Welcome back to all of our returning students and families! Classes resume on Monday, August 22, at 8:30 a.m. Please make sure that your child is on time.

There are a few changes that you will notice right away this year. As most of you know, Mrs. Charon resigned her position with our school and church and has moved to Arizona. Taking her place in the primary elementary classroom is Mrs. Donna Miller. Mrs. Miller is experienced in teaching these grades, as she taught here at Berean in previous years. Also, some exciting changes have been made in our middle elementary classroom as well. The addition of Mrs. Brett Petro to our teaching staff; along with the return of Mrs. Zamacona and Mrs. Ruppert; will give our students an unparalleled advantage in the teacher to student ratio in each subject.

You will have an opportunity to meet and discuss this year’s program with all the staff at the annual Parent Orientation meeting, to be held on Friday, August 19, 7:00 p.m. Please make every effort to attend this meeting, as we will discuss the fundraising and volunteer needs of the school. In addition to this, you will receive your family packet containing important documentation that must be completed and returned to the school office.

Please try to complete all financial work with Mrs. Smith before the start of school. Students cannot be allowed to begin the new semester until all financial obligations have been met.

We are looking forward to a great year!

Classes begin in just over thirty (30) days. If you have not yet completed your re-registration, please contact the school office and make arrangements to do so asap. Please remember that the first installment for your annual tuition is due on August 1st, and must be paid prior to start of classes on August 23rd.

Parent Orientation is scheduled for Friday, August 20th, 7:00 pm. This is an important time to establish procedures and inform you of any changes to our programs. Every family must be represented at this meeting.

There was some discussion concerning uniforms for the coming school session; however, the administration has decided to stay with our current dress code for the 2010-2011 school year. You can order uniforms online at:

http://www.hallclosetuniforms.com/shop/index.php/?___store=berean_baptist_christian_academy,

or via mail. If you need ordering information please contact the school office and speak with Mrs. Smith.

The school calendar, student handbook, and class supply lists will be available on our website in the very near future. I will dispatch an email to let you know when they are available for viewing.

 If you have any questions concerning any of these matters please contact Mr. Abshire directly.

With only fourteen more school days remaining, I wanted to remind you of some important dates:

• MAY 5: This was the due date for your final tuition installment. If you have not yet made this final payment please do so by May 20th. Students with outstanding balances after that date may not be allowed to return to classes.
• MAY 17, SPORTS AWARD BANQUET: This event is open to all student athletes and their immediate family. Please RSVP to the school office right away.
• MAY 21, CLASS FIELD TRIPS: Please speak with your student’s teacher as to the time and location of their class trip. There will be no classes and no extended care on this date.
• MAY 26, ANNUAL AWARDS PROGRAM: The awards program will begin promptly at 9:00 a.m. All parents are invited; and encouraged; to be present for the presentation of academic awards for the 2009-2010 school session.
• MAY 27, KINDERGARTEN GRADUATION: The ceremony will begin at 7:00 p.m. The students will perform a short play based upon Mother Goose nursery rhymes. Academic awards for the kindergarten students will immediately follow the graduation ceremony.
• MAY 28, LAST DAY OF SCHOOL: This will be a half day. All students must be picked up at noon. There will be no afternoon extended care on this date.
• MAY 28, HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATION: The ceremony will begin at 7:00 p.m. The speaker for the evening will be Pastor V. Mark Smith. All families are encouraged to be present for this ceremony to honor our graduates for this year.

We have not yet finished totalling the pledges from the Human Race event. As soon as the final numbers are available we will post them to our website. That being said, I would like to express my most heartfelt appreciation to all the students and parents that labored to raise funds for this event.

If you have not yet re-registered for the 2010-2011 school year, please do so right away. Please contact me with any questions or concerns you may have concerning this.

As always, my door is open to all of you. Please contact me with any questions you may have.

It is time for us to turn our attention to the single most important fundraising event of our school year, The Human Race. The date of this year’s event is Saturday, May 8th; however, the work starts now!

Our goal this year is to have every student raise at least two hundred dollars. This would mean that we could raise as much as eight thousand, six hundred dollars for our school. Two hundred dollars in pledges represents: thirteen people at fifteen dollars per pledge, or twenty people at ten dollars per pledge. To reach this goal we will need 100% participation from our families.

Over the coming days, one of our adult leaders will contact you and give you all the information needed to help us make this a successful event. But don’t wait!, begin now by praying and raising pledges. Together we can experience great victory on behalf of our school and students.

Thursday, April 24th and Friday, April 25th will mark our 12th consecutive year of intramural competitions for our students. We began in 1997 with art work only, but have now expended to include: arts, photography, crafts, instruments, vocals, academic testings, bible testing, spelling, speech, strategy games (chess and scrabble), and even culinary with students competing in both entrees and desserts. A schedule of events is posted in the school office for your convenience. We invite, and encourage, as many of you as possible to come and watch the students compete. Awards will be presented in the weekly chapel service, Wednesday, April 30th, beginning at 8:30 a.m. Interested parents are invited to attend. If you need more information please contact the school office.