Are you looking forward with eager anticipation to hearing students sing at our Christmas Program? I know I can't wait to hear their mellifluous voices floating through the crowd. The monthly focus of our School Theme: Serve the Lord with All Your Heart is the arts. When you pause to look around our school, I think you will agree that the arts are honored each month. Our rich tradition of honoring the arts means that opportunities abound for students to act, paint, create, play, and sing. We read in the Heavenly Doctrines that "Young children learn to think by means of the senses, and to be affected by objects that are in accord with the things that are pleasing to the senses (AE 543:2)." A child's affection for engaging with objects opens opportunities to think in dynamic ways. Artistic thinking is further fostered when drawing, dancing, and other art forms are intertwined with other disciplines like the sciences or language arts. Accordingly, students at BACS regularly build dioramas, perform in tableaux's, and sing hymns. Take a moment to reflect on the ways that your child thinks artistically at BACS. Has that artistic thinking resulted in the creation of an object that you keep on your desk or hang prominently on your wall? Do you find your heart warmed by the memory of your child performing in a play? If so, please join us in honoring the arts at BACS.
Dr. Reid Prichett, Headmaster

Bryn Athyn Church School commemorated Veteran's Day with a special worship service that integrated Zach Walter, a Marine and Theologue. Zach shared in an interview with Rev. Phil Schnarr his unyielding belief in serving one's country. Rev. Schnarr illuminated, with passages from the Word, the importance of loving and serving one's country. We read in True Christian Religion 414, "Loving one's country is loving the well-being of the people." The entire school thanked Zach and fellow Marine Steve Irwin. Students processed out of Heilman Hall and shook Steve's and Zach's hands. The commemoration of Veteran's Day was a fitting tribute to all the men and women who serve our nation. Dr. Reid Prichett

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you to everyone who participated in the BACS Volunteer Workday. More than 70 people contributed their time, effort, and expertise; including current students, former students, parents, teachers, and community members. Child care provided by 7th grade girls enabled parents to fully invest themselves in their tasks. Some of the projects accomplished include: rewiring light fixtures, painting exterior doors and walls, cleaning up debris from the exterior of the building, replacing drainpipes and downspouts, storing and tidying the hallways of the interior of the building, and trimming trees and bushes. Our facilities are now more inviting! Volunteers went home with feelings of joy given their worthwhile contribution. Special thanks for organizing the event goes to Duncan Pitcairn, LynnEllen King, Liz Switzer and Kirsten Cronlund. We are incredibly grateful to all participants, and look forward to making this a semi-annual occurrence. The presence of the Lord was palpable as we worked together to spruce up our beloved school/church facilities and grounds. We are already collecting fresh ideas for a Spring work day. We hope you can join us.

The Bryn Athyn Church/Schools Community

After just the first month of school the students of BACS have raised OVER $1,000.00 in loose change!

POP QUIZ

• How many quarters would that be?
• How many nickels?
• How much would $1,000.00 weigh in pennies? (pennies that are dated from 1983 to today)

And for extra credit: What is the written equation and the answer that solves this puzzler: What equal number of coins (one part each of quarters, dimes, nickels and pennies) adds up to $1,000.00? (HINT: you will be one penny shy of $1,000.00)

A winner will be selected at random from all the correct answers. Winner will be announced in the October 20 Post and receive a $10.00 gift certificate to Five Below!!!!

Put your answers with contact info into the Pennies for BACS can by October 17 on your way in to school.

Keep bringing your change – we’re on our way to $2,000!

Bryn Athyn Church School is excited that this year 7th and 8th grade students will be using an internet service called Gaggle.  Gaggle is a suite of tools that include email, online document storage and editing, calendars, blogs, homework dropboxes, class pages and many other tools.  The beauty of Gaggle is that it is available to students at school and home through the same internet-based interface!   For more information about Gaggle see www.gaggle.net.

