Hi! I am
Tim Ihms, the principal of Bios Christian Academy. We are a K -12 school
located southeast of Phoenix, Arizona in the beautiful suburb of Gilbert. Bios
has existed for five years. There are currently 214 students being educated in
our school. Twelve will be graduating this year. Our plans are to grow to 450
students, give or take.
A unique
educational and learning environment is what we strive for on purpose. We are a
group of committed Christians, bent on serving our community through supporting
the parents in the training of their children with a focus on their education.
That
education is differentiated for all students, all subjects, all day. Imagine a
home school with rooms filled with ten to sixteen students, usually a mix of
three grades, all progressing through individual goals. Those goals are
determined by their teachers on a daily basis. If you were to observe a class
in action, all students would be on task either working on mastery of their
skills, conferring with their teacher one-on-one for instruction, correction,
or confirmation, or reviewing their work before presenting it to their teacher.
It is a joy to watch. I usually bring visitors to observe the high school
students first, even the kindergarten families, so they can see the work habits
and academic skills that all of our students are working towards.
My staff
is amazing. Over half have worked with me for ten to twenty-one years. The
others are new to us because of student growth. For all of the teachers, the
day is intense. Math is a good example. Teachers have twelve to sixteen
students in each class. During that time set aside for math instruction,
teachers will be instructing the many individual goals in math books where
their students are on one of any two hundred pages. There is more. In the three
grades inhabiting their rooms at a time, the books taught could range over five
grades or more. One teacher last year in high school taught from fourth grade
material for one student to material up to calculus for the other students.
This is all organized in a school wide check sheet system.
Relationships
are important to the success of our educational model. Teachers and staff are
hired for evidence of a mature Christian faith, teaching of subject skills, a
strong work ethic, strong community presence, and the ability to interact with
adults. This person who spends up to seven hours a day with your child must
also want to get to know you, the parent. Better decisions are made daily
because our teachers know our parents. Students have the same teacher for three
years in primary (1-3) and elementary (4-6) and up to three years in 7th-12th
. The problem we have with this system is that parents and students often do
not want to separate after their time together. They do, but with tears
sometimes.
And it
works. Just think about it for a moment. We have an instructional environment
which includes small classes, mature Christians, individualized instruction,
and last but not least, a very coordinated kindergarten through twelfth grade
curriculum. What is taught in kindergarten is there to prepare them for their
work in twelfth grade. In our
instructional model, there is no lecturing to the lower/middle skilled students
where some students are bored because they already understand the material or
some students are perpetually lost because they never understood yesterday's
material, let alone last week’s. Students at Bios learn
through individual instruction and daily goals.
Our ACT
and SAT scores are significantly above state and national norms. Those scores
are on our website. On the state AIMS test, over sixty percent of our students
exceed expectations in all of the three subject areas. All but two of our
graduates have gone onto college, and one of the two plans this semester to attend
college. Over seventy percent of our college bound graduates have over 80% of
their tuition covered through scholarships.
There is
not a separate curriculum for different students. All are expected to master
the very challenging material. Teachers are allowed no excuses for students not
meeting or working towards mastery. Teacher performance matters here. All
teachers are held accountable by myself, the principal, as well as from an
intimate and very real accountability to the teacher's colleagues.
Communication
is maintained with parents through daily notebooks called planners. This
notebook communicates each student’s daily behaviors and
academics performed. This system rests on the idea that if a student is behind,
it is not because they are not smart enough or good at school, but because he
is not working hard enough and we have a solution for it.
All
outside activities in our school have to take into consideration our commitment
to Christ. Music, sports, drama, and student activities must reflect that
commitment. But it is more than that. Everyone looks to reward hard work,
praise those students who take on challenges, and encourage those who seek to
serve their fellow students and community.
Music and
the arts are an integral part of the school. We have invested over $84,000 in
purchasing quality string instruments for our music program. Strings are
required in first through sixth grades. For 7th-12th,
choir, strings and guitar are electives.
Graphic art is taught in first through sixth grades and in high school
for one year. Drama is an elective in high school.
Sports
are also an important aspect of the school. High school boys have cross
country, soccer, two basketball teams, golf, and track and field. The high
girls have volleyball, cross country, basketball, soccer, and track and field.
Junior high: boys - cross country, flag football, basketball, and track and
field; girls - volleyball, cross country, basketball, track and field.
Elementary boys and girls fifth and sixth grade participate in cross country,
elementary boys basketball and elementary girls volleyball. We strive to build
winning programs. The high school girls have won two championships in
basketball and played in four finals games. The girls soccer team has played in
two championships and won both. The boys in high school won their first
championship this winter in basketball. (update: the golf team won the championship after this blog was published)
There is
much more about our very blessed school. Please come visit us if you are
interested in our school.
Tim Ihms
Principal
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