I love this time of the year: the cold crisp mornings; the freshness of the air; the colorful array of nature; all of this brings a nostalgic warmth to my heart.

November will be a very busy month. FIRST, our annual Book Faire will be held Monday, November 17th through Friday, November 21st. A special family event; complete with: snacks, prize drawing, coloring contest, and story-telling time, will be held on Thursday evening, November 20th, 4:00 until 6:00 p.m. The bookstore will be open daily, 8:00 until 9:00 a.m., and 3:00 until 6:00 p.m. Books may be purchased for your personal library, as gifts, or as resource materials for your child’s classroom. All students will complete a wish list, which will be made available for your reference as you shop for books. Please remember that these book sales benefit your child’s classroom. SECOND, we will break for Thanksgiving on Wednesday, November 26th through Friday, November 28th. There will be no extended care on these dates. Classes and extended care will resume at their usual time on Monday, December 1st. On behalf of the entire staff, we wish you a blessed Thanksgiving holiday with your family and friends.

As always, my door is open to all of you. Feel free to come to me with any questions or concerns you may have. Thank you for your continued confidence and support in our school program.

We say goodbye to September, and welcome October and the fall season. October will be a busy month.

PICTURE DAY will be Tuesday, October 7th. Students will be allowed to dress out of uniform for the photos; however, all clothing must comply with the school dress code. Information concerning: dress, available photo packages, and pricing will be sent home in the very near future. Please contact the school office with any questions regarding picture day.

SPIRIT WEEK will be held Monday, October 6th through Friday, October 10th. Special “dress up” days will be held on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, October 8th, 9th, and 10th. Cold Stone certificates will be awarded to the best dressed student from each learning center during these dates. Themes will include: Western Day; Crazy T-Shirt, Hair, and Slipper Day; and Patriotic (Red, White, and Blue) Day. All parents are invited to join the students on Friday afternoon at 1 p.m. for our Homecoming Pep-Rally. Each class will prepare a “cheer” for our team, and the winning class will be invited to perform their “cheer” during halftime at the Homecoming game. Spirit week will end with the homecoming game, Friday evening, October 10th, 6 p.m. Please make plans to attend this game and support our athletes.

COLUMBUS DAY will be observed on Monday, October 13th. Classes will be closed on this date, and there will be no extended care provided.

HARVEST CARNIVAL set-up will be held on Friday, October 17th. Classes will not be held on this date and extended care will not be provided. Parents are encouraged to arrive as early as possible to help with the set-up. The Harvest Carnival event will begin at 10 a.m. and close at 4 p.m. on Saturday, October 18th. Please make plans now to help in this event. The funds raised at this event are used to supplement the programs in your child’s classroom. This is a very important time for our school, and we ask every family to get involved by: volunteering your time to work the carnival, donate food items, and invite all of your family and friends to come out and enjoy the day with us. For more information contact the school office.

FIRST QUARTER will come to an end on Friday, October 25th. Please encourage your child to work hard and remain focused on their studies. Parent/Teacher conferences will be held on Monday, November 3rd. Appointments for these conferences will be made through the school office. Please watch for your appointment notice (will be brought home by your child) and contact the school office to confirm or reschedule.

As always, my door is open to you. Please feel free to contact me via email (dabshire@bbaptist.org) or stop by my office. I encourage and welcome your thoughts and comments concerning our program. Together we can and will bring up your child in the “nurture and admonition of the LORD.”

Dalton A. Abshire, Sr.

On behalf of the entire staff, welcome back! We are so happy to finally get this school year underway.

We are pleased to introduce the A Beka Books curriculum to our elementary classes, grades 1 through 6. This curriculum will challenge our students to reach higher than ever before. It provides the teacher with greater tools and structure; enabling them to keep the student focused throughout the day. Please help us by encouraging your students to work hard during the transition to the new curriculum format.

