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August 15, 2006
Dear Parents,
We are coming to the end of what has been a different and challenging summer. The professional cleaning crew has finished cleaning the building from the fire that affected Trinity Baptist Church on June 24. We are now awaiting the resumption of electric power and the return of our electronic equipment, which is being cleaned and checked for any damage. This should happen shortly. The next phase will include reconstruction and remodeling of the church sanctuary, chapel, Fellowship Hall, kitchen, and main hallway. This will take a few months, but plans are being made to share building space during this time to lessen the impact on all ministries that share our building.
I am glad to say that our wing classrooms and mansion area of the building were mainly unaffected, with the exception of some smoke and soot cleanup. We did not lose any textbooks or materials. We did lose some school stationary, lunch room supplies, along with materials for art, gym, and library. At this time, we are not sure if the books in the school library will be salvageable. However, these are only “things”. No one was hurt in the fire of June 24, and we will continue to minister alongside Trinity Baptist Church in the city of Champions.
We will be making some changes resulting from the building construction and remodeling. For safety reasons, we are temporarily relocating the Kindergarten classroom from the usual room to the Ladies’ Parlor next to the office. We cannot have young children walk through a construction zone throughout the day. Since the class is smaller this year, we can relocate them easily. We will continue to have AfterCare in the usual room, as it is a self-contained program. We can also use this room for chapel, lunch and some specials classes, as it is the largest room in our facility that can be used at the present time. While these changes do not affect our programs, it will slightly impact our schedule and specials. In addition, our instrumental music program will be suspended until further notice, due to the space constraints and reconstruction of the church areas.
We have great news! Just this week, we signed contracts with two new teachers! Mrs. Brenda Marquis will be teaching 6th grade this year. Mrs. Marquis is a graduate of Bridgewater State College, lives locally, and has wonderful, creative ideas for her new class. Mrs. Norma Nhan, who taught at our school four years ago, is returning to teach second grade. Mrs. Nhan visited BCS in June, and was welcomed by staff and students alike. We are excited about some teaching responsibility changes with our current staff. Mrs. Kingsley will be teaching 7th and 8th grade Math and Science this year, and Miss Perez will be “looping” with last year’s class to 3rd grade. Mrs. Doherty will be moving from third grade to PreK, and is busy setting up a whole new PreK program. Mrs. Debra Powell will be working in the office full time as our Treasurer/Business Manager, giving parents daily access to tuition and financial information. The location of our early elementary classrooms will be changing classrooms in accordance to the class size. We adopted a new math program for the entire school, and have a new science program for grades 6 – 8. We are also working to add Spanish to grades 1 – 8 this fall as well!
However, as we have worked through these programming and room changes, we have found that it will take just a little more time than we originally expected. The electricity will not be turned on until the end of this week, as the electrical inspector and insurance company are working out the final details of the work needed. The main electrical panel for the entire facility was located just behind the kitchen where the fire damage was the greatest. Therefore, great care has been taken to ensure the safety of the wiring and electrical panels. Electronic equipment (telephones, computers, photocopiers, etc.) cannot be brought back into the building until after electrical power is resumed. This is severely impacted our readiness for the school year. Therefore, it is best for all concerned that we delay the start of school until Tuesday, September 5, the Tuesday after Labor Day. While it is only a three day delay, it will allow the teachers to move into their rooms, ready them, and copy materials that they will need for the start of school. It will also allow us in the office to prepare documents and materials for everyone. As the disaster cleanup was not complete until August 14, church furniture and belongings cannot be moved out of our classroom areas until August 18. This delayed the painting of several rooms, and the re-carpeting of our PreK. With the extra time, I am certain that we will be ready to teach – and learn! We also want to start the school year ready for children – and in a safe environment.
Our school work day has been rescheduled to Saturday, August 19, from 8:00 AM – 2:00 PM. While this is short notice, we had to have electrical power restored in order to accomplish the tasks at hand. We have two local churches sending men to this work day – Brockton Assembly of God and Agape Christian Fellowship in Raynham, along with people from our host church, Trinity Baptist. We will be painting several rooms, and raking out loam and spreading grass seed on part of our play ground to make a safer play yard for our students. We do need a few more men to help with these projects. If you are available, please call the school office or email me at kihodges@comcast.net. We certainly would appreciate the help of some strong arms! Please note that this would not be a work day that would include children, due to the type of work that will be done. We hope to schedule a “family work day” later on in the year for you to bring your family. We do not have to do our typical all school clean up, as the entire school was professionally cleaned by ServePro due to the fire.
As I reminded you earlier this summer, I continue to challenge you to claim the following selection of Scripture, “Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for He who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.” (Hebrews 10:23, 24) We are a people of hope. Our God is faithful. We look forward to a year of facing the challenges – as Champions of Faith!
Please find a copy of the back to school supply list – and our Back to School newsletter on our home page of this web site. Our website will also keep you informed as to our progress on the building. Until then – thank you for your prayers and support as we prepare for the coming school year. Please pray specifically for the resumption of electricity, and the preparations that need to be made after electricity is restored.
As always, please contact me if you have any questions or concerns. We will have additional information on our website, and some that will be sent home the first day of school. Thank you for your understanding and patience as we continue to work through scheduling, moving, and building readiness issues. We look forward to seeing our students coming back to school – and we are working hard to get ready for them!
In His love, for His children – the coming Champions,
Karen I. Hodges,
Principal
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