The Blue/Orange Report

MLK Awards Breakfast

2012-01-27T08:20:00.000-08:00

Bios Christian Academy was well represented at the 27th Martin Luther King essay contest sponsored by ASU. There were over 1,200 entrees in this local writing contest. From first grader Micah reading about his neighbor who travels Guatemala serving the poor, to Faith in third grade talking about a blanket ministry to orphans, the six winners from Bios, out of a total of twelve possible winners K-12, elicited the comment from the master of ceremonies, "They must be doing something right at Bios." Before the awards ceremony, I was able to enjoy a nice breakfast at ASU West with the students, teachers, and the families from the six Bios Christian Academy winners. A crowd of over 1,000 people enjoyed a wonderful celebration of the principles and ideas of Dr. Martin Luther King. The student's essays had been mounted on stands and these were placed around the room for all to view. Inspiring speeches, enjoyable music and thought-provoking speeches by community activists made for an enjoyable morning.

Congratulations to Mrs. Halbison, Mrs. Kountz, and Mrs. Maguire and their students Chloe Martin, twelfth grade; Faith Pikula, third grade; Anna Sholink, third grade; Ashlynn Kooima, second grade; Elon Still, second grade; and Micah Vasey, first grade. Each student was given a savings bond valued at between $75-150 depending on whether they won first, second, or third place.

Learning English, Foreign Students, and Bios Christian

2012-01-19T14:14:00.001-08:00

For the past thirteen years, the instruction of English to our students from other countries has been similar to how we instruct our native born students. It has been very successful in our eyes because when all of our students graduate, their reading, writing, and speaking skills stand out compared to the Arizona culture around them. Daily, our methods include hours of writing, reading, and speaking with proficient English speaking adults. Our instructional methods are intensive, rarely include the passive instructional method of lecture, and require constant interaction/conversation with our instructors. The instructors expect writing, reading, and speaking in almost every period. Usually, the instructors immediately grade the assignments to provide feedback when it's best used - today, not tomorrow or the next day.

In the two schools I have been blessed to manage, students from Russia, Ukraine, Taiwan, South Korea, China, Japan, and Mexico have consistently made dramatic gains in their ability to read, write, and speak in the English language. Not that it is easy. No, the students from outside the U.S. have to work very hard to achieve a working mastery which enables them to learn their subjects in English. And the method is consistently successful for highly skilled and lower skilled students who come to us.

Why does it work? Because of the basic components involved in our instruction. Every one of our 49 minute periods involves a new, individual goal for each student that the instructor reviews with each student at the start of class. The student either reads information which must be discussed and mastered in the class period or a task is performed such as an individual science experiment, a math lesson, or a video watched while taking notes and completing a quiz at the end. By the end of each period, the teacher has spent meaningful one to one instructional time discussing, quizzing, and/or checking and correcting for immediate feedback.

Reading, writing speaking for eight periods a day. With our instructional methods, it is very difficult to not learn English at Bios Christian Academy.

A Moment's Focus on Our Graduates

2012-01-11T10:25:00.000-08:00

With the beginning of the second semester, the reality that our seniors are going on to new opportunities is hitting all of them a little harder. This is the season where students who rarely associate with each other start to act like old friends, sharing past experiences and looking forward in apprehension to a future their parents and teachers have worked to prepare them for. And all have different goals they are working towards for life beyond Bios.

We encourage our students as early as seventh grade to begin choosing three colleges that they may be interested in attending. They observe the websites, visit the campus with their parents, check out student comments, and see what majors are offered.

Lori Greene and I meet with the seniors throughout the year, asking if they have questions or need help signing up for colleges or in applying for scholarships. Lori and I also attend college counselor meetings at different colleges and universities in the Valley. With this information, we can provide the tools necessary to assist our students with available options.

Each one of our graduates have identified different goals for their future upon graduation. These goals range from a future in student ministries to biochemistry to business major. All are taking different paths to their future. Tentative, not so tentative, and firm plans for future education for our current fourteen seniors include the following: three heading for premed, music education, major in equine skills, engineering, art, biomedical engineering, nursing, lineman apprenticeship, business, and student ministries.

If you read through the list a couple of times you should notice a few things. First, there is quite a variety. Next, out of the fourteen, six are math or science related. And out of our fourteen, thirteen are heading off to college - which really stands out in a state where only 67% of high school students graduate from high school as reported in the June 8, 2011 issue of Arizona Capitol Times and the US Department of Education. In addition, 53% of the Arizona graduates do not go on to college as reported in the Arizona Republic on December 9, 2010. In that same article, it was written that in a study done by the Arizona Regents, 52% of high school graduates in Arizona lacked the grades or courses to be admitted to a four-year college.

Nine of those soon-to-be graduating Bios students are intending to go to a four-year university. Of those nine, six have all or most of their education paid for through scholarships. The other three have partial scholarships. Four of those students that will be attending a four-year university are attending Christian universities.

Three of the 14 graduates will be attending Chandler Gilbert Community College and one graduate is undecided.

Receiving full and partial scholarships and earning good grades are both the result of the hard work by graduates, parents, and teachers. We work diligently to challenge each student everyday. This shows up in the students’ hard earned grades and in their achievements in the college entrance exams they take - the SAT and ACT. In May 2012, Bios will graduate our third group of students from high school. Our three-year average of SAT and ACT scores is as follows with comparable Arizona and national scores.

SAT	Reading	Math	Writing
Bios	555	586	575
Arizona	517	523	499
National	497	514	489

ACT	Composite	English	Math	Reading	Science
Bios	28.8	29	30.4	29	26
Arizona	19.7	18.6	20.3	19.9	19.6
National	21.1	18.6	21.1	21.3	20.9

As you can see, our students excel in these standardized test scores as compared to national and Arizona college bound seniors. But that is not the best part.

Our seniors also shine brightly in community service. As a group they have volunteered to serve monthly on the Alzheimer’s floor at an adult living facility, made three trips to the San Carlos Reservation to build homes and serve their young children, plus hundreds of hours in additional recorded service in their community and churches.

Even as reality of the future sets in, our seniors have each been prepared for their years after Bios.

A Structured Framework at Bios

2011-11-07T09:01:00.000-08:00

By Staci Fletcher, JH/HS Science and Mathematics

Recently I read an article written by a professor from Ball State University who was curious as to why his top performing students in his chemistry and physics classes were homeschool graduates. To appease his curiosity he did some research on studies completed about such students. Consistently what this professor found was that the homeschool students outperformed all other students from public and private entities. Furthermore he came across a study performed by Canadian scientists which more specifically compared two groups of homeschool students. These two groups were those students who were homeschooled with a "structured" curriculum and those students who were homeschooled with an "unstructured" curriculum. Although the sample used for this study was small, thus making the results insignificant on a grand scale, it is still an outcome to take note of. The results were that the homeschool students in the "structured" group far outperformed the homeschool students in the "unstructured" group.

Why would this article and more specifically, this Canadian study, matter to the Bios community as a whole? It is because this small study does have a very important concept to take note of in the context of our community. I don't think there is much significance in the fact that the homeschool students outperformed their public and private counterparts in the academic realm. I think the significance lies in the framework that was used to teach the best performing homeschool students. That framework having its foundation being a structure of expectations the students were required to meet. I personally put a lot more weight in the results of the Canadian study as compared to most educators. The reason why is because I teach at Bios.

I teach at Bios because I believe strongly in the significance of a "structured" framework for educating our students. Structure which is based on clear goals and expectations for every student every day. I believe this is why day after day, week after week, month after month and year after year we see great gains in each and every child that is in our midst for many of their formative years. So when most would say, from a scientific perspective, the Canadian homeschool study produces results which are barely even conclusive, I would disagree and say the results are definitively conclusive. I would venture to say this because I see the same results year after year in our own Bios community. Our students do outperform many of their counterparts; first, because every child in our community can learn and second, because every child has a structured set of clear goals and expectations they are to meet on a daily basis without fail.

Practicing Being a Servant

2011-09-12T09:14:00.000-07:00

"Faithful servants never retire. You can retire from your career, but you will never retire from serving your God. " Rick Warren

A pithy quote to begin my writing on how we work here at Bios towards training our students to be faithful servants of God.

To begin with, service to our Lord encompasses a very, very large, almost an infinite amount of activities. At Bios we want to develop opportunities of habit in service. These opportunities come in many forms.

The high school Mission Club sponsored by Mrs. Greene, plans and executes two to three school wide activities each year to provide for those in need in our area. These activities work towards involving the whole Bios community in working towards a common goal. The first of which began on Tuesday, September 6. Sunshine Acres, an orphanage in Mesa, is in need of liquid hand soap because of state regulations not allowing bar soap in their institution anymore. Look for more information in the Update and through posters on the wall.

Our seniors travel a mile down the road once a month to Sunrise Senior Living to spend time with the adults who live with Alzheimer’s. While there they play songs on the guitar, sing songs, and provide short theater. They will meet with this same group of adults up to eight times over the coming year.

On September 16 and 17, a group of fifteen high school students will be heading to Globe, Arizona to support Arizona Reservation Missions and their work on the San Carlos Indian Reservation. This initial trip will be spent on construction projects they have. A second trip in the fall will also include working with children from the reservation.

The Orange 08 Club was created as an invitation only club for high school students to have a guided or tutorial experience in developing projects which serve their church or community. Students must present their project with parental approval to me. If approved, each student meets with me weekly to discuss goals accomplished and new goals to attain. the projects this semester include helping those who suffered through Hurricane Irene, developing and starting a club for " Geeks " to share common interest, and the writing of a book on nutritional eating to be donated to the school as a reference.

Still in development is the creation of opportunities of service for our primary and elementary students that also allows for parents to participate. Finding practical yet safe ways to serve has been a challenge so far.

I have noticed when I am out at our own church or visiting other places of worship, kids seem to look more for what they are going to get from their Christian experience instead of what opportunities they had to serve. At Bios, developing habits of work and service is an important component of our learning community.

