John 3:5-8, I Corinthians 2:12-13, Titus 3:5-6, John 14:16-18, John 16:7-15, Acts 1:8, I Corinthians 12:1-11, Galatians 5:22-23).

Man

We believe God created Mankind in His own image, male and female, a social being uniquely designed to live in relationship with God, and with one another (Genesis 1:17). As a physical being, Man is under God's physical laws. We believe the first humans, Adam and Eve, were created male and female respectively to glorify God. As a personal being, Man bears the image and likeness of God, and possesses the capacities of self-reflection and self-determination. Because of these abilities, Man is morally responsible to God to fulfill His purposes in righteousness. While not autonomous, Man is free to think and act under God's sovereign rule, and thus can impact his world significantly. Adam and Eve close to rebel against God, rather than honor, trust, and obey Him. As a spiritual being, Man is under God's spiritual and moral laws and, therefore, upon physical death, will receive God's everlasting judgment. Because Adam and Eve defied God's authority, all Mankind has inherited a sin nature from birth. Sin impacts Man's total being and causes him to be hostile towards God. As a sinner, Man is estranged from God, under His just wrath, and incapable of pleasing Him by his efforts alone.

We believe the term "marriage" has only one meaning: the uniting of one Man and one Woman in a single, exclusive union, as delineated in scripture (Genesis 18-25). We believe that God intends sexual intimacy to occur only between a Man and a Woman who are married to each other (I Corinthians 6:18 and 7:2-5, Hebrews 13:4). We believe God has commanded that no intimate sexual activity be engaged in outside of a marriage between a Man and a woman.

We believe that any form of sexual activity outside of marriage as described above, is immoral, sinful, and offensive to God. This includes adultery, fornication, homosexual behavior, bisexual conduct, bestiality, incest, and the use of pornography (Matthew 15:18-20, I Corinthians 6:9-10).

We believe that in order to uphold our Christian philosophy of education and views, and to provide a biblical role model to the students and parents of the Desert Christian Schoolscommunity, it is imperative that all persons employed by Desert Christian Schools, in any capacity, or who may serve as volunteers, agree to abide by this statement on Man (Matthew 5:16, Philippians 2:14-16, I Thessalonians 5:22).

We believe that every person must be afforded compassion, love, kindness, and respect, and dignity (Mark 12:28-31, Luke 6:31). Hateful and harassing behavior, or attitudes directed toward any individual are to be repudiated and are in accord with neither scripture nor the doctrines of Desert Christian Schools (Genesis 1:26-28, Genesis 2:7, Psalm 42:1, Genesis 2:15-17, Psalm 8:3-6, Hebrews 4:12, I Corinthians 3:10-15, Romans 15:1-2, Joshua 24:15, Philippians 4:4-9, Proverbs 21:1, Genesis 2:18-24, Genesis 3:1-24, Romans 5:12-21, Psalm 51:5, Psalm 58:3, Ephesians 4:17-18, Romans 3:10-18, Jeremiah 17:9, Romans 7:14-24, Galatians 6:6-10, Hebrews 9:27-28).

Redemption

We believe God has acted sovereignly to remedy man’s hopeless condition. Jesus Christ was sent by God to earth to redeem man from the penalty of his rebellion. Having suffered and died on the cross for sinners, Christ in His atoning death satisfies God’s just wrath and brings about reconciliation and redemption for those who trust this work. Just as believers’ sins are imputed to Christ, Christ’s sinless life on earth is credited to all believers. Both God’s love and justice are perfectly revealed in Christ’s death on the cross. God’s redemption of any person is totally a work of God’s grace, received only through faith in Christ and not as a result of human effort, will or merit. This redemptive work has a past, present and future tense. When a person trusts in Christ’s salvation, he is redeemed from God’s just penalty for sin (justification). As the Christian lives his daily life he experiences God’s present redemption related to power over sin’s hold (sanctification). The Christian’s ultimate hope lies in his final future redemption which will occur at Christ’s second coming (glorification). Those who are redeemed will spend eternity with God. Those who do not trust in Christ will be in Hell, separated from God forever. History involves the outworking of God’s redemptive purposes for mankind as a whole (Romans 5:1-11, Romans 7:14-25, Ephesians 1:2-12, Ephesians 2:1-10, Philippians 2:12-15, II Thessalonians 2:13-16, Romans 8:29-30, I Corinthians 15:50-54).

The Church

We believe the universal Christian church is a spiritual body made up of all believers in Christ, regardless of denominational differences. Local congregations are physical expressions of the body of Christ. The purpose of the universal Church is to reveal Christ to a watching world in both word and deed and to proclaim God’s redemption in Christ while building up believers in their faith as they expectantly await His promised return. All believers serve as ministers, who are called to proclaim the message of reconciliation and commissioned by God to go into the world with Christ’s saving “good news.” (Matthew 16:13-18, Ephesians 2:19-22, Ephesians 4:1-6, I Corinthians 12:12-14, Colossians 1:18, Hebrews 10:23-25, II Peter 3:10-18, II Corinthians 5:20, Romans 9:12-15, John 17:13-26)

Section 2 – Philosophy of Education Introduction

DCS believes that Christians should desire to learn and grow. Throughout scripture, the pursuit of knowledge (true understanding of how things actually are) is seen as desirous and beneficial (Proverbs 18:15, II Pet. 1:5, Hosea 4:6). God reveals, however, that wisdom (skill in applying such understanding to daily life, in a way that honors God), not knowledge, is the desired end of education (Proverbs 4:5).

