April 3

Dear Parents,

Take a huge breather, as you are just completing your first week of distance learning. What a fantastic job you have done this week with your children!   We have so much for which to be thankful as staff and teachers this week:

• We are thankful for parents’ and students’ willingness to learn how to make this method of learning work for the time being. 
• We are thankful for the support and love that you have shown to our staff and teachers, who are working tirelessly to try and provide the best education possible to their students in this remote environment.  We are not without mistakes in this process, but we are thankful for the communication from parents and students to help us fine-tune processes and procedures.  

What do we know about the future weeks?

• We know that school doors have to remain closed through April 30th.  We would resume in the classroom on May 1st unless the closure is extended.  Even though school facilities are closed, school will continue through distance learning until we are allowed to resume in the classroom. 
• We are prepared as a school to continue distance learning until the end of the school academic year.   
• We will not be having a baseball season this year.
• We will not be conducting our IOWA assessment tests this year, per the Department of Education.
• All Fine Arts competitions have been canceled:  Elementary through High School.
• We WILL BE having a K-5 graduation, 8th-grade promotion and High School Graduation this year!  The plan is to honor each of these students at one time, in one setting; the time will be determined based on the extent of our closures.  

Will the school be offering any type of financial discounts while the students are not in the classroom?

• Originally we were not going to offer any discounts, not foreseeing the extent of the closures.
• Pastor and our school board have decided to discount all BBCS student tuition for the month of April by 50%.  Our Pastor’s hope is that this will be a help and encouragement to you during this time. We will do the same thing for the month of May, should the closure extend into May.  
• This decision was just finalized today by our Pastor; therefore, the billing details for each individual family will be worked out Monday and Tuesday of next week.  Parents who have prepaid tuition, aftercare or lunch charges will be reimbursed. Please feel free to email questions to jstalions@bereanschool.com.

Will we be having live time with the teachers? Yes!!  Starting Next Week:

• Elementary: Tuesday/Thursday 1-2 p.m. – Parents will be sent a link to join the live classroom time.  You do not have to join for the whole hour: you can come in for as long as you want or need. This will be an optional time to ask questions or speak to the teacher directly for a parent or a child.   
• Middle/High School: Tuesday/Thursday — 2-3 p.m.  Each teacher will have his/her own classroom. Kids will be sent a link for each teacher’s classroom and may come into each teacher’s classroom as needed to get questions answered.  

Preschool and Elementary Parents: Will I need to drop off my children’s papers and pick up their next week’s papers? 

• Yes,  all papers from the week should be brought to the school and dropped off in your child’s individual slot with their name on it.  In their slot, you will find your children’s papers for the next week, which you will take with you. 
• Times for drop off and pick up of papers:
  • Friday 3-7 p.m.
  • Saturday 9a.m.- 7 p.m.
  • Sunday 9 a.m. – 7 p.m.
• Place:  Lower Entrance – Door D (This is not the school entrance, but the entrance under the awning.)

Thank you Berean Baptist Christian School Families for your continued support!  May the Lord be with you in a special way at this time! Stay well!

Mrs. Williams

March 31

We hope all of you are staying well during this unusual time. We know this is new and we want your children to continue to receive the best education possible. We are doing our best to implement processes that will keep students on schedule and help us to finish this school year. We want to make sure everyone is prepared for the upcoming weeks of schooling. We are going to begin online schooling on Monday, March 30. We are planning on returning to school on April 8, but this may change.

Please take note of the following Online Learning Plans for each Division of Berean Baptist Christian School. As you all know, our school buildings have been shut down due to concerns out of our control.

Last week, March 16-20, were counted as days off that will NOT need to be made up. This week, March 23-27, is considered our Spring Break and will NOT need to be made up either. Our teachers have spent the last week changing their lesson plans to prepare for extended closures of our school building. While our school buildings are closed, our school is not. Students will be given assignments and instruction through Ren-Web. This makes our return from Spring Break set for Monday, March 30.

Education Plans for BBCS by Division:

Preschool/Kindergarten

Elementary

Junior High/High School

Loaner Devices

We understand that some families do not have one device for every child. If you are in need of a device, we have a limited number of Chromebooks available to reserve.  We are offering one device per family on a first-come, first-serve basis. You can reserve these by contacting Mrs. Williams at ewilliams@bereanschool.com.

Contact Us

We will continue to provide the best ways of implementing our curriculum and will be updating you on a weekly basis. Should you have any questions, please feel free to contact your child’s teacher. Thank you for all you do, and for your continued effort during this time. A list of our teachers and their email addresses is listed here: BBCS Staff Communication List

FAQ:

How do I contact the school office or school personnel?  

School office is “open” during normal school hours, meaning calls and communications are being answered.  The physical office is not open, so you may not go there and expect to find someone, unless you have arranged a meeting.

BBCS Staff Communication List

How do I pay my bill or talk to someone regarding my school bill?

Payment may be made digitally through the links sent in your invoices.  If you would prefer to mail a personal check or use Bill Pay, please mail to 5626 Safford Rd; Rockford IL, 61101. Mr. Stalions, our business manager, may be reached anytime via email and is in the office on Monday and Tuesday if you need to set up an appointment to make a payment or speak to him personally.

How do I turn in my child’s work?

• Preschool and Elementary:  Parents will be able to drop off a week’s work and pick up the next week’s work at one time.  Unfortunately, we are not allowed to submit the elementary papers digitally, as we cannot be given copyright permission from our curriculum’s publisher.  
  • Hours available:  Friday 4- 7 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday- 9 a.m.- 7 p.m.
  • Location: Inside the Lower Church Entrance – Door D.  The outside door will be unlocked, but the doors coming into the building will be locked.  
  • Rules to follow:
    • One person in the entrance at a time.  
    • Put the previous week’s papers in your child’s slot and pick up the next week’s papers
    • Please use caution to only touch your child’s cubby and his or her papers.  
    • Feel free to use any of the sanitation products inside the entrance.  
• Middle and High School:
  • Google Classroom – All of your children’s Google Classrooms appear together when going to the Google Classroom Application.  Please make sure that your child has accepted the teacher’s invitation into the classroom.  In order to turn in homework that a child has done on paper, he will need to do the following:
    • Do the work on paper. 
    • Take a picture of your work.
    • Upload it to your Google Drive.
    • Attach the picture of your work to the assignment in Google Classroom.
  • Classes without a Google Classroom – All Classes will have a Google Classroom starting next week, which will aid in the organization of submissions for teachers.
    • Do the work on paper.
    • Take a picture of your work.
    • Send it to your teacher’s email address.

When is my child’s homework due?

• Middle and High School:
  • Submission deadlines for this week are a little more flexible as we all work out the kinks of distance learning.  We are asking all work for the week of March 30th to be submitted by this Friday at midnight. You will help our teachers tremendously if students would submit their work “DAILY.”
  • Starting next week the submission deadline for a days’ work is midnight of the same day.  This will keep our students on track and keep them from getting behind.  
  • Teachers have adjusted lesson plan content to be conducive to distance learning and will continue to monitor the content levels based on communication from parents.  
• Elementary: 
  • All work sent home within a week’s packet would be due at a week’s end.  
  • It will be important to your children’s success in this quarter to keep them on track every day.

When and How will my children take their tests?

• Elementary quizzes and tests will be sent home to take at home.  Teachers will grade the quizzes and tests when returned to the school.
• Middle and High School Quizzes and Tests will be assigned digitally through their Google Classrooms

How may I submit pictures of my children and their homeschooling experience?

Take a picture and email it to pics@bereanschool.com.