Distance Learning Updates
Weekly Recap
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Weekly Recap
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Weekly Recap 5/4/20-5/8/20 |
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Also available on our Instagram & Facebook page
As BCA works to finish out the year strong, please click on the LINK above to receive another Distance Learning Update for our families. This update was created on May 19, 2020. That's A Wrap at BCA!
Please take a moment and click on the link below to see how God is using BCA to help prepare boys and girls to be Ambassadors for Him through DISTANCE LEARNING!
April 24, 2020 Update
sway.office.com/gwm4cvMoJGmI1Hoz?ref=Link
Distance Learning Update , April 13,2020
I hope you and your family had an amazing Easter as you took some time to look at the blessings our Savior has provided. He is alive, and well, and is in control of all things. We are ready to begin another week of amazing learning through our Distance Learning Program. The following items are very important, so thank you for taking to the time to review every bullet point.
- Our traditional school schedule begins Tuesday morning, April 14. Teachers are ready and prepared for a great week of learning. Please take a moment to review your child’s schedule to ensure they are ready for success. If you have any questions about your child’s schedule, please reach out to your teacher and we would be honored to assist you.
- BCA is going to be able to host another PARENT PICK-UP and DROP-OFF DAY. BCA will have the lobby doors open on Monday, April 20 from 7:00 am until 4:00 pm. If you need to access the building after that time, you may utilize the backdoor code until 5:30 pm. Teachers will have additional supplies ready for you and spring pictures will also be available for you. You will be able to drop off student work for the teacher on this date. Your teacher will tell you if you need to come to school or not. For some, this is a great option, so we want to make our campus available to you.
- BCA is diligently working on the fourth nine-week assessment options. We feel we have a good plan to help ensure we know exactly what skills our students have mastered and what skills they need assistance. During the last week of April (in 2 weeks) we will be hosting an assessment week. Details will be coming to each of you soon. We just wanted to make sure parents knew we have a plan to confirm students are ready for the next grade level.
- We now have a prayer request icon on the main page of our school website. If we can pray with you about anything, please submit your prayer request through this icon and we will receive it. We are not just your school family we are a family of believers and we are walking this difficult journey with you.
- Remember some of the fun things BCA is offering students each week:
- Monday: Music with Mrs. Barbee
- Tuesday: Chapel with Mrs. Earp
- Wednesday: Reading with Mr. Manning
- Thursday: Spanish Fun with Mrs. Warfield
- Friday: Art with Mrs. Jones
- Each evening at 8:00: Family devotions with Ms. Brown
- When are we returning to school? This is such an important question. BCA will return to school as soon as the Department of Non-Public Instruction and ACSI informs us that it is safe to do so. I do know how challenging this has been for every BCA family and we truly appreciate your support. We want our campus open just as much as you do.
- What about tuition? Please know that it is our desire to help each family as much as we can. The reality is that BCA is a not-for profit educational business. We operate based upon your tuition and we run the school from month to month. If tuition stops or if we had families only pay a portion of the required tuition, BCA would not be able to stay in operation, therefore, we ask that you strive to continue to pay tuition as long as you can. If you lose your job and simply cannot make the monthly tuition payment, please reach out to Brenda or myself and we will do what we can to assist you. We can get through this if we all stick together. God has always met our needs and my prayer is that He continues to meet your family’s needs as well as the needs of BCA. I understand that parents are working hard to ensure Distance Learning works, and our staff is also working extremely hard to provide a quality faith-based education for your children. It has been said that the staff is not working as many hours as they did, during a regular school week, and that statement is simply false. We are actually working even more hours, and we are honored to do so, because BCA students deserve the very best.
- Finally-as of today, the required number of school hours and grade level objectives for students have not been waived for any private school in North Carolina. Students are still expected to show up for their classes and complete the work. We are not allowed to pass a student if they do not complete the requirements. These rules may because more laxed in the net few weeks, but as of now, students are still required to attend school for the set number of hours/days and complete all basic grade level requirements.
April 1, 2020 Distance Learning Update
Good evening BCA Families,
I hope you have had time to take a breath today and look for the blessings of God. Although our world has been turned upside down, our God is still the same today as He was yesterday and HE NEVER LEAVES US OR FORSAKES US. Please stay safe and strong and know that we are so honored to partner with you during this most unusual and difficult time. Listed below are a few updates for you and your family….