Peter Drucker, Albert Shanker, and Learning Responsibility

2011-07-24T13:07:00.000-07:00

When people observe the students of Bios, they usually notice how well behaved they are, their positive attitude toward work, and the respect shown by teacher and students towards each other. But I would guess less than half the visiting families notice that the learning responsibility is put on the student instead of the usual expectation of the teaching responsibility on the teacher. It is a large reason the students at Bios learn and retain their learning so well.

One of the books I am reading this summer is "Managing the Nonprofit Organization" by Peter F. Drucker. Peter Drucker is a management legend, having written more than 35 books and is a professor at at the school of management at Claremont Graduate University. This is an excellent book filled with ideas, engaging examples, and interviews with leaders of the nonprofit sector. One of those leaders interviewed was Albert Shanker, president of the American Federation of Teachers AFL-CIO.

In the following excerpt between Peter Drucker and Albert Shanker, the two are in the middle of a discussion following this comment by Drucker on his educational experience in school after Shanker comments on small learning gains made each semester, the trivial things learned, and how quick those meaningless things are forgotten.

Drucker: I think I'm a living example of this. My school grades were always excellent. I learned very little and studied less, but I knew how to take exams.

After Shanker comments on an excellent learning experience in the Boy Scouts, the two comment with this discourse.

Drucker: The implication of this is, first, that you put the learning responsibility on the student rather than the teaching responsibility on the teacher. Is that central to the way you see performance?

Shanker: Essentially, the way schools are organized is to get a lot of activity and work on the part of teachers while the students sit and, you hope listen. You hope that they are remembering something. And you create a few punishments or rewards in terms of grades or leaving students back. Without that responsibility and without that engagement by students, the results are very, very meager.

Drucker: For hundreds of years , then, our emphasis has been on how well the teachers teach rather on how well the student learns?

There is more, but I will stop and comment on these amazingly accurate comments on the present day American education system and how Bios is quite different.

Bios is built on a few foundational ideas. One is every day a student attends our academy, he or she will master or continue mastering a new skill under the guidance of a trained teacher, an instructor, mentor, and coach, all wrapped into the adult called teacher in front of them. Each day, every student at Bios has new daily, individual goals developed by the school and teacher for the student. Everyday. These individual goals have been developed over hundreds of hours and sixteen years of constant revision by myself and trained instructors. No one claims boredom at Bios.

And in this highly structured learning environment centered on individual mastery, there is room for every teacher at Bios to break the learning structure and say to the student,"Today we will leave the structure so that I may individualize your instruction even more so you will understand this goal and achieve mastery."

The nuts and bolts of the daily workings involve clear daily goals for each student, clear goals for the teacher's instruction of her students, plentiful instructional materials, and constant one-on-one teacher student contact.

Daily goals are provided through school-designed check sheets possessed by each student in all subjects. Each subject's check sheets contain varying amounts of information, depending on how we want the student's mastery outcomes expressed. In science, history, and Spanish the students goals are written on the check sheet while in grammar and math, the check sheet only records the completion of general skills. In specific areas, the check sheets are much broader because of the increased need for teachers to improvise if students stumble in their mastery.

Bios Christian Academy does not hand a pile of textbooks to a teacher, close the teacher behind a classroom door, and wish them luck. First, we pray for them. Second, we spend three days on Bios learning theory and classroom expectations, and lastly, each teacher has at least two well trained or master teachers in their classroom periodically throughout the year observing, modeling, and encouraging them as they instruct our students.

When it all comes down to it, the quality of the people God brings our way and he gives us wisdom to hire, make a key component successful or not; the component of constant one-on-one teacher/ student interaction throughout the day. Every subject. Every day. Students coming to their teacher for instruction, encouragement, correction, and some times even admonishment. Three to ten times per subject. This creates a very intense instructional day for our teachers.

Towards the end of our afternoon interview, two years ago by the accreditation leader from ACSI, his last question asked of me was, " How are you going to find teachers that are willing to work as hard and as intense as the teachers you possess now?" I told him I pray a lot for God's grace in bringing future teachers to Bios such as we now have.

School Buildings: Safety, Learning, Environmentally Friendly, and Sells the School

2011-06-24T13:29:00.000-07:00

Finishing our third year as a school/business means banks and other money lending institutions will at least consider allowing us to borrow money to purchase land and build classes. It also helps to have a count of 202 students and a waiting list beginning for one of our classes. Buildings are tools, expensive and time consuming. But for our future families, buildings serve four important functions in the service of this educational community: the safety of all who walk the campus, instructional integrity, environmentally supportive, and pleasant to the eye.

Many, many years ago a very heavy contributor to a large church's building campaign said to me, " Buildings need just four walls, a roof, and to be built as cheaply as possible. Anything more is just feeding a pastor's ego." While that may or may not be true, at Bios Christian Academy buildings are here to serve us as we serve our families.

Safety is much more than well constructed buildings with approved NPPS playgrounds. It involves campus walkways which have potentially many adult eyes observing student and visitor actions, teacher and student accountability both in behavior and learning, and limited campus access throughout the day and evenings. The idea of safety also involves keeping students on campus for all school athletic offerings which reduces the inherent risks in driving to different off-site locations for practices and home games. Without a well thought out, secure and safe campus, learning would be difficult.

I am able to honestly say that of the few and far between complaints I hear, the most prevalent is that the materials, learning expectations, and teachers set a very high bar for learning and behavior. That's not such a bad complaint. Current and future buildings are designed to support those expectations at Bios. Future classrooms of 600 s.f. for primary and kindergarten, 750 s.f. for elementary, and 900-1200 s.f. in the Middle Academy and the Senior Academy will allow plenty of room for students to move and learn. Courtyards will be designed for the primary and elementary houses ( groups of classes ) to be built in order to support their communities and outdoor classroom experiences which take advantage of the amazing Gilbert weather. Both outdoor areas will include a reading amphitheater and science tables with sinks. Middle Academy (7-9) and Senior Academy (10-12) houses will be held in two separate buildings. Both will include space for common meetings, abundant natural light provided through skylights, and larger space for science labs.

An architect told me that to be a "green" building it would add about 3% to the total building costs. That is a lot of money. With always limited funds, some potential improvements towards going green would be: a forest of shade trees for keeping the campus and Gilbert cooler, a white concrete parking lot (concrete reflects 25-35% of the sunlight compared to the 5% reflection of asphalt.), inside classroom use of zero-VOL (volatile organic compound) paints, wood chips instead of gravel for landscaping (cooler and if you need more than that, it saves water, better for the soil, and increases the earthworm population), and individual room air conditioners which have high energy efficiency ratings. Other and even more expensive possibilities include the use of recycled water for landscaping and more energy efficient buildings along the design of the Meritage homes in Gilbert. The long term effects of environmentally friendly building practices, both financially and for the children's health, not to mention the benefits to our community, are invaluable.

Last and maybe least is the curb appeal both to our present families and to possible future Tigers. Many a comment on the last school we designed with Bardusen Architects, Surrey Garden Christian, came from moms and students on how happy they were with the physical beauty of the school. A well cared for and attractive site reflects well on an academy that takes such good care of it's buildings potentially caring for its students with the similar care and attention. All for His glory!

Fourth Year of Bios Christian Academy

2011-06-15T10:50:00.000-07:00

As we look forward to the fourth year of Bios Christian Academy, I thought I would highlight the senior class of 2011.

Out of our eight graduates this year, three were either accepted or invited to Barret's Honor College at ASU. Combined with our first graduate, Austin being accepted into and attending Barret's, four out of our nine graduates in our first two senior classes have been accepted to Barret's Honor College. In addition, one of our other seniors was accepted into NAU's honors program. Giving our graduates five of nine being accepted to at least one honors program. One of our graduates who was already accepted to Barret's also earned acceptance into Texas Christian University's honors program.

Scholarships earned by our seniors the past two years also reflect their hard work and the challenging expectations at Bios. The average amount of accepted scholarships offered for the seniors was $46,858.

The schools, selected scholarships earned, and declared major are as follows:

Austin-ASU Barret's Honors; President's; engineering

Jacob-TCU honors;ASU-President's and TCU-Dean's; chemistry

Tim-Cal Baptist; President's and Engineering; engineering

Ian- Westmont; ASU-Healthcare; kinesiology

Emily-ASU Barret's Honors;Provost; nursing

Beth-Arizona Christian; President's; photo journalism

Bethany-NAU honors; Merit and 100 Club; chemistry

Kyle- Chandler-Gilbert CC; computers

Raynie- Murrieta Bible College; Bible

As you probably noticed, five of our nine graduates went to Christian colleges and universities. Four went to out of state schools and only two went to the same university.

As you can see, there is a lot for us to be thankful for in the opportunities provided to the Bios graduates.

Skateland: Fun Times and Smiles

2011-02-28T08:37:00.000-08:00

On March 7 from 5:00 to 8:00 pm at the Chandler Skateland, Bios Christian will be hosting a special evening of skating. For $2 admission and $3 for skate rental it is a great night to spend with your kids and the Bios community. The school makes no money from the event. The whole focus is to allow families and the Bios community as a whole to enjoy some time together. There is always a good turnout and a lot of smiling faces. Some people have even said they thought it was a happier place than Disneyland, at least for the three hours we inhabit the rink. Come out and see if you agree. And if not, I can almost guarantee you and your family smile a lot.

Grand Canyon University, Our First Partnership

2011-02-01T13:31:00.001-08:00

We our proud to announce our school's partnership with Grand Canyon University. It is the first of many partnerships we are working on to benefit the students, parents, and faculty of Bios Christian Academy. Over the next six months we expect to announce other partnerships with universities and businesses. These partnerships are developed to increase opportunities for our community. These include increased student scholarship opportunities, dual credit courses, discounts for Bios staff and parents at select universities, use of college facilities for sports, increased name recognition for Bios locally and nationally, discounts in school materials, and opportunities for teachers to share their expertise locally and nationally.

