Monthly Newsletter

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“For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” Luke 2:11

upcoming events December 12 Spelling Bee December 18-21 Secondary Exams December 21 Early Dismissal K-6th at noon Secondary at 11:05 December 24-January 7th Christmas Holiday January 12th Fine Arts & Sports Banquet

January 28 State of the School Address & Preview Night

December 2018 Volume 1, Issue 4

Dear Bay Area Families, As Christmas approaches, I am grateful for the successes of a fruitful first semester. Our students have been enjoying growth spiritually, academically, artistically, athletically, and socially. I thank God for His blessings and thank all of you for your support as so many incredible things are happening on our campus and within our student body.

While all these are worthwhile celebrations, the spiritual aspect is what is most impactful at BACS. We’ve seen seven students baptized in front of their peers in chapel this semester! It is a blessing to see these students embrace their faith with an outward profession of baptism and to hear their peers cheer them on is reassurance of a supportive community of students.

We would like to congratulate our students on a fine academic semester. Our student body is bright, talented, and hard working. I’m impressed with them more each time I’m around them. Recently, I’ve been eating lunch with our juniors on Thursdays, and the plans they have are admirable and exciting. I can’t wait to see what God does with them!

In the weeks ahead, please mark your calendar for several important items. First, if you don’t have a church home with a Christmas Eve service, we invite you to be our guest on Monday, December 24th at 3pm, 4:15pm, or 5:30pm for our Christmas Eve service. You can find more out about it at bayarea.church. Also, please mark your calendar for our annual State of the School Address on Monday, January 28th at 6:30. Artistically, it was a pleasure to see our Fine Arts This evening will combine the State of the School with Christmas Concert this past week. It is extraordinary to Preview Night, so it’s a wonderful time to invite those see the fifth and sixth grade groups as beginners and who may be looking for Christian education. watch the maturation process as the seventh and eighth and high school groups perform. We are blessed Lastly, please know that we are so grateful for the way with terrific instructors, and support for our Fine Arts you’ve supported our Annual Fund, which is being used to enhance transportation, technology, security, and has been remarkable. tuition assistance at BACS. We’ve raised over Athletically, we have enjoyed three district $130,000 with contributions still being made! If you’d championships in fall sports: Volleyball, Boys’ Cross like to give to the Annual Fund, please see visit Country, and Football. While our football program bacschool.org. finished in the top four teams in the state, our Boys’ Cross Country team had an individual state champion! Now, new programs like swimming, wrestling, sixth grade basketball, and junior high soccer are starting to gain momentum Merry Christmas and Go Broncos! Jason Nave

Bay Area Christian School

“Providing quality Christian education impacting lives for now and eternity.”

This is a busy season and it is easy to lose sight of the true meaning of Christmas. My hope is that you find comfort and peace as you and your family celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. We will have Christmas themed days the last week of school before the break. The dress-up days are strictly optional and are for fun. Please be reminded a student must wear their uniform Monday – Thursday and can accessorize according to the daily themes.

Class Christmas parties will be on Friday, 12/21. Be on the lookout to receive communication from your child’s teacher or the room parent regarding specific details pertaining to the party. All students will dismiss at noon and there will be no Extended Care that day. Please make arrangements for your student to be picked up by noon on this day. I hope and pray you and your family have a Merry Christmas!

Matt Garner—Principal

Elementary This first semester has flown by and exams are upon us. Please make sure that you are familiar with the semester exam schedule and make note that Tuesday-Friday will be half days. This month BACS Providers, our 8th grade service club, will travel to visit elementary school students in Houston and distribute Christmas gifts to those less fortunate. Finally, great job to the Fine Arts students and teachers. Their performances on Tuesday and Wednesday were terrific and they looked sharp. I hope everyone has a great Christmas with their loved ones.

Merry Christmas!