Please note the following: No school and no extended care on Monday, September 1, Labor Day Holiday - Tuition, Installment #2, is due September 5th, delinquent after September 20th. - Fall Teen Retreat; Upper Learning Center students only, Monday, September 15th through Wednesday, September 17th. No classes for the Upper Learning Center on Thursday and Friday, September 18th and 19th. All other classes are held as usual during this week.

We have added a new feature to our website; online payments. This option can be accessed in the “School Office” section of our homepage. This feature will allow you to pay your tuition via PayPal using either your personal PayPal account or, if you do not have an account, your credit card. In the event you are not sure of the amount of your payment, contact the school office for confirmation. If you have any questions or problems concerning this program please contact Mr. Abshire directly.

Information packets will be sent home with the ULC students on Tuesday, September 2nd. Please complete the necessary forms and return them as quickly as possible. This packet will give you all the information you need concerning the retreat. The cost of this retreat was included in your annual fees.

It is with much sorrow that we say good-bye to Mrs. Graves. She will leave us at the end of September, moving to the South Bay area to provide care for her widowed mother. Mrs. Graves served our school and its students with loyalty, dedication, and commitment for seventeen years. She will be deeply missed. The ladies of our church have planned a special evening to honor Mrs. Graves, Monday, September 22nd. For information on this speak with Mrs. Smith or Mrs. Andrews. Replacing Mrs. Graves is Mrs. Ruppert; no stranger to BBCA. Mrs. Ruppert taught in our junior high school for six years, holds a Masters Degree, and currently teaches History for the University of Phoenix. While she will never replace Mrs. Graves in our hearts, she is a competent replacement in the classroom. Please give her the same support you gave to Mrs. Graves.

School begins in just 15 days. Our staff are busy making preparations for the start of school, and we are very excited about seeing all of you again. Please note the following information:

All tuition payments are to be made directly to the school office. Do not send any payments to SMART Financial. Tuition payments are due by the fifth (5th) of each month and are delinquent after the twentieth (20th). For more information call the school office.

Parent Orientation is scheduled for Friday evening, August 22, at 7 p.m. This is an important meeting, as we will discuss any and all changes to our procedures. Please make the necessary arrangements to have both parents present for this meeting.

We do hope that you have had a refreshing and restful summer vacation. For more information please contact the school office or contact Mr. Abshire at his email address.

The academic calendar for the 2008-2009 school session is now completed and has been posted to the online calendar on this website. Copies of the school calendar are also available for pick-up at the school office. Please remember this calendar is subject to change. Advance notice will be given in the event a change is necessary.

We are moving full steam ahead in preparations for the coming school year. We are very excited about the changes we have made.

First, the change in curriculum. For many years now we have wanted to make the change to the A Beka Books Curriculum; however, for numerous reasons, this was not possible until now. All students enrolled in grades K through 6 will use this second-to-none curriculum. Students enrolled in grades 7 through 12 will continue to use the Switched On Schoolhouse program they have been using for the past 5 years.

Second, the change in classrooms. This change allows us to place each teacher in the area of their individual strengths. The classroom organizations are: Learning to Read (K4 and K5), Primary Elementary (1st and 2nd grade), Lower Elementary (3rd and 4th grade), Middle Elementary (5th and 6th grade), Junior High (7th and 8th grade), and High School (9th through 12th grade). Each department will be limited to a maximum of 20 students, insuring the teacher’s ability to offer one-to-one attention with each student as is necessary.

We believe these changes will help to strengthen the program of our school, thus insuring a stable and consistent school for your children; one that you can have confidence will be here as long as you need it. With your help we will continue to improve and develop the academic and extracurricular programs in our school.

I want to express my heartfelt thanks to all of you who came out and supported our fundraising efforts in this year’s firework sales. It was our best year ever, and all the funds raised will help us further the extracurricular programs of our school.

Vacation Bible School is now just 12 days away. The dates of VBS are Monday, July 21 through Friday July 25. The hours are 9 a.m. until noon daily. Registrations will begin on Monday, July 21st at 8:30 a.m. Please consider pre-registering your child by either visiting our church website and selecting the VBS link, or stop in at the church office and register there. Early registrations will help us keep things moving along on Monday, July 21st. Please remember, there is no cost to enroll and all children are invited. For more information please contact the church or school offices.