- Remember, BCA will be honoring SPRING BREAK next week. I know that you, the students, and the teachers need a moment to take a breath and regroup. School will end on Friday at 3:00 and will return on Tuesday, April 14, 2020.
- RightNow Media has some great 5-minute devotions available-- leading up to Easter. I want to encourage you to check those out. If you have not accepted your FREE invitation to RightNow Media. The link is provided here: https://www.rightnowmedia.org/Account/Invite/BethesdaChristianAcademy
- I have had some questions about grades and assessments. BCA is committed to ensuring students are actively engaged in learning and mastering core concepts. Thus, we have chosen to continue to provide grades for student work. One of the main reasons for this decision, is to help the teachers track academic progress. As we review grades and host individual assessments, we are creating a spreadsheet for each student to track which skills they seem to be mastering and which skills they are finding more challenging. We will then utilize this information to develop FREE summer help for students and to determine what concepts may need to be reviewed in more detail when we are allowed to return to school. BCA will be gracious with grades. As long as students are attempting to complete the work we have assigned and are attending school, then we expect they will be promoted to the next grade level. Students are still required to attend school and complete work. Because of our assessments and grade taking, we will have a good amount of data to ensure every student is academically prepared for the next grade level.
- Please be sure to check out our POSITIVE DISTANCE LEARNING POST which will be placed on our website and on Facebook each Friday.
- Something New: Mrs. Jones, our art teacher, has begun creating virtual art classes. The first Groovy Art Class will be posted on Friday. Allow your child to sit with Mrs. Jones and create an amazing and simplistic art project. You might even want to join in on the fun. You will find the link to this class on Facebook.
- Do you need some exercise? Here are two great resources that may be of interest to you:
- THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR SUPPORT OVER THESE PAST TWO WEEKS. I AM NOW ASKING A FAVOR, WOULD YOU OR YOUR FAMILY BE WILLING TO CREATE A 1 TO 2 MINUTE VIDEO TO SHARE YOUR EXPERIENCE IN PARTNERING WITH YOUR CHILD’S TEACHER? If you would create that and email to me at: Tony.Manning@BCAcrusaders.org. I am going to try and put them together into short movie to post for our families.
- Finally, how can I pray for you? I am striving to lift the BCA families in prayer each day. If you have a special need—physical or financial, please email me. If you are in need of food, support, extra tutoring, please tell us and we will do everything we can to meet your needs. God bless and we appreciate each of you. We will make it and we will be stronger because of it.
Monday, March 30,2020 Distance Learning Update:
I hope every BCA family had a safe and wonderful weekend. Our BCA Distance Learning Program is back into full swing. Our teachers are meeting every morning to pray for you, to talk about how to improve our program, and to determine what we can do to meet the spiritual and academic needs of our students. Listed below are the updates for this week:
- We have heard from parents, that a daily update is a bit much and you honestly do not have time to read it, therefore, we are going to attempt to send two updates per week. As of this week, we will send a Monday and a Wednesday update. If additional updates are required, we will send out a school wide phone message to inform you that an update has been posted.
- Our Financial Obligations Update and Detailed Distance Learning Plan have been posted on the distance learning tab on the academy website. Thank you for your consistent support as we walk through this together.
- Remember our Elective Class Offerings for each week:
- Music with Mrs. Barbee (Monday at 1:00)
- Chapel with Mrs. Earp (Tuesday at 1:00)
- Reading with Mr. Manning (Wednesday at 1:00)
- Spanish with Mrs. Warfield (Thursday at 1:00)
- Nightly Devotions with Ms. Brown (8:00 pm)
- We are working on creating a Weekly Art Challenge. This will be an optional challenge for our students, but many of them will enjoy the opportunity to allow their fine art skills to shine.
- The new PE logs and activities for the month of April are now available on Mr. Overcash’s website. Let keep moving and get outside as often as you can.
- We hope you enjoyed the Positive Distance Learning post that was placed on Facebook and on our website Friday. We will post a new edition of our new normal every Friday. This week, we plan to share a glimpse into the lives of our teachers!
- BCA has now begun Facebook Birthday Shout-Outs. When it is your child’s birthday, please make sure they see the special message we will send them through this resource. Birthdays are still very special.