Les Rainey—Principal

Junior High

Our Fine Arts Concert was beautiful, and I'm very proud of our students and the directors. They looked great, and we can tell they are honing their skills. If you've been on our BACS Athletics page or app you can see there is always a slew of events going on. We are proud of our athletes as well. It is important to remember that academics should come first. Let's keep perspective as mid-terms approach. As mid-terms near, I hope students begin studying ahead and preparing well. Often we hear students say they get fatigued and have a hard time sticking with studying, so they just wing it and hope for the best. Studying for and taking exams is part of the educational process. I hope they will plan undistracted time (no phones) to study, get in a quiet place, use good study skills, and take timed breaks and get back at it. Studies show that TIME and proper study skills are what makes the difference. In the end, they can only do their part as best they can, and be content with the outcome. The exam schedule is on the announcements page, so please note that Monday is a regular school day with regular dismissal, but Tuesday begins half days. All students need to be picked up early by 11:30. As with regular school dismissal, please don't arrive before 11:10 or it will cause a traffic snarl. If your work schedule is difficult, please plan to have your teen picked up or hang out with a friend for the afternoon. These afternoons are the perfect time for a study group! For students who have missed over their allotted days and must recover time for credit, Saturday School will be held Dec. 15th. Those students have been notified, but some are close, so attendance to every class is important. "For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Child is given...!" Merry Christmas and we will see you January 8th!

Melissa Fuqua—Principal

High School

News from our Leaders

Elementary Christmas Themed Days: Monday, 12/17 – Candy Cane Day **Wear a red or white uniform top with red/white accessories and uniform bottoms. Tuesday, 12/18 – Christmas Sock Day **Wear your favorite Christmas socks with your school uniform. Wednesday, 12/19 – Red and Green Day **Wear a red uniform top with red/green accessories and uniform bottoms. Thursday, 12/20 – Christmas Hat/Bow/Headband Day **Wear your uniform with a Christmas hat, bow, or headband. Friday, 12/21 – Christmas Sweater/Shirt/Sweatshirt Day **Students may wear jeans on this day only. Christmas dresses are fine for girls.

Early Learning Academy

Melissa Hale—Director 2019-2020 Enrollment Information

We wish you and your family a blessed Christmas and a Happy and safe New Year!

Linda Mudgett—Curriculum Director

Curriculum Þ Paul Coughlin, founder and president of The

Protectors, an international, freedom-from-bullying organization, cited a Barna research study in a recent article for ACSI stating that adolescent bullying remains one of the greatest concerns for both existing and potential students and their families in Christian education (“Proposed Headline: To Combat Bullying this National Bullying Prevention Month, Fill the ‘Courage Gap,’” October, 2018). On January 7, BACS is providing a faculty training by Mr. Coughlin of The Protectors. The workshop is entitled “How to Best Decrease Bullying in Your School and Community.” We will be given simple, effective, and realistic tools that make freedom from bullying possible. Please be in prayer over this very special training.

We’re excited to begin accepting applications for the 2019-2020 school year on January 1! These applications will be due during the month of March. Priority re-enrollment for our current families for the 2019-2020 school year will begin on February 1, 2019 and will continue during the month of February.

Nancy Gadd—Counselor

Counseling Þ Sophomores and Juniors: who took the PSAT will

receive their results in January when we return from the break. Þ Seniors: Be sure to fill out your FAFSA if you have

not already. Students and their parents need to go to: www.fafsa.ed.gov Þ Upcoming SAT Dates: Test date, March 9th

(registration deadline is Feb. 8th). Þ Upcoming ACT Dates: Test date, Feb. 9th

(registration deadline is Jan. 11th).

Dear Bronco Nation, Congratulations to our varsity football team. What a year they had! District champions, Regional Champions and state semifinalists. The last time the Broncos made it to a final four was in 2014. Winter sports are underway as basketball; soccer, wrestling and swimming are in full swing. Varsity Boys Basketball: The boys basketball team played their first game defeating Galveston O’Connell 58-52. The boys’ next games will be December 6th-8th at Grace Preparatory Academy tournament in Fort Worth. Varsity Girls Basketball: The girls’ basketball record currently stands at 8-4. The girls will be playing next week December, 14th-15th in the Cypress Christian tournament. Boys Varsity Soccer: The Broncos played their first varsity game of the year against Houston Christian this past Monday. The varsity boys will travel to Austin next week December, 14th-15th to play in St. Andrews Episcopal Tournament. Varsity Girls Soccer: The girls’ soccer team defeated district opponent Lutheran North 5-0 on Monday. They will host Westbury Christian December 10th 6:00pm at Bay Area next week. Congratulations to Maddie Haynes and Annelise Shaw on making the All-tournament team at the Cypress Christian School tournament last week. Wrestling: The BACS inaugural wrestling season is well underway. The first wrestling competition in school history took place on Saturday, Nov. 17th at the Knights Invitational at Clear Falls. Jake Plummer (132lb. weight class) went 3-1, Noah Lampard (138lb. weight class) recorded a 2-1 record, Jacob Tidwell (145lb. weight class) and Joshua Tennis (152lb. weight class) both went 1-2, and Justin Geisen (160lb. weight class) was 0-2 on the day. Mark your calendars for our home match on January 31st, as BACS will hold their first ever wrestling match. Varity Swimming: With swim season about half-way through, swimmers continue to improve times at each meet! Area swim meets include both public and private schools and we continue to be competitive. Congratulations to the following swimmers who consistently achieve best times: Haley Digidio in 50 Freestyle and 100 Freestyle, Chloe Kubicki in the 100 Breaststroke and 100 Butterfly. Joshua Lampard in the 50 Freestyle and 100 Freestyle , Justin Yetter in the 50 Freestyle and the 100 Breaststroke.