Below are the initial opportunities Grand Canyon University has developed to support Christian schools in the area. We are very excited to be one of the first twenty schools to be a part of this unique and beneficial consortium of schools.

Canyon Christian Schools Consortium (CCSC) Member Benefits:

· High school students (grade 9-12) who are accepted to attend GCU will receive a $5,000 (in-residence) or $2,500 (non-residence) scholarship at GCU per year for each year of attendance at a coalition-member Christian high school. This could save students up to $20,000 on college tuition over the course of four years. The consortium-member school will provide GCU with names along with the number of semesters completed for each student.

· CCSC members will have access to an exclusive 15% discount for their teachers, providing savings toward tuition and fees for master’s or doctoral degree programs at GCU.

· CCSC members will have access to an exclusive 15% discount for their students’ parents, providing savings toward tuition and fees for bachelor’s, master’s or doctoral degree programs at GCU.

We hope to announce very soon a second partnership, which will also provide greater opportunities for Bios families.

Cinderella: Great Beginnings

2010-12-13T10:21:00.000-08:00

With over 170 people in attendance on two nights, the first drama production at Bios was a unanimous success. The encouraging attitude and theater skills of first year drama teacher, Mrs. Dominguez, were very evident throughout the evening. Enthusiasm, well rehearsed lines, and entertaining acting from her students brought for all who attended a great time. Beginning with Cinderella and the troupe from the Bios Drama Club then completing the night with three ten minute shorts, or "Duos", played by the high school drama class, the plays exemplified the teamwork and diligence of all on stage. We all look forward to the second semester show. Thank you to everyone for their support.

Mr. Klein and Education Reform

2010-12-07T10:54:00.000-08:00

"Finally, we need to innovate, as every successful sector of our economy does. The classroom model we have used since the nineteenth century, in which one teacher stands in front of a room of 20-30 students, is obsolete. We should make the most of new technology and programs that help teachers deliver personalized instruction and allow students to learn at their own pace." So wrote Joe Klein, the outgoing chancellor for the New York City public schools.

Mr. Klein, in his letter written for the Wall Street Journal last Saturday, discussed his goals for changing the schools and his basic reasons supporting them. Ideas that should be taught to every aspiring teacher in education colleges. Like the notion that poverty and family circumstances are no excuse for limiting educational potential. Or student outcomes and teacher accountability go hand-in-hand. And he had more to say about the challenges he faced to make the improvements needed. It is a great article to read. But it leaves out a very important part of a successful education, character development.

Many years ago, a friend and I went to the YMCA to see if we could start a team in their elementary age basketball league for our school kids. And since we did not have enough players from our own school to provide for a complete team, we needed to allow players from outside our school on the team. That was fine for us. It meant more players to win with. But when we mentioned to the league supervisor that we would be praying with our players during practices and games, we were told prayer was not allowed because kids from different religions were in the league. When we pointed out that they advertised Christian values, the supervisors answer was that while it was true they held to Christian values, those values excluded prayer, but included behaviors such as treating others with kindness and so on.

The point to the above story is that the YMCA lost their focus - their commitment to Christ. Christianity separates itself from the world because our focus is not on behaviors. No, our focus is on God and our relationship to his son. Our behaviors are a result of that faith and our desire to please him. Without a clear moral compass, gyms and education serve little purpose but self-seeking betterment.

Though Mr. Klein has excellent goals for a successful educational program, its success is hindered just as the potential success of the local YMCA is using general cultural norms for behavior. The YMCA behavior expectations have little effect on people because their grounding is based on a cultural consensus not the solid truths of their creator.

Bios and Senior Year Academic Rigor

2010-11-09T12:21:00.000-08:00

There is no option of reducing the class load and the subject difficulty for the senior class of Bios Christian Academy. Graduating early or learning with less than a full load of classes is not allowed for our fourth year high school students. Having such expectations of our students produces students who stand out from the rest of their freshman college class in skills, confidence, and preparedness. And we are not alone in this concept.

In a press release dated 9/13/10, the CollegeBoard had this to say about college preparedness. "Engaging students with more rigorous course work and demanding higher standards are critical in providing America's students with an education that will prepare them to compete in the 21st-century economy," said College Board President Gaston Caperton. "This report confirms that there are no tricks and there are no shortcuts to college readiness. Students who take more rigorous courses in high school are more prepared to succeed in college and beyond."

CollegeBoard, the publishers of the SAT college readiness test, is referring to their analysis of the test results of almost 1.6 million students. The article goes on to explain more about rigorous courses.

"Students in the class of 2010 who reported completing a core curriculum — defined as four or more years of English, three or more years of mathematics, three or more years of natural science, and three or more years of social science and history — scored, on average, 151 points higher on the SAT than those who did not complete a core curriculum."

All SAT Takers	Critical Reading	Mathematics	Writing
Core Curriculum	518	531	509
Non-Core Curriculum	467	481	459
Difference	+51	+50	+50
Bios	583.3	570	568.3
Bios Difference	+116.3	+89	+109.3

Notice the even higher difference exemplified by the Bios students. Those are big differences from a school which does not screen students for academic ability.

From our experience, the four years of math, four years of science, four years of English, and four years Bible, along with three years of history, support our students greatly in not only being prepared for college but in completing four years of college successfully.

The Bios difference is because of our excellent instructors, differentiated instruction, clear individualized goals, and four full years of a rigorous high school education.

Bios Homestay Families Wanted

2010-10-28T13:27:00.000-07:00

Bios Christian Academy is looking for host families to house students from other countries who will be attending our school. We will be allowing up to five full-time students to attend from other countries beginning the second semester of this year.

The list of responsibilities of the host family are common sense and essentially what a family would do for their own kids. These responsibilities include:

· Providing a warm, accepting, safe, and comfortable environment for the student.

· Providing a comfortable room for the student with bed, dresser, desk, closet, etc.

· Providing meals for the student.

· Monitoring the student's after-school activities as you would your own children.

· Fostering the student's spiritual growth.

· There are more responsibilities, but the general theme is treat the student as your own.

The criteria for being a Bios Homestay Family are:

1. Both parents must be evangelical Christians.

2. You must be a member of a local evangelical Christian church and attend regularly.

3. You must be able to meet the responsibilities of host families.

4. The Bios Homestay Host Family Application is submitted.

After the application is returned, an interview will be conducted by the principal and/or the Bios Homestay Coordinator. You will be notified of the results of the application process soon after the interview.

If all is successful, you will be contacted when a student that matches your expectations arrives. An interview will then be set up to make sure everyone is comfortable.

Our goals for including students from foreign countries into our Bios community include the opportunity to encourage those who are Christians, witness to those who do not hold dear the truths of the Bible, provide a superior college prep education, and to help them be a part of our community.

Each host family will receive $600 per month a student is with them.

Please pray about this opportunity. Any questions contact me.

Bios Fall Sports

2010-10-27T16:37:00.000-07:00

The end of another season of sports came upon us this past Saturday. As with all seasons, some goals were achieved and others were not. For example, the junior high volleyball team may have lost in the second round of the tournament, but as individual players and as a team they greatly improved.

The AIA ref in the junior high boys' last tournament game reflected the attitude of many coaches from opposing teams when he asked them during a break in the action if they were also a club team. Of course the answer was no. It was just a well coached and disciplined team of junior high boys playing in a high school league. Throughout the season the boys showed skill and courage as they played.

Finishing fourth in the same league, the ninth through twelfth grade boys also had two players earn all-state honors. It was a good year for the team.

Cross country performed well in their inaugural season. The junior high boys finished sixth, the high school boys were fourth, and the high school girls third in the state tournament.

And our high school girls won their first volleyball championship in two quick sets. One player earned all-state honors.

Two stories I wanted to share from the week of competition are as follows.

During the third set of the first round of high school volleyball, in what should have been an easy victory, our girls were down 22-18. Victory for the other team and a quick exit from the tournament were only three points away. On top of that some players were beginning to snap and blame each other for their predicament. In a quick meeting after another point lost, one of the girls shouted to the others to stop the bickering and to trust God in this. Whether they had lost this instead of the win, it was a great moment of leadership and trust.

The second story involved one of our girls on the cross country team. A freshman, she consistently came in one of the top three places in our meets during the regular season. During the championships this past weekend she was running neck and neck with another girl for first place for most of the race. With the finish line in sight, the other girl said she felt faint. Our freshman said we'll cross together. So, holding hands, the two crossed together over the finish line. The officials at the meet didn't like this and told the girls someone had to be the winner. Our freshman immediately said for her competitor to be named the winner and she would take second place. And that is how it ended.

Preparation or Protection

2010-10-08T09:22:00.000-07:00

by Staci Fletcher, JH/HS Math and Science Teacher and Core Member

¹⁰Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. ¹¹Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. ¹²For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. ¹³Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Ephesians 6: 10 – 13

As a teacher and a parent of two teens at Bios, I have the challenging task of wearing many hats on the campus. Just because I am a teacher on the campus does not exclude me from having challenges as a parent while my children are growing up. With one such challenge this past school year God was able to use it for me to hear some very wise and sound words via another gracious parent on the campus. The parent’s words addressed directly the verses written above. Those words resoundingly brought me back to my purpose for having my children at Bios. Those words have caused me to recognize my pride and what I think I can do for my kids and in turn, given them back to God.

Many would say my teens only attend Bios because I am just protecting them from the “real world.” And with that, I am only delaying the inevitable challenges that my teens will have to face when they do leave the “sheltered” community and I won’t be around to help them through them. Prior to this past year, I too would struggle with such thoughts that danced around in my head and had questions along those same lines I would occasionally ask myself. “Should I be protecting my teens this way? Shouldn’t I have them face all of the challenges and atrocities that 95% of other teens in our world face? Am I “protecting” my teens by keeping them at Bios? How will they ever learn how to face life on their own if I don’t let them face that life while I am here to help?”