Why Gaggle?
There were many reasons to move toward this type of internet service for the school.  However, several key reasons are worth mentioning:

• Student productivity: Prior to Gaggle it was not unusual for students to have challenges moving documents between school and home:   Students would forget flash drives, would have trouble managing multiple copies of the same document or would need to email their teacher a document.  We hope that Gaggle, which allows documents to be stored and edited online, will enable students to work both at school and at home seamlessly.
• Cost: While the there is a cost to Gaggle it will enable the school to reduce costs for software, hardware and IT support.
• 21st century learning environment:   In an effort to recognize the ubiquity of electronic communication, BACS sees the need to update to include electronic tools such as those Gaggle offers.  This is not being done to blindly follow an educational trend, but because of an acknowledgment of who the students are in the 21st century and that communication and collaboration skills are increasingly important in today’s environment.  Gaggle offers a variety of communication tools such as email, chat, message boards, and blogs, and fosters collaboration through the sharing of documents with other BACS Gaggle users.

Is Gaggle Safe? 
Safety is often a concern that is raised when children use the internet.  One reason that Gaggle was chosen over other services was its security and safety tools.  In fact, Gaggle describes itself this way: “Gaggle has been providing safe online learning tools for the K-12 market since 1998. Our focus is and always has been on student safety, so educators can have the confidence to allow learners to take advantage of current technological tools for communication, collaboration, and productivity.” Because Gaggle is designed exclusively for schools, it has developed itself to meet the needs of schools, including their safety needs and is compliant with COPPA, CIPA, FERPA, and HIPPA.  It gives schools the ability to restrict email, blogs, and other tools to the school only or open them up to a wider audience.  All content, including photos, are electronically scanned for inappropriate content.  For more information see Gaggle’s Safety page at https://www.gaggle.net/home/safety/

This is an exciting new direction for Bryn Athyn Church School and we are looking forward to using the tools Gaggle offers with the students.  

This past week we lived our school theme of “Serve the Lord with all your heart.”  Teachers, parents, and students went to great lengths to arrive at school given multiple road closures due to flooding.  Throughout the week an increasing number of parent volunteers helped with important school tasks. 

Following all-school worship on Friday, I asked the students, “Where have you observed people serving the Lord?”  Their responses are heart warming:

• Worshiping the Lord,
• Collecting donations for Pennies for BACS, and
• The people who painted Heilman Hall.

We invite you to join us in serving the Lord at Bryn Athyn Church School.  Please contact Liz Switzer at liz.switzer@bacs-gc.org or (215) 947-4086 x262 if you are interested in volunteering.

Dr. Reid Prichett, Headmaster

The 117th opening of the Bryn Athyn Church School came with the hopeful sign of beautiful sunny skies just two days after Hurricane Irene swept through the area.  In the opening worship the Rev. Phil Schnarr, School Pastor, launched the school theme for the year: “Serve the Lord with all your heart.”  After school opening, parents and community members joined faculty for coffee and snacks. They heard about the new volunteer program – led by Liz Switzer – and were invited to sign up. We are excited about what the year ahead will bring each child. We look forward to a wonderful year ahead.
Dr. Reid Prichett, Headmaster

Printable Version

Dear Parents,
We wanted to share the warm sphere of Bryn Athyn Church School’s 117th school opening and some of the happenings around the school.  It is hard to believe we were bracing for a hurricane just a few short days ago.  Needless to say, school smoothly opened on a beautiful sunny day.

Phil Schnarr led us in opening worship, launching into our school theme for the year: “Serve the Lord with all your heart.”   This theme defines our commitment to being a school community dedicated to useful service; both to those who are close to us and to the greater community. The Heavenly Doctrines teach that a life of charity is a life of useful service and useful service is to carry out the duties of one’s occupation faithfully, honestly and diligently (see AC 997 and CL 16). To breathe life into our theme of service we will be hearing stories all year long from people who find extraordinary satisfaction in doing seemingly “ordinary” work.

Phil introduced Howard Thompson during worship.  Howard shared that he is welcoming families to the school and teaching 4th grade religion.  Howard and his wife Debra joined our school community 13 years ago because they believed that a New Church education would be best for their daughter. They were surprised to find that the decision they made for their daughter would have such a profound effect on their own lives. Howard’s fond appreciation of New Church education is touching.  We feel blessed that Howard has joined the pastor’s office and our school.