- Do you have questions? Suggestions? Blessings you would like to share? Ms. Brown and I are available to assist you. Please feel free to email us and we will get back to you. If you will email us with your ideas or questions, we promise to return your call as soon as possible. Our emails are listed below and please remember to leave your phone number for us.
- Grades have now begun to be placed inside the grading program. We plan to have all grades as current as possible by Wednesday afternoon. The public-school system has made the decision to not grade work for the elementary students and they will receive a pass or fail. At BCA, we are committed to making sure your students receive instruction to master required objectives. At this point, we are planning to issue grades for the work that is completed. We do need students to complete the assignments in order to be promoted to the next grade.
- A2Z Contractors, LLC (Owner Alex Manning) 919-201-8973 ajlcontractors@yahoo.com
- Laura’s Cleaning Company (Owner Lara Reyes) www.laurascleaningcompany.com 919-282-7240 https://www.facebook.com/Lauras-Cleaning-Company-177587079108239/
- The Mulch Man (Owner Alex Cochran) https://www.mulchmannc.com/
- Technical Upgrade (Owner Brian Osberg) https://www.technicalupgrade.com/
- New China 121 Sherron Rd # 105, Durham, NC 27703 919-957-8188
Distance Learning Update for March 26, 2020
A huge shout up to one of our parents, Dan Johnson, for creating a praise video for our teachers. Check it out on our Distance Learning Website Page.
The School Board has helped create a detailed document pertaining to tuition, field trips, sporting fees, lunch, after-school fees, and more. This document will be placed on our Distance Learning Website by Friday afternoon.
We have almost made it through another week of Distance Learning. Remember—there is light at the end of the tunnel. Our teachers are getting stronger and stronger in their presentations and our students are becoming amazing, independent learners, and our parents are simply SUPERHEROES! Hang in there everyone. We have one more full week of instruction and then it is spring break. Every one of you deserve a chance to put the books to the side and binge watch your favorite television show.
Friday, we will post our first Crusader Positive News Publication. Check out this new document on our website on Friday to be reminded of the blessings God has given during this uncertain time.
We are working on creating a way for you to share prayer requests with us. At this point, if you have a specific prayer request, please email that to Mr. Manning at Tony.Manning@BCAcrusasders.org. The staff is meeting –VIRTUALLY—every morning at 8:30 and we will pray for you.
Wednesday, March 25 Distance Learning Update:
Good afternoon BCA Families,
I hope you and your family have had a productive and safe day. Listed below are a few updates for Wednesday, March 25, 2020.
- Thank you for those of you who were able to join Mr. Manning for the LIVE reading session on Facebook. We hope the students enjoyed the story of Tacky!
- Join Mrs. Warfield for Spanish Fun Thursday on our BCA Facebook page at 1:00. She will be reviewing Spanish vocabulary and sharing interesting facts about Guatemalan Culture. Senor Elefante will also be making an appearance!
- Ms. Brown will continue her Science devotional series on Facebook tonight at 8:00 pm.
- Durham has been issued a “Stay In Place” order for the next few weeks. BCA will do everything we can to encourage your family and provide quality instruction for your students. Please let us know how we can assist you. Your teachers will be checking on you and are prepared to provide you with resources in a variety of ways. Our campus building is now closed.
- If you need to scan multiple documents to send to your teacher, we are suggesting some of the following options:
- On the iPhone, you can click on notes and click on the camera at the bottom of the screen and choose scan.
- Free apps: adobe scan, camscanner and office lens (Microsoft office products)
- If you have trouble getting one of the computer programs to work and you need some assistance, Mrs. Warfield has volunteered to try and assist you. She will be available to answer email questions at the following times:
- Monday: 8:00-9:30 pm
- Tuesday: 8:00-9:30 pm
- Wednesday: 9:00 am until 3:30 pm
- Thursday: 9:00 am until 3:30 pm
- Friday: 9:00 am until 3:30 pm
- If you have photos or positive or funny stories you would like to share about DISTANCE LEARNING”, we will be posting a FUN FRIDAY UPDATE on our Distance Learning Tab every week. If you would like to share a photo or a story, simply email it to Mr. Overcash at Brandon.Overcash@BCAcrusaders.org. Sometimes we just need to laugh!