Today, due to the wise words brought to me by the gracious parent, during a time of struggle with one of my teens, I can confidently say that Bios is NOT a place of protection for my teens, but more importantly, a place of preparation for my teens; preparation for the atrocities that they will inevitably have to face as young adults and beyond. My teens attend Bios because they are preparing for the unseen war that they will soon have to face on their own. My teens attend Bios because only the full armor of God can prepare them to fight the spiritual warfare which will be in full force once they graduate from high school. My teens attend Bios because they need preparation NOT because they need protection. Just like Moses and his 40 years in the desert, just like Joseph and his many years in Egypt before becoming a great ruler next to Pharaoh, just like Jesus and his 30 years of training prior to his ministry. We all need preparation for our fight “… against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” Today, after working through that challenge, I am confident and am sure as a Bios teacher and as a Bios parent, my teens are being prepared for their fight and I am confident that God is behind all of those preparations every day of their lives and He is the one protecting them; not I.

¹⁰¹¹ ^l ²wiles of the devil. ¹²^m ⁿthe rulers of ³¹³ ^o ^p

¹⁴ Stand therefore, ^qhaving girded your waist with truth, ^r¹⁵ ^s¹⁶ above all, taking ^t¹⁷ And ^utake the helmet of salvation, and ^v¹⁸ ^w ^x ^ysupplication for all the saints— ¹⁹^z²⁰ for which ^a

¹⁰¹¹ ^l ²wiles of the devil. ¹²^m ⁿthe rulers of ³¹³ ^o ^p

Boys and Learning: Common Myths

2010-10-06T16:14:00.000-07:00

"Boys are just not as ready as girls are for success in kindergarten". Or "Boys are just more active than girls, that is why they can't sit still". Those are two of the more common myths about boys I have heard from parents and teachers over the years. I have seen no truth to either myth. For the past year's class of kindergarten students, the boys scored a respectable average of 87% on the SAT test given in the spring. While the girls earned an average of 80%. I know this is not a scientific study, but the scores are indicative of past performances at my earlier school. Both boys and girls score well on achievement tests in kindergarten. Sometimes the girls score higher and other years the boys score higher.

In an article written by Molly Mann for The Apple, she comments on how she thought it was a biased view that girls stick to their studies better than boys, then she writes, "but now research shows that now girls do in fact score better than boys on standardized tests". She also cited statistics from the National Center for Educational Statistics. Two items mentioned were that boys were three times more likely to drop out of school and four times as likely to be labeled as Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder or ADHD.

In Richard Whitmire's book, Why Boys Fail, he cites these statistics. Boys are twice as likely to be suspended and three times as likely to be expelled as girls. Among whites, women receive 57% of the bachelor's degrees and 62% of the master's. Among black women it is 66% and 72% respectively. Clearly boys are being hurt in acquiring the skills needed to further their education.

There are many reasons why a great education is important for boys. One is job security. Yesterday in the Wall Street Journal, it was reported that the unemployment rate for workers 25- and-older with a bachelor's degree or higher was 4.6% in August. This compared to a 10.3% rate for workers with only a high school diploma. The article compared this 5.7% gap with a gap of only 2.5% when the recession began. A college degree helps workers keep their jobs.

There are many theories on why boys are struggling in school. Of course, I have my own thoughts.

You could easily blame it on the fact that over seventy percent of the K-6 teachers are female. Though there may be something to that, all of our K-6 teachers are female at Bios and all of our boys are excelling in their classes. So while it would be nice to have male teachers in the earlier grades, the fact that they are not has not been reflected in our boy's achievement.

Blaming learning materials because they don't fit into what our culture thinks boys should like isn't correct. As one writer for the New York Times did who suggested that boys may do better in school if they read "lowbrow, adventure, or even gross-out books that disproportionately appeal to boys." This isn't an answer. All our boys excel in both their reading and writing skills even though they have to read the identical books our girls read. Books like "Ann of Green Gables", The Secret Garden, and Jayne Eyre. While the boys may not as a rule enjoy the books, they can and do read these books as part of their literature assignments. The boys also read along with the girls books that may interest them more such as The Three Musketeers, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and The Lord of the Rings. The use of materials which do not catch the assumed special interests of boys do not hold to the fact that our boys succeed reading a variety of books. The fact that all of our boys excel in their language skills according to SAT results, AIMS results and daily work prove otherwise.

Another writer suggests boys are bored in school because they are taught in sedate ways and then act out. Again our boys are taught in "sedate" ways and don't act out. They excel.

So how do boys (and girls) excel in our school? Well, using the methods of Bios Christian Academy. Class sizes are important. Kindergarten and junior high/high school math are as low as ten students in a math class to as high as 21 in our music classes. Each class size is designed to be the maximum a Bios teacher is able to maintain our unique individual and differentiated approach while keeping tuition cost down.

Clear, measurable, daily , and individualized goals for each student help the teachers and students to know clearly what is expected for each class. A key component of this are the check sheets that every student has for every subject. At first almost all of the check sheets were designed by me. And now most of the new check sheets are designed by experienced teachers who have many years using our methods. The check sheets for each subject provide for teachers and students the measurable goals needed to be accomplished that day or period in class. In addition, check sheets provide an intrinsic reward aspect for the students. Everyday, right there in front of the student, their check sheet, is an immediate feedback on what they have accomplished. It is a very subtle, but powerful reinforcement of progress toward a goal.

Excellent teachers are key to an excellent education. In an article written on The Core Knowledge Blog by Robert Pondiscio titled "The $320,000 Kindergarten Teacher", two studies were focused on, one in Tennessee and the other with black Americans. Both had very similar conclusions. Excellent teachers in the early years provide long term differences in income, college education, success at marriage, retirement savings, discipline manners, and perseverance. We hire and train all of our teachers to be those excellent teachers. How do we train them you may ask? The same way as our students. Individual goals and clear expectations in a system with the simple name of "Continuous Training". Through out the year a trainer or myself will observe or teach the class with a follow-up conference soon after to discuss what went well and allowing for no more than two goals to be worked on by the teacher.

To give conclusion, the myths on boys not being able to learn or that they require special materials to learn new skills are proven wrong daily at Bios. All they need is a safe environment, with excellent teachers, using clear goals, and treating them as the unique creation God has made them to be.

Why Bios Does Not Hold Students Back

2010-10-06T12:36:00.000-07:00

Pamela Powell Ed. D. most probably doesn't even know who Bios Christian Academy is, but in her recent article for eJournal of Education Policy titled "A Perilous Policy Path: Grade Retention in the Age of NCLB", she does an excellent job of describing our school and in addition putting forth a good chunk of our argument for not retaining our students.

Some interesting items are provided by Dr. Powell which do not support the retaining of students. One major research supported thought is that student retention is a strong predictor of high school drop out. Students who are retained have high school drop out rates of two to eleven times greater than the rest of the population. Another study showed that retention helped 21 percent of the students who were retained and hurt 39 percent. Retention is not a very reliable method of assisting students.

Dr. Powell makes another profound case against retaining students. She writes, "When we engage in this type of thinking regarding children, we are blaming the victim." Later she adds, "Furthermore, we are usurping a year of the child's life. This equates to year of earning power, a year of life outside the institution of education, and a year of being overage in a school system."

The really exciting part of her article, her answer to retaining students, describes the educational ideas we hold dear to at Bios. The following are four of her ideas of "shifting the paradigm".
* All children develop as individuals. Children are always "ready to learn", they are always learning.
* Children would be better served through a system which meets individual needs.
* Instead of comparing children with each other, compare the child with the child.
* All children have assets.
Dr. Powell had more good ideas you can check out at the web site. But I wanted to finish with how this all applies to Bios.

At Bios Christian Academy, our main method of instruction is not based around teacher lecture. It is built on a structure of student's studying, working on projects, and/or verbally convincing their teacher their understanding of a concept. A baseline set of goals have been created for all academic subjects. From this baseline all students have individual goals monitored from their individual check sheets. There are many checks within this instructional system for teachers to be able to double student expectations or cut their goals in half. There are even provisions in each subject for students who arrive with very low skills to not use our baseline set of goals and instead the teacher creates for the student their own individual program until their skills allow them to progress at school expectations.

Another basic premise when assessing students is to observe what skills the student has instead of what the student is not able to do. For example, when told a student new to the school is a poor reader, we look at some basic skills. Can he recognize different faces? If yes, can he recognize shapes and letters? For younger students who have reading issues, we don't care if they can name letters. If the student earns a yes to the above questions and there are no physical reasons to prevent reading, then he can read. We then teach him how easy it is to read using a sight word program. After there has been success in reading in the sight word program we teach the phonics behind it. This simple method has worked on students who are not able to read from first to ninth grade 100% of the time. Then improvement in reading is a matter of time until vocabulary and comprehension are at grade level. We achieve these results consistently across all subjects and skills because of the ability to individualize each students goals. Plus from experience we know that all students can learn.

This instructional method works very well with skilled students. Many students come to us at far below their potential because of their prior instruction. Again because of our school wide baselines for each subject, students can be placed so as to plug in missing skills to allow for a greater learning pace in the future.

Also in our instructional model, the proverbial buck of student learning stops at the teacher.

We would agree with Dr. Powell, that when you retain a child you are blaming the victim. The teacher should be responsible for student learning. The present system of allowing a teacher to only spend one school year with a student allows for teachers to pass off on to the next teacher the unmet educational needs of the student. In addition, the consistency of instruction and the trust developed between the teacher and the student and parents in a multigrade instructional model is invaluable for student success.

To finish, retaining a student makes little sense because: 1) It doesn't usually work in benefitting the student, 2) It is punishing the student when he should have had a better teacher, 3) Students mature at different rates, and 4) The quality of the teacher from the previous year is probably a major factor in the child's success, so again why are we punishing the victim of an educational system which fails to meet each student's needs. Retention is a poor idea that should not be used.

Why Bios? #1 It works.

