Parent Welcome Letter – August 2013
August 29, 2013
Dear Parents,
For many years our community has welcomed the students of Bryn Athyn Church School with the “song to the students.” On Tuesday, that tradition continued with the opening of the 119th School year. The song’s first verse captures our collective efforts as a tight knit community to create a safe learning environment for your child(ren), “Humbly Lord we ask Thy blessing; keep them, Father, in Thy care.” It is a poignant moment that brings tears to our eyes. As I shared in my opening remarks, there are sure to be anxious moments for students and others during the school year. But our song sends a clear message that in working together; any anxiety can be replaced with delight from the Lord. It is with this deep sense of care that I welcome you to our new school year.
Our school theme for this year is based on Psalm 46 verse 10: Be Still and Know that I am God. Through prayer, understanding, and a living faith we invite the Lord into our lives and into our school. Please join with us as we focus on developing strong spiritual practices with our children.
We worked hard preparing for the arrival of your child(ren). Despite our efforts, we are aware that some were confused about dates and times of different events. For that I apologize. To help remedy this situation in the future, I want to direct you to the source of BACS information: our newly unveiled website, at the same old address www.brynathynchurchschool.org. Please refer to the website for the most current information, events, and news. Here you will find our school Google Calendar that actually enables you to import events like the upcoming parent grade level meetings into your own electronic calendar. There you will also find a 1 page annual calendar. I urge you to read what we send home so that you can stay informed of important school matters. When you have questions about what’s going on at the school, please reach out directly to us or refer to our website for more information.
We are thrilled to be starting the year with 278 students, up 16 students from the end of last year. Joanne Kiel’s tireless enrollment management work has connected us with a number of families seeking what a New Church education offers. Her leadership has helped us be clear about the process and family characteristics that make for a good match with our school mission. We are ecstatic to have a new student at each grade level who was not attending our school last year. I want to thank everyone for helping to introduce families to our school, helping people get to know our school’s core beliefs, and for providing a warm welcome into our school community. It is only through our collective efforts that we will continue to grow our school with families who have an affection for relationships with the Lord and neighbor.
Over the summer you heard from our Program Committee (chaired by Greg Henderson) that is developing recommendations for curriculum and schedules that will be implemented for the 2014-2015 school year. The group has gathered broad input from you and others so that we can continue to build our 21st Century New Church curriculum as directed by our strategic plan. At this point the committee is analyzing the information that they have collected so that they can return recommendations no later than November. Please don’t hesitate to ask if you have questions about the work of this committee or you can follow this link to find out more information about the Program Committee.
As you may know we take a variety of steps to make our school a safe place for students. Lucas Mergen, our Safety Coordinator works closely with both Campus Security and the Bryn Athyn Police Department to make sure that our children are safe. By actively modeling our safety procedures and communicating with us when you see something out of the ordinary, you help reinforce the culture we are cultivating. We request that you review the student drop-off and pick-up guidelines on the Student Drop-Off page of our new website. We also have two important updates for you: (1) The Pastor’s Office is not an entrance to the school. If you wish to enter the school, please do so at the main school door by Liz Childs’ desk. (2) You are welcome to walk your child(ren) to their classroom(s) in the morning, but we ask that you wear your parent badge or a generic visitor badge if you wish to do so. Thank you for your help in making our school safe for our students.
A competitive and thorough hiring process this past spring allows us to welcome a number of highly qualified people to our faculty this year. Eric Carswell has come on board as the Pastor and leader of the Bryn Athyn Society. He is teaching 7th grade religion this year. Mary Beth DeGeorge will be our new Resource and Volunteer Coordinator. I encourage you to get in touch with her if you are interested in volunteering at BACS. Erika Pitcairn joins us as a Kindergarten Assistant Teacher. Cheryl Cooper and Melinda Friesen are serving as tutors in the student support center. Following a year of teaching our upper unit artists, Linda Kees will be our full-time art teacher. And Jena Frey has moved to teaching kindergarten. We believe these individuals will help us serve our students well in the years ahead.
I am happy to report that we closed the year under budget. This was in large part due to your stewardship. Our Parent Fund (the school annual fund) realized 80% parent participation and raised over $85,000 for the school. I want to thank Angela Bau-Madsen for her leadership of the Parent Fund. Unfortunately Angela has moved out of state so I am looking for a new volunteer to help support the school in this capacity. If you are interested, please be sure to be in touch with me.
This summer our faculty read Boys and Girls Learn Differently: A Guide for Teachers and Parents by Michael Gurian. The author is a nationally recognized marriage and family counselor who has collaborated with ANC for the past two years. We have long recognized that the created differences between males and females should influence how we teach them. Our entire faculty gathered the week before school to expand our knowledge of brain based practices that distinctly serve boys and girls. Long-time ANC educators Kira Schadegg and Gail Cooper (both certified by the Gurian Institute) shared with us current practical ways that we can help students learn. I strongly encourage you to read Gurian’s book if you have not already done so. Our teachers are always in the process of actively incorporate these and other educational practices into the curriculum in order to provide your child(ren) with a robust New Church education. It is gratifying that some of the modern brain research and educational studies are supporting these ideas and showing us some new ways we can apply them.
We are excited to be offering BACS sweatshirts for purchase ($25 each). Students will be able to wear these sweatshirts in school as a way of showing school pride as well as staying warm. You should have already received an email with details about how to order them or contact Kirsten Cronlund (Kirsten.cronlund@bacs-gc.org).
Please watch for upcoming information about newly revised absence and lateness policies. We are working to clarify expectations for our students and to offer support to families with regard to children’s timely and regular school attendance. If you have questions about this, please direct them to Kirsten (Kirsten.cronlund@bacs-gc.org).
We welcome you with the same warmth exuded by our brightly redecorated art room. It is a delight to hear the students warm and bubbling voices fill our halls again. By working together for our students and ushering the Lord into that relationship we will prepare them to live useful lives. We are excited about what the year ahead will bring for your child. We look forward to a wonderful year ahead with you and your child(ren). Our hearts are warmed by again coming together as a collective whole, working together for our students and asking the Lord’s blessing on these efforts.
Sincerely,
Dr. Reid Prichett
Headmaster