Lastly, please remember to submit your annual fees as soon as possible. All annual fees are now due. These funds are very important to us; as they are used to purchase materials necessary to begin the new school year. If you have any questions please contact me via email, phone, or drop by to see me.

Once again this summer, B.B.C.A. will conduct fireworks sales to raise money for our programs. The location of this year’s sales will be at the Wolf Den Plaza, directly across from Sonoma State University. Sales will begin on Saturday, June 28th and will continue through Thursday, July 4th. Please tell all your friends and relatives, and ask them to come out and support our school. For more information speak with Mr. Charon.

Vacation Bible School is rapidly approaching. Registration is free, and may be completed online at our church website: www.bbaptist.org, or you can stop by the church office and register your children. The dates of the VBS are July 21 - 25, and is held from 9a.m. until noon each day. Closing ceremonies are scheduled for Sunday evening, July 27th at 6pm.

Please remember that your first installment of annual fees was due on June 1. Please be sure and submit this to the school office; not to SMART tuition management. If you have any questions please call the school office.

School is out for summer; however, we have a full schedule of activities planned for our children throughout the summer months.

It all begins with our annual Pioneer Club Campout. This year we will camp at the Little Bear Campground at beautiful Lake Mendocino. The dates of the campout are Thursday, June 19 through Saturday, June 21. An organizational meeting will be conducted at our church on Sunday evening, June 15, following the evening service. If you are interest in attending this event please be present at this meeting. This is always a great event; one you will not want to miss.

Next is our Vacation Bible School, July 21 through 25, 9:00 a.m. until noon daily. The cost to attend VBS is free. Students will enjoy great singing, fun games, creative crafts, delicious snacks, and stirring lessons from the Word of God.

If you need more information on these events please contact the school office. We encourage each of you to take advantage of these wonderful family activities through the summer months.

We are now entering our final week of classes for the 2007-2008 school session. Please note the following:

Monday, June 2: Regular day; classes follow normal schedule.

Tuesday, June 3: No classes due to Sonoma County Elections.

Wednesday, June 4: Academic Awards Program, 9:00 a.m.; classes following presentations for students requiring additional testing.

Thursday, June 5: Classes for students requiring additional testing only; dismissal at noon.

Friday, June 6: Commencement exercises begin at 7:00 p.m.

Please remember that extended care is now over, and no extended care (morning or afternoon) will be provided for the last week of school. If your child has been released from mandatory attendance they do not need to report to classes on Monday or Thursday; however, all students need to be present (in chapel uniform) for the awards presentations on Wednesday. Students that have been released may leave immediately following the presentations. Report cards will be completed and mailed to your home no later than Friday, June 13. If you have not received your child’s report card by June 18, please call the school office.

Please remember that the first installment of the Annual Fees for the 2008-2009 school session are now due. Please forward these to the school office as soon as possible. Also, please continue to watch this page throughout the summer for important updates. If we do not have a current email address for you please contact the school office or send me an email (dabshire@bbaptist.org) with your current email. This will allow us to keep you informed throughout the summer.

With school winding to a close, I want to remind you of some important dates:

Thursday, May 29, 2008 - Last day of school for all Kindergarten classes - last day of extended care for all students. 

Friday, May 30, 2008 - School-wide picnic, Howarth Park group area, Santa Rosa, 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. Please remember to purchase your lunch tickets through the school office. Limited parking, so arrive early.

Friday, May 30, 2008 - Kindergarten graduation, 7 p.m.

Tuesday, June 3, 2008 - Sonoma County Elections - No classes for the upper learning center.

Wednesday, June 4, 2008 - Annual Awards Presentations - 9 a.m. in the main auditorium.

Thursday, June 5, 2008 - Last day of school - All classes dismiss at noon.

Friday, June 6, 2008 - High School Graduation - 7 p.m.

Please mark you calendars for these dates and times. If you have any questions please contact the school office.