2010-09-30T14:00:00.000-07:00

As a proud father, teacher, and principal, Bios did an excellent job of educating my three children. My daughter graduated with honors with her under graduate degree in agriculture. She enjoyed a scholarship that covered the costs of all four years. This December she will complete her master's in agricultural business. In the midst of his second year of med school, my oldest son enjoyed a full ride for his first four years of education at a small private college. And finishing the last year of his master's degree, my youngest son begins to ready himself for the string of exams required to be a certified architect. They all acquired many advanced skills to prepare them for their future lives.

Why Bios? It works. Not only for my own children, but for the almost 170 students who we have the privilege to teach everyday. It would be tough to find a better overall math, reading, or writing program for college preparation in the state.

This is exemplified through each students daily progress, the 50% of our senior class that has exceeded all three tests of the state AIMS exam, and the SAT scores which are at least 40 points above national averages in all three subjects.

All of this is a waste of time if we don't ground our students in the solid foundation of the Bible. Everyday, all of our students, K-12, spend at least forty minutes in the Word. Reading, listening, and memorizing our guiding light. It gives purpose to the education so diligently worked on.

First Fireside Chat

2010-09-30T13:59:00.000-07:00

Mrs. Ihms and I will have our first Bios Community Fireside Chat in November. It is for all the families that are presently a part of our wonderful community. Where we stand financially, future plans, and a general question time are the discussion items for the evening. The hope is to provide an informal and informative opportunity for our families to feel even more a part of the Bios community.

In the past, we have all come together in the large sanctuary for a similar time. Those times of gathering worked well then, but the gatherings became more of a principal/board presentation instead of a small, intimate community coming together to learn about and share their concerns as a community. In a healthy community, questions asked in a group can affirm our own fears or hopes. Discussions with groups are able to dissuade leadership's delusions or support their actions. So we will have a change in venue.

At 7:00pm on Thursday, November 4^th all Bios Community members are invited (not required) to attend our first Fireside Chat at the Agritopia clubhouse. The clubhouse is located on Agritopia Loop in the center of the Agritopia community on the northwest corner of Ray and Higley. We will have a supervised room for your children ages two to eight during the meeting. I expect it will last 60-90 minutes.

We hope to see you there.

Starbucks and Bios: Dependent on Respect and Trust

2010-09-20T09:24:00.000-07:00

Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz was recently interviewed in the July/August issue of Harvard Business Review. In it he has a lot of interesting thoughts on his return as the CEO of Starbucks. Those thoughts include the pressures on a public company to continuously perform, trying to keep employee trust amidst layoffs, and defining shareholder value. That last point on defining shareholder value caught my attention. Finishing his idea, he said, " We built Starbucks not through traditional marketing or advertising but through the experience. And that experience can come to life only if people are proud, if they respect and trust the green apron and the people they represent." Those thoughts reflect Bios Christian Academy and what we work at daily.

A friend of mine once said to me as we had just passed another automobile on the road with one of those Christian fish symbols attached to it's back side, how he could never place a fish symbol on the rear of his vehicle because of his sinful driving habits and how everybody on the road would see how he consistently dishonors God's name when he starts his engine.

On our website we have a cross with a vine wrapped around it as a symbol of Bios. Everyday the students, parents, and the surrounding community watch to see if we come close to representing the meaning of that symbol as we serve our families. And Mr. Schultz is right in saying that the experience provided to the students and parents is built on a trust. A trust that the men and women of Bios are going to strive always to honor God in all they say and do, to build their teaching through a knowledge built over time of each student, and supported by clear and individualized daily goals.

We don't have much in common with Starbucks but what we do share, people based companies built around experience and trust, are the best commonalities to share.

Bios, SAT Scores, and ASU Ranks

2010-09-15T13:50:00.000-07:00

Two straight days of relevant education news. Weeks can go by without nary a peep from the writers of news on education and then we have two days in a row of interesting stuff.

First, on Monday, the Wall Street Journal contained an interesting story about how many companies like to hire graduates from top public universities including our very own Arizona State. Two main reasons were given for hiring from public schools. One was because recruiters found that graduates from top public universities " are often the among the most prepared and well rounded." ASU was particularly noticed for the second reason of forming strong ties between companies and universities.

Though a majority of the article emphasized the business ties to public colleges, an important part of the story was the effect recruiting had for students. Essentially, the article pointed out that this could be very useful information for potential students choosing a college. The example was given on how GE put their recruitment focus on forty schools to determine the 2,200 interns they hire each summer. If a student was confident of their major, then finding out which universities were shopped at by which companies could be helpful toward future jobs.

National SAT scores were discussed in today's Wall Street Journal. Reading remained the same at 501, math went up to 516 from 515, and writing fell from 493 to 492. The national SAT scores are the results of over 1.5 million students taking the exam.

The Bios Christian Academy scores compare well to the national SAT scores. Sorry, that is an understatement. Our scores look fantastic when compared to the national scores. This year's seniors have achieved the following averages as of August 19. Critical Reading: 583.3; Math: 570; Writing: 568.3. Our students have been blessed with really good scores that reflect their hard work as well as that of their parents and teachers, and the kindness of God.

The Journal also included an interesting paragraph to the article. It said, "The SAT results suggested that students who took a core curriculum in high school - defined as four years of English and three of math, science, and history - scored on average, 151 points higher than those who didn't take the curriculum." Our students all have those expectations plus an additional fourth year of math (and four years of Bible).

Clear academic expectations, teachers who know your child, small class sizes, supportive parents, and a challenging Core curriculum all assist in our students achieving scores 60 to 80 points higher than the rest of the nation.

Kindergarten Homeschool

2010-09-03T15:39:00.000-07:00

We are going to open our half day and full day kindergarten to our homeschool families. You, our homeschool families, have the option to choose any two days of the week for us to instruct your child in either a half day or full day class. The class sizes are a maximum of ten students. The tuition is $1,600 for the half day and $3,200 for the full day. All of the homeschool students will enjoy the same full, individualized instruction that our full time students receive. Each day your child will have individual goals in math, phonics, reading, and penmanship. In addition the students spend time in Bible instruction, physical education, group calendar time, and story time.

Life is not fair but...

2010-09-01T13:30:00.000-07:00

Recently, I met with the parents of a Bios student who through a series of assumptions and mistakes on the school's part had caused a normally straight A student to receive a failing grade on a test. As a school we quickly changed the situation and the future circumstances so the incident did not occur again and the student's educational goals would be stronger than ever.

But at the end of the meeting, the father explained that he had already told his child that the grade would stay. And for no other reason than life was unfair. The father went on to explain how he gave examples from his job on how there was always going to be unfairness in the world. His child just had to let it slide and move on.

After listening to the father's story, I explained to him that I understood that life could be unfair, but part of our job at Bios was to provide a fair treatment for each student. Life could be unfair but we are to be diligent in making it fair here. With that said, the failing grade which was a result of the schools decisions was dropped, and the student began fresh with the new goals.

Life is not fair, but at Bios we strive to do better at life.

School Management at Bios Christian Academy: Core Group

2010-08-03T08:22:00.000-07:00

This article is for the two or three of you who read this blog for ideas to use in your own school start up. The rest of you should find it pretty boring. This would be a good time to pull those pesky weeds you have been ignoring for so long.

Fifteen years ago I began this educational idea of using a model of instruction which minimized lecture as a prime method of teaching. It was replaced with an instructional system built around the following concepts:

1. A delivery system that resembles a home school classroom with constant student/teacher interaction involving teaching, discussion, direction, and encouragement.

2. Clear, daily instructional goals for each student that are built around a delivery system which resembles a home school class but with over twenty-five years of experience behind it.

3. Building and developing relationships of trust between the teachers, parents, and students through a system which allows for students to remain with the same teacher or teachers for more than one year.

The difference with beginning Bios, unlike my first school effort, is that I have an amazing group of people who understand and believe in this concept as much as I do beginning the academy with me. And this group is given the title of Core Group.

They are unique in that all made some sacrifice or stand for the school before they arrived at Bios. I view all of them as major investors in the school.

The Core Group has many distinct roles to support the school and me. Some roles are to help in areas I am weak in. Others are working with individual strengths each Core member has.

Major roles include:

1. Suggesting and approving new school board members

2. Hiring and training teachers

3. Interviewing and approving new middle academy (7-9) and senior academy (10-12) students and meeting weekly to discuss school direction and issues.

Having the Core suggest and approve new board members allows for some kind of check on the board. The tendency of non-profit boards is to become a "good old boy network" with good intentions but over time attaining a distance from the reality of the mission the organization was created to serve. Giving the selection of the board to the Core allows them to suggest people who have shown a history of commitment to the school and its principles and a desire to serve in a Christ like manner.

As far as hiring new teachers, our current group of instructors is a wonderful testimony to the wisdom of having the Core involved from the beginning of the hiring process. The idea I have put in front of them is that each teacher we hire will either add or detract from the excellent school we already have. And since they are also an important part of our ongoing training of the teachers, it also affects their daily routine to hire an ineffective teacher.

I am quite the pushover for almost every sad story told by a parent about why I need to take a chance on educating their child. The Core is not as easily persuaded. Not because of cold hearts, but a collective concern for the present families and our commitment to them. We have a good number of students who take more effort than most and after much work and time gradually improve so they only need the same amount of time and work as the majority of our students. That happens because of the excellent teachers and small class sizes. Adding students with initially intense needs may take away from the help we have already committed for our present families. This year they have turned down four students who probably would have diminished our service to the present families.

Responsibilities the Core Group has assumed from me are organizing, planning, researching, and writing check sheets (lesson plans) for all the Middle and Senior Academy science,math, and English as well as the scheduling of classes.

In many ways the Core is an integral, positive, and important part of Bios Christian Academy

The school board serves Bios in many important and valuable ways also. Some day I will share their role in being a key part of why we are successful.

With all of these people being very important to our successes it is always said under the assumption and knowledge that all is from our good God who brings all things together for His glory. Amen.

