The successful ministry of providing and receiving a Christian education requires incredible levels of teamwork and dedication. This is far more true for private Christian schools than for public schools. Cornerstone does not accept federal or state funding in an effort to preserve our full ability to provide an education that always focuses on teaching a Christian worldview. Additionally, because of our Christian distinctive, it is often difficult to qualify for employers' matching gifts. Cornerstone's sources of income, which are ultimately made through God's faithful provision, come through four primary revenues. Two of those sources are actual income, and the other two are indirect forms of "income" (through significantly reduced expenses).
Cornerstone's direct income comes through two primary sources: 1) tuition and 2) donations (through our annual board-sponsored fundraisers and the generosity of donors from local churches and community members committed to seeing Christian education being offered). The two indirect sources of "income," upon which we all heavily rely, are realized through the sacrificially low salaries taken by our employees (faculty, staff, and administrators) and the significant support of Manchester Church of the Nazarene (MCN) through the generous use of her facilities...and more.
Each year Cornerstone's school board prayerfully and painstakingly sets tuition rates with all these pieces in mind. Annual budgeting relies upon the entire school body working together, for the sake of providing our children with a Christian education, to keep tuition as low as possible while also meeting the school's extremely lean set of bills.
Due to the sacrificial giving of our faculty and staff and the commitment of MCN, CCS and the parents of her students agree each year to work TOGETHER to raise approximately $85,000 to sustain the annual operations of the ministry. I am convinced that God desires us to work together as the Body of Christ to fulfill the mission of Christian education!
Tonya Snyder Head of School
WORKING TOGETHER
from the Desk of the Head of School
ALUMNI UPDATE: Isaac Rivera, Class of 2017
After I graduated from high school in 2017, I went to Liberty University (LU), originally majoring in Biomedical Sciences. However, after three semesters at LU and becoming involved in student leadership, I realized my passion for walking alongside people through their most painful experiences and being able to celebrate with them when they experience healing and freedom. I ended up switching my major to Psychology with a cognate in Counseling. In my junior year of college, I began serving as a resident assistant at LU, which has been one of the most significant parts of my Liberty experience. It has given me a front row seat to what God is doing in the lives of so many young men's lives, and it is something I count as a huge privilege and honor.
This fall, I’m entering my fourth year of RA (crazy) and my second year of pursuing my Master's in Clinical Mental Health Counseling. I've also been working in our local hospital's child and adolescent psychiatric unit. This is a crisis stabilization unit, which means I get to work with kids who have just hit rock bottom in some way. This job is one of the hardest things I've ever done, but it's another place where I get to walk with people through the worst seasons of their lives, and I’m incredibly grateful for that.
I hadn't really realized what Cornerstone had done for me until about two
2
THE LION'S ROAR
NOVEMBER & DECEMBER 2022
(Continued on pg. 5)