DCS recognizes that God unifies all education and learning in Christ, “In whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” (Colossians 2:3). Subsequently, DCS acknowledges that “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.” (Proverbs 9:10).

Believing the mind to be crucial to the acquisition of knowledge and wisdom, DCS places an emphasis on the diligent training of the mind in order to assist students in their God-given responsibility to love God with all their hearts, souls, and minds (Matthew 22:37).

While stressing mental growth, DCS also emphasizes moral and character development (II Peter 1:2-9), recognizing that Christ desires that His disciples follow His example (Luke 2:52) by learning to think and act in all ways which please God the Father (II Thessalonians 4:1, Ephesians 4:13).

Vision

DCS desires that each of its students reflects the image of Christ in the totality of life: morally, spiritually, mentally, socially, and emotionally. In other words, DCS desires that students understand, interpret, and respond to life out of a Christian worldview (Ephesians 4:12,13; Romans 12:13).

DCS recognizes that schooling plays only a partial, though significant, role of one's life-long process of education. DCS attempts to provide an arena where students are nurtured and encouraged in their development of a Christian worldview and life style. Emphasis is placed on "desired" outcomes because education is a complex process where individuals can choose to cooperate or not (Hebrews 3:7-13).

Mission

It is the specific mission of DCS to serve Christian families by offering a rigorous, traditional liberal arts curriculum from a Christian worldview, where young people can develop understandings, values, skills, and character critical to impacting their world for Christ.

Purpose

It is the purpose of DESERT CHRISTIAN SCHOOLS to:

• Provide and maintain independent, interdenominational, parent-sponsored and board-directed Christian schools on the east side of Tucson.

• Serve parents in their God-given responsibility to train their children “in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.” (Ephesians 6:4; Deuteronomy 6:4-6).

• Provide a rigorous liberal arts education, which emphasizes the Lordship of Christ in the totality of life and the skills of thinking, communicating, and relating (Colossians 3:23; I Corinthians 10:26; Acts 7:22).

• Promote a personal trust in Jesus Christ for the ultimate purpose of glorifying God through a life of service and obedience (Psalm 3:5,6; I Corinthians 10:31; Mark 10:43-45).

Values

DCS values:

• Truth - because God is a God of Truth John 14:6.

• Goodness - because God is Good Psalm 25:8.

• Sacrificial relationships - because God is Love Romans 5:8.

• Obedience - because God is Lord Luke 6:26.

• Beauty and excellence - because God is Beautiful and does all things well Psalm 50:2 & Mark 7:37.

• People - because God created man in His image Genesis 1:27.

Role of parents

DCS acknowledges that parents bear the primary responsibility for the education of their children (Deuteronomy 6:4-9). God entrusts children to parents and requires that they be raised in the instruction and discipline of the Lord (Ephesians 6:4). One way parents discharge their covenant responsibility is by engaging the services of a Christian school, where Christian administrator(s), teachers and staff assist in the educational development of their children. Parents give support and encouragement to teachers so that there is continuity and cooperation between the home and school (I Timothy 5:17,18).

Role of the teacher

DCS believes the teacher serves as an extension of parents and is therefore entrusted with great responsibility (Matthew 18:6; James 3:1). The teacher plays a significant role in the delivery of the formal and informal curriculum of the school to students (Luke 6:40). Since a teacher’s worldview will greatly impact the worldview of his/her students, it is imperative that the Christian teacher have a genuinely Christian worldview, as well as an understanding, commitment to, and ability to communicate effectively principles of Christian education (Romans 12:2; I Thessalonians 2:8). The effective teacher is concerned with transmission of knowledge, transformation towards Christlikeness, and nurture towards a life of faith in Christ. The effective teacher is a student of the Bible, has a shepherd’s heart, serves God with joy, Biblically integrates all teaching and learning, and generates within students a desire to learn (I Thessalonians 5:14-22; II Timothy 2:20-26).

Role of the students

Students are image bearers of God, who possess physical as well as spiritual capacities, needs, and desires (Genesis 1:27; Genesis 2:7). Each student has been given by his/her Creator various gifts and abilities that can be developed through education (Ephesians 2:10; II Timothy 2:15). Students have a responsibility to cooperate with the learning process and discover their giftedness so that they may be adequately prepared to impact their world for Christ (I Corinthians 4:2; Romans 12:6). This preparation involves submitting and responding to the leadership and direction of their parents and teachers (Ephesians 6:1,2; Hebrews 13:17). As members of a student body, they are responsible to fellow students and must be sensitive and helpful to one another (Philippians 2:3,4).

Role of Christian community

The Christian community has a responsibility to encourage and assist parents in fulfilling their covenant obligation to nurture their children in the Christian faith. As members of the same family of God, the Christian community establishes and maintains Christian schools to prepare young persons to be members of the Church and to serve in God’s Kingdom. This community is called to pray for, work for, and give generously in support of Christian schools (Philippians 2:3,4; I Corinthians 3:6-9; James 5:16; Romans 14:9).