Great News! Our Second Accreditation

2010-07-27T17:30:00.000-07:00

We received exciting news on Wednesday, July 21st that Bios Christian Academy earned its second accreditation in three months for our high school. This time it is through North Central Association (NCA CASI). Founded in 1895, NCA CASI accredits over 8,500 public and private schools in 19 states. We also became accredited by the Association of Christian Schools International in June.

What does accreditation mean to you our parents? Here is what NCA CASI says about it on their website, "A school's commitment to accreditation assures parents and the community that school is focused on raising student achievement, providing a safe and enriching environment, and maintaining an efficient and effective operation. An accredited school adheres to high quality standards based on the latest research and successful professional practices.

NCA CASI / SACS CASI accreditation means that your school has opened its doors to review... "

The NCA website continues on the benefits of attending an accredited school. "Qualified teachers.....rich, diverse, and sound curriculum; access to a range of student activities and support services; transferability of credits from school to school; greater access to federal loans, scholarships, post secondary education, and military programs that require accreditation. "

Good news for Bios and the families we serve.

The Arizona Regents, Merit Scholarships, and Bios Christian Academy

2010-07-13T14:00:00.000-07:00

The Arizona Board of Regents for the second year in a row is trying to do away with the AIMS merit scholarship. This scholarship is available to over sixty percent of our graduating seniors this year. It would be a major loss to this current class as well as to our future graduates. My schools average at least thirty-three percent of graduates being eligible for this state university scholarship each year.

The AIMS merit scholarship is awarded to all Arizona high school students who earn a score of "exceeds" on the reading, writing, and math portions of the test and earn a grade of "A" or "B" in their high school core classes. They have up to three attempts to earn this score their tenth or eleventh grades.

While the state average for earning this scholarship is six percent for graduates, ours has always been between thirty and seventy percent of our graduating classes being eligible to use it.

The scholarship covers the tuition and fees set at the freshman year.

The Importance of Teachers

2010-07-02T12:52:00.000-07:00

The Importance of Teachers

Tiger Woods recently endured the loss of his swing coach, Hank Haney as reported in the June 19 issue of World Magazine. Two things about this news holds my interest. The first is that the amazing Tiger continues to work with an instructor. The second point is the difference this teacher/instructor/coach has made in Mr. Woods' golf game.

Soon after reading the article I mentioned its contents to three semi-random people (my wife, oldest son, and a friend). Their collective reactions were the same. "Tiger Woods has a teacher?" He does, as almost all great and famous athletes, musicians, and scientists. Tiger's dad was a very skilled golfer who loved to teach. Tiger had his first metal golf club at the age of seven months. He had professional teachers from the age of four on. Mozart had a father who was a performer and a composer of some renown. His father also began his son on an intensive training schedule beginning at three years of age. By the age of sixteen Mozart was also advancing his skills through his studies with another accomplished performer, Johann Christian Bach. Top performers seek top teachers.

Before the excellent tutelage of Haney, Tiger won 24 percent of his tournaments. An amazing feat unto itself. But with Haney his victories grew to 44 percent of his tournaments. One teacher made a difference.

At Bios, we hire men and women who we expect to make a noticeable difference in their student's lives. The teacher who provides the structure and encouragement to the young boy who in previous schools was in trouble and bored, now truly excited to arrive each day at school because of the challenges his teacher provides daily. Or the primary student with Down's Syndrome beginning to read for the first time while integrated into a regular class.

All of the Bios instructors are recommended by friends and family or I have sought them out because of their great intelligence, warm personality, impressive knowledge, and an intense, personal relationship with Christ their savior.

Serving our Lord one student at a time as successfully as we do comes through prayer, hard work, and great teachers.

2010-06-10T17:28:00.000-07:00

Bios Cross Country and Family Running Club

It is not supposed to begin for another week, but already on Monday and Wednesday of this week seventeen runners and walkers ranging in age from ten to fifty-something came out for our second annual Bios Cross Country and Family Running Club summer season.

During June and July, a group of Bios students and parents meet in front of our house every Monday and Wednesday morning at 6:15. The group consists of cross country team members, soccer and volleyball team members who want to get in shape, younger siblings, coaches,and parents.

The club is set up, like everything else at Bios, to encourage the individual. That includes experienced runners as well as those new to running. Everyone is part of one of three groups- a faster running group, the steady pace group, and the walk-and-run group. No runner is stuck in just one group. Runners usually move up as the season goes and some rotate to a slower pace.

I enjoy the opportunity families have of exercising together as well as spending time with other Bios families.

The club ends the season in August with an optional 5K race in Higley aptly named "Beat the Heat".

All Bios families are welcome to join. The Club officially begins Monday, June 14.

2010-06-06T09:30:00.000-07:00

Above and Beyond

When new families come to visit Bios, I always mention as we tour through the classes that our teachers are very hard workers. For instance, you will never hear of or see any instructor at Bios showing a video to their class because the teacher wasn't prepared or just did not feel like teaching that day.

And it's true. Each student has individual goal sheets called "check sheets". These check sheets provide daily goals that are particular for the individual student. Throughout the quarter and at the end of each quarter our Bios teachers are evaluated on how each student progressed towards their goals.

But today I am going to present to you two recent demonstrations of teachers going "Above and Beyond" the daily high expectations of instructing at Bios Christian Academy.

Our first example involved a high school teacher and a new student who arrived at the beginning of the year with a first grade reading level. With the effort of all of the student's teachers during the first three quarters of the school year this student was able to attain reading skills at a fourth/fifth grade level. At this point, she began using a fifth grade science text which was not a part of our regular curriculum. (We do not use text books for elementary science but instead individual and team projects.) The high school teacher created individual check sheets, lab projects, and tests for this student. This took many hours of work to create a science experience for this student at her reading level. Because of the teacher's efforts the student passed the first test and successfully completed a lab.

The next "Above and Beyond" is also a high school example. Joining our industrious school at the beginning of the fourth quarter, a student came to us with seven weeks left before her AP biology exam. One of our science teachers gave the student a previously released test from College Board to determine where she placed in her knowledge and skills. Much to both of their disappointments, the student scored a one on a scale of 1-5. This lack of accomplishment was attained after already spending the three previous quarters in an AP Biology course. The science instructor and I met with the student and her family to explain the situation and a possible solution.

Even though our science teacher was not planning to organize the AP class until next year, she offered to organize an intense study and practice time over the next seven weeks which would require a commitment from both student and teacher of many hours outside of school of study and preparation.

Over seven weeks and four practice tests later, the student raised her score on the practice tests significantly. She has taken her AP exam and waits impatiently along with her instructor for the results to come in July.

Teaching at Bios is well-structured yet within that structure teachers have freedom to serve our families one student at a time. Above and Beyond moments like these occur often because of that freedom at Bios.

B-I-O-S: Part 3

2010-05-24T09:33:00.000-07:00

by Staci Fletcher
Just recently I was reading a book entitled “The Prodigal God” by Tim Keller and in the readings the term “bios” came up. Unexpectedly upon reading that word my heart seemed to skip a beat. This in turn caused me to pause mid-sentence and analyze why this word would cause such an emotional response within me. As I pondered that thought it didn’t take long for me to realize the response was due to my deep belief and support in our own school named “Bios”. My last two posts centered on this term, bios. It is an important term to our school because of its meaning which is “life.” Synonymous to a computer’s instruction set entitled “BIOS” which is an important network of programs aligning many aspects of the computer in order to bring it to life.

My last post focused on our school’s sports program as an integral part of our campus and bringing life to our students. This post will focus on the academic portion of the same instructional set that is in place to bring life to our students in preparation for the world around them. In the past month I have heard students say “I am glad I am at Bios because they make me work hard; I cannot slack off there.” and “I have gone farther in this subject than I have ever been expected to go in all my years in school.” When these statements are made they are not made by the students to gloat, but rather because the students are excited about what they have been able to accomplish or what they know they will be able to accomplish in the future. The academic curriculum at Bios is not in place so that we can stand before men in a prideful manner and boast about our high scores on the SATs, ACTs or even boast on the awards the students have achieved in writing or math; but rather it is in place to push students to the belief and understanding that they can learn. There is not one student at Bios, from those who score the highest in many areas to those who struggle just to read a complete sentence, who is not challenged to learn at least one new idea, concept, verse, word, etc. on a daily basis. The bottom line to this thought is that at Bios every student is uniquely created the way they are and the status quo is not who they are called to be. With God at their center every student will be more than they could every dream; every student can and will learn and are called to a higher purpose as long as they are willing to take risks, be pushed and trust in the Lord. This thinking is most fully exposed at Bios in academics because if you were to walk the campus and visit the classrooms you will find students regularly working hard, trying harder and challenging themselves throughout the day to complete the required expectations and even more. They do this because they know they can learn, they know they matter, they know they are valued and most important they know they are fully loved by a God who wants them to give their all for His purposes in their lives. You will find students who are full of life because they believe and trust in their Creator. Academics for the Glory of God. Just another component in the complex network of programs all working together to bring students to life. Bios.

Proverbs 3: 5-6 Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will direct your paths.

Bios SAT Scores

2010-04-26T11:06:00.000-07:00

A quick note on our SAT scores for our junior and senior class. We have very good individual scores and very good averages as a school. As you can see, we compare very well to the national and state averages. Praise God!

AZ Reading: 516
U.S. Reading: 501
Bios Reading: 596

AZ Math: 521
U.S. Math: 515
Bios Math: 608

AZ Writing: 497
U.S. Writing: 493
Bios Writing: 594

Bios: A Growth Mindset School in a Fixed Mindset World

2010-04-13T12:10:00.001-07:00

One of our now eleventh grade students raised his SAT scores 100 points to over 650 to the 84th percentile through the efforts of his math teacher, parents, and his hard work. This is in addition to the increase of his reading score on the SAT by 40 points - also over 650 to the 94th percentile. He is a hard working student who had been underachieving before he arrived this year. A large part of his success is due to the high effort put in by everybody towards his achievements. But, another factor played a role in this. His teacher and all the teachers at Bios work from a different mindset than most educational systems.

