A Flourishing Community: Fourth Grade Problem Solving

In fourth grade, students have been learning about area, perimeter, and math operations. At the same time, they noticed a dilemma on campus: inadequate storage for playground equipment (and their playground balls often left outside). Determined to help, the students worked in teams to design practical solutions for hallway storage. Teams calculated space and storage dimensions and built a budget and proposal. Then they practiced communication and collaboration skills by presenting their ideas to school administrators and board members.

Academic concepts come to life when paired with real application. Our students learned math, but also the ability to solve problems, speak with purpose, and work together!

Sharing Stories: Looking at Journeys to BCCS

We know God has a place for each child to grow and thrive in school. Our goal is to help families discern where that may be as they seek where God is calling. No story is the same, so we wanted to share some examples of how our parents decided on BCCS. The following testimony illustrates one way a family ended up in our halls:

This story began when a family moved and began looking for a school that would be “a Christian School community where our children could belong and be nurtured in their faith outside of our home.” They ended up choosing BCCS because of “the fact that the school was using Teaching for Transformation (TfT) and the inclusion support services available via the ESS department.”

“We greatly appreciated the intentionality of BCCS pairing up our new family with current families to connect with and be a support in a year of transition. They were there to ask questions to - from the big to the small, and have become friends as our kids have continued to journey together at BCCS.”

They also shared about one of their children who was not where they needed to be in their learning journey. “Her teacher and support staff rallied around her and had her reading at grade level by the end of the year, much to our amazement! One of their other students had a on experience where “It is amazing to see how God put her with the exact teacher she needed. She has been cared for not just academically, but her heart has been cared for in meaningful ways as well. Her teacher points her to Jesus and reminds her who she is in Christ.” Hearing about their children through narrative reports showed this family first hand how “teachers take the time to reflect on how their students are growing personally and shine a light on who they are (beyond their grades) is such a gift.”

“The most important thing for us as parents in a Christian school is knowing that the teachers and staff share our faith and values and will partner with us as parents to consistently point our children to Christ. If we simply raise up good students, but they don't understand the Gospel message, we will have failed in our role as Christian parents.”

This is another testimony that highlights the importance of our mission being carried out by teachers, utilizing the Teaching for Transformation framework, and living out their personal Deep Hopes!

A Flourishing Community: Courtyard Work

Fifth grade is in the middle of a learning experience involving restoring God's creation in our courtyard. In science class, students are identifying invasive species and planting native plants. In writing class, students are restoring people's perspective by writing infographics about the native plants in our courtyard. Students have followed a process of research, drafting, editing, peer revising, collaborating with their group, and being Courageous Designers as they work towards the end goal of an infographic that shares God's perspective on native plants and our job as Christians to join in God's restoration project!

Last week, they started work overhauling the second part of the courtyard themselves!

A Flourishing Community: Learning in Preschool

Learning in Preschool

In preschool, teachers utilize center-based environments to achieve learning goals and ensure children develop in a play-based, engaging classroom. They track progress over time and use that information to help arrange students in learning activities to support their needs. 

Recently, teachers from three classes took this to the next level and swapped students! After tracking progress in letter recognition, teachers across classrooms designed centers to meet the needs of learners based on individual learning progress. It also allowed our youngest learners to build social skills as they also spent time interacting and meeting new friends (who, in time, will also be classmates). Kids loved it as they got to travel, work with a new teacher, and make new friends. For teachers, it allowed them to target specific needs of students as they help prepare them for kindergarten!

A Flourishing Community: Wisdom for Young Hearts

Our seventh-grade students have been diving into the wisdom of Proverbs, discovering how its timeless truths apply to everyday life. To share what they learned, they wrote children’s books that communicate Proverbs’ wisdom in a fun and meaningful way for our first graders. Using artificial intelligence, they generated custom illustrations to bring their stories to life. The middle schoolers then had the joy of presenting their books to the younger students and gifting them copies for their classroom book boxes!

Sharing Stories: Looking at Journeys to BCCS

We know God calls families and their children to all different schools. Our goal is to help families discern where that may be as they seek where God is calling. No story is the same, and we wanted to share some examples of how our parents decided on BCCS. The following story illustrates one way a family ended up in our halls:

One parent shared that when they first began searching for a kindergarten, they were particularly curious about class sizes. They explained. “As a first-time mom, I was struggling with the thought of my daughter being away at school all day every day, and I liked the idea of a smaller school and the part-time kindergarten option.” For their family, this was one factor that led them to BCCS.

They went on to share that  “growing up as a Christian in public schools and having a great experience, I was not sold on the idea of Christian education, but my husband was passionate about it. Needless to say, I totally fell in love with the school. That first year I remember fighting back tears as Mrs. G prayed out loud with me over my daughter in one of our meetings, thanking and praising God for her life. And now over the years and having three kids going through BCCS, I value every teacher and the role they’ve had in my kids’ faith journey. I’m thankful for a school that points them to Jesus in their strengths and also in their struggles.”

Hearing this testimony illustrates an important piece of life at BCCS: our mission is to root students in Christ and prepare them for service. By using God’s story of creation, fall, and redemption as both a foundation and framework, we design learning experiences that intentionally integrate academics with meaningful discipleship traits and habits of learning. Our goal is to help students grow in their strengths while also equipping them to persevere through challenges — all while keeping Christ at the center!

A Flourishing Community: Habits of Learning in Science

Fifth-grade science students have been exploring the structure of atoms with a long-term goal of discovering how God created all things in an orderly way. After unpacking the fundamental concepts of atomic structure, students worked in teams to build models of atoms using pipe cleaners, mini pompoms, bottle caps, etc. Following their work, students reflected on the Habits of Learning and identified skills they utilized well and others they need to improve! 

Learning about atomic structure is important. Helping students practice joy-filled collaboration, gracious communicating, courageous designing, and curious thinking is vital for becoming lifelong learners!