- Remember, we will be sending all families a detailed letter about finances and our plan for success on Friday afternoon. Thank you again for partnering with us. I know you are very proud of your students and the teachers, but please be proud of YOU as well. This only works when our entire family joins together.
Tuesday, March 24 Distance Learning Update
- I hope you were able to attend our first Virtual Chapel Program. Every Tuesday at 1:00, Mrs. Earp will host a Facebook Live chapel program. If you missed it, go check it out.
- Come and read with me. Mr. Manning will begin hosting an elementary reading time on the BCA Facebook page, every Wednesday at 1:00 pm. He will be reading and discussing one of his sons’ favorite children’s books.
- Ms. Brown has begun her science devotional series. She will host a 10-minute devotion for students and families each evening. WE ARE MOVING THE START TIME OF THAT DEVOTION TO 8:00 PM, BASED UPON PARENT RECOMMENDATIONS.
- Mrs. Jones, our art teacher, has created a GROOVY ART FACEBOOK PAGE, for our students. I have placed this resource on the school’s Facebook page. Check it out. It has ideas for art projects, videos, and more.
- So Where Do We Stand As Of Today?
- The Governor of NC has asked for public schools to keep their campuses closed until May 15. Our school board met last evening, and we feel the safest and most appropriate thing to do, is to follow our leaders request. If things change, then we will re-evaluate, but as of now, we will continue to utilize Distance Learning through May 15. We hope and pray we will be able to return before this date.
- Our teachers, students, and parents have done an amazing job and we are going to continue to enhance and provide the best faith-based education we can. I have been so excited and encouraged to see how hard our teachers and parents have worked to keep our BCA family strong, active, and learning. This process is continually changing and that is just the nature of this issue, but I hope you feel the support your school is trying to provide.
- Keep asking questions, keep offering suggestions, and keep supporting each other. We will make it through this difficult time. We will all be stronger because of it.
- Spring Break? YES. Our families and teachers have been working so diligently since March 18. Spring break is scheduled for April 6-13. We will take that week as a break. This will give families and teachers a moment to catch their breath and re-group. Class instruction will begin again on April 14.
- School Work Pick-Up and Drop Off? As long as the Governor allows us to come to school, we will strive to have a drop off and pick up time on Mondays from 7 to 5. This worked very well this past week. We do have options if we are not allowed to come to school or if you simply cannot come. Teachers are creating ways for you to download and upload student assignments. The school office staff can (in some cases) scan work and email it to you. It is always best, for the younger grades, that you pick up work if you can, but we do know that is not always possible. We are going to do what works for you. Simply communicate with Ms. Brown or Mr. Manning and we will do everything in our power to assist you. We are here to serve you. Classroom teachers will also share with you the options they have available to collect work and for you to receive new work.
- Grades. Teachers will have as many assignments graded, as possible, by Monday. Parents and students should be able to check grades on-line after this date. Kindergarten parents do not have access to grades on-line. The teachers and I are working on a plan to keep you updated.
- What about Finances? BCA is a non-profit faith-based school and we run from month to month based upon tuition payments. The school board and Mr. Manning are working on a detailed plan to address all financial questions. We hope to have this information ready for all families by the end of the day on Friday. THANK YOU FOR PARTNERING WITH US AND SUPPORTING US, as we navigate this unusual adventure. We understand you are paying for a service and we are doing the very best job we can to provide a top notice Distance Learning experience for your children. We are not perfect, but I do want to give a BIG shout-out to the BCA Staff. They have taken a difficult situation and made it work. They are learning new things every single day and they have never stopped caring for or praying for your children. We can feel your prayers too—thank you for praying for our families as we seek to support your families.
- BCA families who own a business. If you would like to email Mr. Manning, he would be honored to highlight all BCA owned businesses on our Bloomz and Facebook accounts. It is an honor to support each other in this way.
- Parents, take one day at a time and focus on today. Look for the blessings every day and do what you can do. Do not worry about every detail. We will ensure that students master the stated objectives and that they are ready to advance to the next grade level.
- Stay tuned for more fun and wacky things from BCA. We want to educate your family, pray and support your family, and make your family laugh!
Parent Praise the Efforts of BCA Teachers! |
Weekly Recap 3/23/20-3/27/20 |
Weekly Recap
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