For most public and many private schools, students are already type cast into a fixed mindset as to their abilities. Think about it. There are special programs for “gifted,” “learning disabled,” and “mentally handicapped.” Even non-labeled students are type cast by not being placed in a special program but left in “regular education.” In this fixed mindset, you are less apt to take on challenges. Or as quoted in their book Switched by the Heath brothers, “. . . you fear that others will see your failure as an indication of your true ability and see you as a loser.” You don’t try really hard at your work because smart or talented people do not have to and you want people to perceive you as being one of them.

On a regular basis, we have families with students who come to us with stories of being called “idiot” by a teacher, parents who say a child isn’t very smart, or something like “My child will never go to college, but he is a nice kid.” This mindset continues even with positive comments like “You’re great at soccer.” Or “Look how smart you are.” It keeps the person in a fixed place.

Contrast the fixed mindset with a growth mindset. Carol Dweck, a professor of psychology at Stanford University coined both phrases and shows in her research that the growth mindset is necessary if you want to reach your full potential.

Back to the book Switched. Their writings on the success of one study by Dweck to see if the growth mindset would help junior high students improve in math. Quoting from the book, “The growth-mindset students were taught that the brain is like a muscle that can be developed with exercise – that with work, they could get smarter.” After all, Dweck told them “nobody laughs at babies and says how dumb they are because they can’t talk.” The study was a dramatic success showing that the “growth mindset can be taught and that it can change lives.”

While working as a teacher of learning disabled children in a public school, the director of the learning disabilities department was unhappy with me because I was “discharging” students from their learning disabilities class and label because of their successful “mainstreaming” work over time in a regular education class. The director’s claim was “once a special education student, always a special education student.” When I showed her published research which differed and the student’s achievements she reluctantly said yes to the switch in placement. A fixed mindset says you were born this way and this way you will always be.

A growth mindset is more than just telling a student “you’re not stupid” or “you are smart.” A growth mindset involves educating both teachers and students that acquiring skills requires hard work and time.

The teachers and students at Bios have been very successful with the growth mindset. Whether it is raising a new student’s underachieving scores a 100 points in math on the SAT or changing a parent’s and student’s perceptions from “nice but not going to college” to “you have so many opportunities ahead of you when you complete college.”

I will finish with one more quote from Switched on the potential of the growth mindset. “The growth mindset, then, is a buffer against defeatism. It reframes failure as a natural part of the change process. And that’s critical, because people will persevere only if they perceive falling down as learning rather than failing. We will struggle, we will fail, we will be knocked down – but throughout, we’ll get better and we’ll succeed in the end.”

At Bios Christian Academy, the growth mindset is a strong part of our culture which is observed through the actions of our students and teachers.

Five Reasons Saxon Math Works for Bios Christian Academy

2010-04-05T12:51:00.000-07:00

We use Saxon as our textbook for teaching math beginning in grade four and continuing through to calculus. I have used it for over fourteen years at both private schools I have headed with very consistent and impressive results. Often I am asked for my opinion on the best materials for homeschooling and why we use certain materials to educate our students. Here are some thoughts on Saxon.

But first, a little about our teaching methods at Bios Christian Academy. Like it says on the front page of our website, if you were to observe our classrooms K-12 you would observe classrooms that look like homeschool instruction with a few more students, years of experience, and very focused learning objectives. Our goal is to train your child(ren) to be highly-skilled, independent learners who know a lot about the God of the Bible. Recently a parent, who after checking out our website and then observing the students in the classrooms commented “You don’t spoon feed your students, but are actually developing independent learners for the future.” Another name for our approach is Differentiated Instruction.

Back to Saxon. Here are the five reasons for using Saxon.

1. “Spiraling” is used in Saxon. Spiraling is a superior method of presentation for learning. It is the idea of presenting a concept, learning it, and practicing previously learned concepts on a daily basis, in other words continual practice and review. Our students develop mastery of math because Saxon does just that – teach a concept, provide adequate practice (two to ten problems), and then spend the rest of their math period maintaining previously learned skills with two to four problems of each skill in their lesson of thirty problems. One major advantage of this concept, and it is big, is that you can’t fake your way on understanding a skill because it keeps showing up day after day. Our teachers can then focus on assisting students as they master the concept if it was not fully understood at first. The type of text book used in most lecture based classrooms involves a text that teaches a concept one day and leaves it, not to been seen until the test. Usually the assignment for the day is 25 to 35 problems of the same type of problem introduced that day. Five problems are all that is really needed to understand a concept, the other 20 to 30 problems are there just to provide busy work for the students.

2. One-on-one Instruction Our teachers rarely lecture, but instead discuss with each student 3-5 times in a period their understanding of the lesson being worked on. This is possible because the Saxon daily lessons are so well written by Mr. Kake. Clear explanations and supportive examples allow our students to read the lesson which builds upon previously learned skills and explain to their instructor what their understanding of the lesson is. The teacher is then able to decide if the student understands the material presented or if there is need by the teacher for further explanation, examples, and/or additional materials.

3. Mental Math Or work that doesn’t involve pencil and paper. Oral review of basic facts and concepts - what an idea! Every day that our students work a lesson, in the fourth through eighth grades our students work through the six to ten mental math exercises which involve all four operations of money, square roots, fractions, decimals, and so on. Over the days, weeks, months, and years our students become very proficient in their math skills by daily working through and reciting these mental math problems.

4. Frequent Testing Tests occur every five lessons. Testing is good. Frequent testing is better. Saxon tests only the material learned up to five lessons prior to the test. Before a test happens it is well practiced day after day. By the time they get to a test the material has been practiced a lot. If the student does not pass the test, you as the teacher should be surprised because you have had plenty of opportunities to observe the student working all the problems on the test. Frequent testing allows a teacher to ascertain whether a student understands the material in a different format outside of the daily lessons.

5. Math Facts Saxon daily reinforces the learning and mastery of basic math facts in the fourth through the pre-algebra book. Students begin learning and mastering basic addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division facts in kindergarten. Saxon reinforces these skills with time tests every day. Our expectation is forty-eight facts in less than one minute.

Saxon is not perfect. But so far they best meet our needs in instructing our students towards mastery in math.

B-I-O-S: Part 2

2010-03-26T16:04:00.000-07:00

B – I – O – S: Part 2
by Staci Fletcher

As a brief reminder of my first posting titled, B-I-O-S, it paralleled Bios Christian Academy to the BIOS computer language of computers. I believe the parallel is applicable because so many of the attributes of Bios Christian Academy come together in the students culminating in bringing them to life under our ultimate supreme programmer our Creator, God. Just like a computer programmer has written the BIOS language to bring many attributes of the computer together giving it life. So, keeping that background in mind, I would like to zero in on one of the attributes of Bios Christian Academy that is a piece of the foundation which helps to provide students life in Christ. This attribute is in the sports.

We have just completed our basketball season; and what a season it was. It meant so much to me because I got to be a first hand witness in how dedicated, caring and God centered coaches raised up teams which fully defined the term “team”. What made these boys and girls basketball groupings different than those that I have seen in my many years of being involved in sports was that the spotlight was not focused on any select players who continuously got the most attention and were the ones to be seen in every game. Instead the spotlight was eagerly placed on each and every player involved in the sport. In my observations, the difference was found in the coaches who instinctively valued each and every player equally, coached each individually and expected each to always give their best in every aspect of playing. By season’s end the groupings earned the title “team” because each player was taught how to be passionate about teamwork by laying aside selfish desires of being the spotlight star. These actions instilling confidence to be built in every player with each knowing they had a skill of value to the team as a whole and that their contribution was needed to complete who they were as a team.

Although I experienced this first hand with the basketball teams, I know these philosophies and outcomes are common to every sport a student chooses be a part of at Bios. Thus, I confidently report that this attribute of Bios Christian Academy is an integral part in supporting the intentional and purposeful foundation being laid in each student who attends the school. A foundation which is integrated into, not only the sports, but many other instructional sets the students need to bring them life; this being done through those who are involved in the student’s lives and who are continually looking to God for their direction. This is my insight into just one attribute you will find on the campus of Bios helping to bring students to life. Future postings will continue to spotlight more of these daily happenings.

Differentiated School

2010-03-23T13:52:00.000-07:00

Chester E. Finn Jr. has been a major name in American education for many years. His past includes serving as former assistant secretary at the Department of Education under President Reagan. Currently he has a book out titled Reroute the Preschool Juggernaut and is President of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute. On Saturday, he wrote an article for the Wall Street Journal “The Case for Saturday School.” Even though the title and half the article discussed the merits of longer school weeks and school years, Mr. Finn also addressed many other education topics including high-performance schools who “commandeer for more than 9% of their students’ lives and use the extra time to accomplish three things: more hours to imbibe important skills and knowledge; fewer hours outside of school to waste or get into trouble; and a de facto culture transplant, wrought by dynamic teachers who instill in their young charges the college aspirations, appreciation of learning good behavior and orderly habits that are too often missing from homes and neighborhoods.” Bios Christian Academy fits that description.

The WSJ article cited how critics of extending U.S. school days say that schools should just make better use of the days they have. At Bios the primary classes spend on the core subjects of reading, math, and writing/grammar a required time of four hours. Elementary spends three hours. Kindergarten 130 of the 180 minutes of class each day is on reading or math. And our high school requirements include four years of math, English, science, and Bible. In addition, high school requires three years of history, two years of a foreign language, and one year each of instrumental music, graphic art, and computer programs which only leaves four electives in the required 28 credits to graduate. This all takes place in classes that are carefully planned and structured using a differentiated method of instruction. There is little time wasted in the classrooms.

After school the Bios junior high/high school students average around sixty minutes of homework a night. In addition, 98% participate in at least one season of our excellent after school sports program with almost 20% of the high school involved in all three seasons. Our Bios community is usually actively participating in their church communities also. In addition 30% of the high school participates in the yearbook club on Wednesdays. Next year, drama will be added as a class for high school with three productions planned. After school activities not only provide active students, but also a sense of community.