Kyle Kennedy—Director The BACS Fine Arts Department has continued to spread Christmas cheer through exposure to the arts. The Bronco Choir represented BACS at Dickens on the Strand, which has been an ongoing Christmas tradition at our school for over 25 years! Band, Choir, and Orchestra students presented an outstanding showcase of musical selections at the Christmas Fine Arts concert. Secondary Art students have also gotten into the Christmas spirit by creating one of a kind Christmas ornaments to deliver to friends and family. Congratulations also goes out to Abigail Staples who placed 2nd chair in her audition for the ATSSB Region Symphonic Band. Also, High School Student Brianne Peters was selected to participate in the TMEA Region Orchestra Symphonic Orchestra with students from public and private schools across the south region of Texas. I would like to express heartfelt thanks and gratitude to our Fine Arts teachers, who work tirelessly to give BACS students an outstanding arts experience. Your students are blessed to have the Fine Arts offerings and opportunities that BACS provides. Mrs. Alt, Mrs. Degidio, Mr. Gray, Ms. Green, Ms. Kelley, and Mrs. Maly are accomplished educators and professionals who have excellent knowledge of their content area and truly enjoy sharing their gifts and experience with their students. If you have a child who has been taught by one of these fine educators, please take the time to tell them thank you for going the extra mile for your children.

Marianne Morrison—Director

Dendy

Please tell us a little bit about your family.

Jordyn and Peyton are our 7-year-old twin girls, who are attending their first year at BACS. They are currently in 2nd grade with Mrs. Lashway and Mrs. Jermstad. My husband, Patrick, a retired NFL player, is a financial advisor with IMG Financial Group and I am a practice manager for UTMB OB/GYN clinics. We are both proud Rice University graduates and elated to be a part of the BACS family. What brought you to BACS?

We came to BACS so Jordyn and Peyton could receive that perfect balance of growing both academically and in their relationship with Christ. It has been a great experience hearing them talk about Jesus every day and be excited about Him. We also love how hard the teachers work to ensure they are growing spiritually and academically.

What is something unique about living with twins?

Christmas is weeks away! What are some of your traditions?

Jordyn and Peyton are little miracles! Born at 25 weeks and weighing just one pound each, we are so grateful to God for all they have accomplished so far and we try our best to instill that thankfulness in them. Living with twins is fun! Jordyn is always quick to let Peyton know she is the big sister (by 2 minutes) and she has to take good care of her. And Peyton enjoys telling Jordyn she isn’t the boss of her. It makes for some fun moments.

While Patrick is from Texas, I’m from Barbados so we do a mixture of Bajan and Texan traditions, mostly surrounding food and enjoying warm Christmases on the beach in the Caribbean. What is your favorite family meal? Barbadian Stew Chicken with Rice and Peas. The twins also love spaghetti.

“It has been a great experience hearing them talk about Jesus every day and be excited about Him.”

Announcements

Save The Date!

Secondary Mid-Term Exam Schedule Tuesday, 12/18

1st 7:55-9:25, 2nd 9:35-11:05

Wednesday, 12/19 3rd 7:55-9:25, 4th 9:35-11:05 Thursday, 12/20

5th 7:55-9:25, 6th 9:35-11:05

Friday, 12/21

7th 7:55-9:25, 8th 9:35-11:05

Students must be in class on time and in dress code. Detention: 11:15-11:55

Fighting the Flu Season Fall Sports & Fine Arts Banquet: We will be hosting our first ever Fall Sports & Fine Arts Banquet. Please be on the lookout for an email allowing you to sign up for this event.

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Location: Athletic Center Date: January 12th (Saturday)

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Time: 6:00pm

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Did you know?

Real Artificial Tree?

Flashback Fact:

“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”

In 1978 there were 230 students K-12. Today there are 772 students!

Isaiah 6:9

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