Students returned to their classrooms following school opening. Over and over again we heard students sharing their excitement about being back at school and their comfort with their new teachers and class sections. We are truly blessed to have the gift of working with your children.

Immediately following school opening, parents and community members joined us in Heilman Hall for coffee and snacks. People visited with one another over light refreshments and warm drinks.  The warm sense of community was palpable.  We would like to thank the many people who brought this event into being, especially Julie Carr, Meg Keegan, Liz Switzer, and LynnEllyn King.  Thanks to all of those who joined us for the coffee. It was wonderful to make a connection with everyone who attended. We hope to continue this tradition for years to come, so make a mental note to attend next year.

At the coffee we outlined our new volunteer program – led by Liz Switzer – and invited people to sign up for opportunities that interest them. Please be aware that Liz will welcome you at any time during the year if you would like to volunteer. It’s not too late to sign up! You can reach Liz at 215-947-4086, ext. 262 or you can email her at liz.switzer@bacs-gc.org if you are interested in learning more. Liz’s classroom has also been modified to be a space for volunteers to come and work on projects for the school. You can come any time to visit and drink coffee while doing useful work that will benefit our students. Please don’t hesitate to bring a friend or help spread the word about our volunteer program.

Also at the opening coffee, Board Member Jennifer Pronesti also delivered a message from the Bryn Athyn Church Board, inviting people to participate in an information-gathering process called Appreciative Inquiry. Please watch the Bryn Athyn Post for details.

Bryn Athyn Church School strategic planning continues this year.  Kirsten Cronlund will be leading the next phase of planning by connecting with the many constituents who care deeply about our school.  She has already nurtured lively conversations with faculty.  She will soon be reaching out to you with a survey and notification of meeting times, inviting you to share your hopes and dreams for our school.  These and other efforts will enable us to develop strategies that will help point the school in clear, sustainable direction.  We are looking to align and merge these efforts with the Bryn Athyn Church Appreciative Inquiry (AI) initiative.

A number of our teachers worked on curriculum and did professional development over the summer.  Judy Soneson worked on a Grand Man Project that will incorporate other new church communities, including a school in Kenya.  We also were blessed to participate in courses offered by the Bryn Athyn College Masters in Religious Studies (MARS), such as The Human Mind.  These are just a few of ways that teachers and administrators worked to incorporate New Church teachings into their daily work.

School-wide efforts to communicate electronically are being met with strong support.  We want to thank you for promptly completing electronic forms this summer.  Your efforts have enabled us to save both time and money.  These communications also reduce our carbon footprint.  We ask that you continue to provide us feedback on these communications so that we can make them even more user-friendly. 

You may also notice some changes around our building.  Thanks to a generous capital gift from the Asplundh Foundation we were able to tile the intermediate unit hallway floor.  This completes a tiling project that began in the primary unit two years ago.  These new tiles caused one student to remark, “It looks like kindergarten all over again!”

We are excited about what the year ahead will bring for your child.  We look forward to a wonderful year ahead.

Sincerely,

Ms. Kirsten Cronlund            Rev. Phil Schnarr        Dr. Reid Prichett
Elementary School Director   School Pastor             Headmaster

When the Children of Israel asked for a king, Samuel reminded them not to turn aside from the Lord their God and to continue to serve Him with all their heart (I Samuel 12: 20).  Throughout the coming school year at BACS we will explore many ways that people today serve the Lord and their neighbor in the wide variety of useful services they perform.

In September our focus is on the family. We will explore how the things we do for our family can bring us closer together and closer to the Lord.  October’s focus will be on protection. We eagerly anticipate hearing stories from people who love the work of making our world a safer place to live. As the year progresses we will keep you posted as our theme comes to life.  If you have suggestions for guest speakers or activities which fit any of these nine categories of useful service please contact me:

Family, Protection, Food/Farming, Arts/Music/Entertainment, Health/Healing, Transportation/Communication, Construction/Building, Community Service, Education.

Rev. Phil Schnarr
BACS School Pastor