Lastly, dynamic teachers is another area we shine. The people we hire to instruct our students have the following paragraph at the end of their job description and is a large part of the basis on which they are evaluated:

“The expectation is that when I walk into your class I will observe a focused, hard-working, respectful group of students working on individual and/or group goals to be accomplished during the class period. Throughout the period you are engaging the students by holding them accountable, instructing, admonishing, and /or encouraging them towards their goals.”

Not only should I observe this but people visiting our campus should also. Recently two high school girls from a west side private school were visiting one of our teachers during the school day. While visiting they asked if they could observe a high school class. When they came back, one said “Wow, all the students were working and being respectful. I want to come here to learn.”

All of our current juniors and seniors expect to go on to college when they graduate. Over 60% plan to go into engineering, science, or the health sciences. Which is about the same percentage as my first private school. Bios’ up and coming graduates reflect teachers who set a high bar for achievement, using a curriculum rich and focused, and dynamic teachers well qualified and experienced to teacher their subjects.

Bios Christian Academy fits the description of a high-performing school through a carefully planned and structured curriculum, engaging after school opportunities, and dynamic teachers.

For more information about Bios please visit our website at http://bioschristianacademy.com/

Recognizing Darwin’s Influence on Education

2010-02-22T15:27:00.000-08:00

Sir Francis Galton was a well accomplished man who was also a cousin of Charles Darwin, the man who wrote the book The Origin of Species, which the reading by Galton is described in Wikipedia as “an event that changed Galton’s life.” Galton is well known for devising the first weather maps and a method for classifying fingerprints. He also established a subject of scientific inquiry which is still referred to and used in modern day educational journals, what he described as “natural gifts.” The concept of giftedness. He also advocated encouraging early marriages of people of high rank to provide a better class of offspring which would in turn improve society.

In his book Talent is Overrated, author and Fortune Magazine Editor, Geoff Colvin, discusses Galton’s idea of “eminence.” “Galton’s view was simple: Just as height and other physical traits tend to be inherited, so does “eminence.” He proved this theory, he said, by “showing how large is the number of instances in which men who are more or less illustrious have eminent kinsfolk.”

If you were to research “gifted children” on Google, a host of books, groups, and definitions abound. Articles include such titles as Preserving the True Self of the Gifted Child, Bright vs. Gifted: The Difference, and The True Story of a Gifted Child with Down Syndrome. The idea of the gifted child is a generally accepted fact in our culture.

As an academy, Bios Christian Academy, is designed to support our parents in the training of their children. We side with those who argue that the existence of talent is not supported by long term research. What is supported is the concept of hard work, great teachers, and supportive parents. The term “deliberate practice” is used to describe the idea that focus and hard work is the main method of how people succeed (and we would add God’s grace). The concept of “deliberate practice” replaces giftedness as an explanation of outstanding achievement.

Returning to “Talent is Overrated”, Mr. Colvin writes on the absence of innate talent. “In a study of outstanding American pianists, for example, no one could have predicted their eventual high level of achievement even after they’d been training intensively for six years, at that point most of them still weren’t standing out from their peers.” In other words, looking back the present day outstanding pianists showed nothing in their first six years of playing as musicians who were going to stand apart from their peers in the future.

Well, you might say, what about Mozart or Tiger? And the answer is both are great examples for the argument of “deliberate practice.” Both started their areas of expertise at a very early age, both had fathers who started their sons on very intense training programs early on, enjoyed teaching the prospective areas, and provided greater teachers than themselves when it was needed. Johann Bach was one of Mozart’s instructors. Both were very hard workers. Both Tiger and his dad, when asked to explain his success would give the same answer: hard work.

This “deliberate practice” idea is much more than stating “everyone is gifted” or “everyone is not gifted.” What I am saying is to forget the concept of giftedness. Consistently in broad studies over many years in areas as vastly different from each other as chess, violins, and football, the people who excel consistently work harder, more deliberately, longer, and with better teachers than everyone else. This is not a popular idea I think because it is much easier to say my child is gifted than my child had to work harder than everyone else to make their accomplishments.

Let me finish with a comment by K. Anders Ericsson, a researcher from Florida State University “the differences between expert performers and normal adults reflect a life-long period of deliberate effort to improve performance in a specified domain.” His statement and research over the years rejects the idea of “eminence” or the you’ve-got-it-because-you-were-born-with-it idea. He and others like him have helped explain the contradiction of years of research which shows “eminence” talent doesn’t exist and instead how the concept of “deliberate practice” explained earlier is demonstrated.

Bios Christian Academy works daily under many ideas. Those ideas include the Bible is inerrant, supporting parents in the training of their children, and “deliberate practice.”

Different and Differentiated

2010-02-16T12:50:00.000-08:00

On a regular basis the largest association of Christian schools in the world, Association of Christian Schools International (ACSI), of which we are a member and very soon to be accredited by, puts out a magazine called Christian School Education. In many issues including the most recent edition, articles discuss how Christian schools must look different than the public school model. The latest article on this subject, “The Tale of Two Furniture Stores” by Wayne Forsythe, uses a tale of two furniture stores as an example of the necessity for Christian schools to be different under the theme “We must be different. We must be better.” Five points of emphasis were (1) Bible-based Christian values, (2) academic excellence, (3) focus of school mission, (4) Christian in fact, not just in name, and (5) school environment. Here is how we excel within the expectations of the article.

At Bios, academic excellence means to provide a challenging learning environment which supports the individual student and their parents towards the goal of a skilled independent learner. Recently a parent met with me after observing our classes. Her first comment was how impressed she was to see a school developing independent learners instead of the “spoon-fed” approach of traditional schools. Students who graduate from Bios are confident to continue and succeed in their education because of the skills learned and their confidence as learners.

Focused is an accurate description of our education here at Bios. From kindergarten through advanced physics our learning program is designed within a framework based on over 25 years of working with differentiated instruction. That experience shows in the detailed educational goals for all of our academic subjects which we teach.

God has blessed us with committed staff of Christians. Everyone recognizes what an amazing God we serve and the mercy He shows to us through His Son. Our first purpose as a school is to witness to the unbelieving students and families and encourage those who are called Christians.

Bible-based Christian values permeate throughout our academics, sports, and outside activities. Things as simple as allowing only Christian music, or jazz or classical music without words on campus and at school activities; Christian authors and textbooks for junior high and high school science and history; Bible taught straight from the Bible in K-12 grades; setting boundaries for boy-girl relationships at school; and hiring Christians with a Christian worldview.

The school environment at Bios Christian Academy is one of a well-focused safe environment, drug and alcohol free (really) with teachers developing a mentoring relationship helping students focus on their studies. Sports, music, and drama are important but not allowed to take away from church and family. Practices are limited to only four days a week, for not more than two hours, with Wednesdays free for church attendance.

Bios is a unique Christian education focused on serving our families within a differentiated educational environment different from a traditional or public school model in many ways including Bible-based Christian values, academic excellence, focus of school mission, and Christian in fact and school environment.

For more information on Bios please visit our website at http://bioschristianacademy.com/.

Dreaming - Thinking

2010-01-26T14:17:00.000-08:00

Post by Lori Halbison, Primary Teacher

We’ve had some interesting conversations going on in our class lately. We’ve written papers about MLK, talked about what a New Year means and posing one of my favorite questions to ask mid school year ‘What do you want to be when you grow up?’ Do you remember being asked that question? I can recall the first time but it always makes me wonder how many others dream have come true.

The students who attended the MLK banquet were delighted with the experience and attention they received for their essays. One student's writing spoke about her grandmother who traveled and was part of Operation Smile. The other student’s paper was about her mother who had the idea that their family go to help at a facility for those less fortunate in the community.

When the girls came back to school to share about their banquet experience with the class these were some of their delightful comments: “We got to eat lots of food, we got our essays put on easels so everyone could read them (pointing out the ribbon attached that would never come off) and they are making two more just like these to display around the valley, I had to stand up in front of everyone and read my essay but it was fun, and we got to hug a 91 year old man!” (my favorite comment). After the banquet had ended the 91 year old man, Dr. J. Eugene Grigsby, Jr., an honored guest speaker was delighted to take photos with the girls and enjoyed visiting with them briefly. His list of experiences, achievements, and contributions are to be admired. This was a wonderful growing experience for the two second grade girls.

My first and second graders were posed the question of their dream, what they wanted to be if they could grow up to become anything in the whole wide world and the answers always intrigue me knowing their personalities. Typical answers I get are fireman, teacher, doctor, veterinarian, garbage man, and cowboy. But I especially like this one answer “I want to be a clown”. Discussions trail around the room about why but it is always the clown that interests the class.

What a wonderful justification to hear that the student wants to always make people smile and happy. What a great goal! Obviously he/she sees the need around them at a young age and what a great selfless job they will have, a job all of us should be an example of each day.

Deliberately trying to teach the students to keep dreaming, changing, learning, and growing beyond the risk to get what you want is an honor. As most teachers, I have a captive audience and I get to watch it every day in my class. The pleasures of watching a student understand a concept or get an idea that is new to them is satisfyingly intriguing to me. They have that ah ha’ moment which most call it the light bulb going on when they’ve got it, and I get to be the one to acknowledge it. We give and take from one another throughout the day. I am blessed daily knowing that I can satisfy my own dream of talking about God with a captive audience, helping others, and working with children in a school where they are seen as individuals who are bettering themselves to the glory of an awesome God.

Two meals. Three awards. One Amen.

2010-01-22T09:16:00.000-08:00

I enjoyed the honor of attending two different meals this past week which recognized three of our students from Bios Christian. Christin for her essay written to honor American veterans, Savannah and Isabella recognized people in their lives who exemplified the servant-leadership of Martin Luther King Jr.

Attending her third banquet in recognition of a paper that won first place at a local VFW, then moving on to another first place at the district level, Christin’s paper ended up with a third place and $250 at the state level. Excited parents, brother, and sister in attendance, Christin’s writing skills were acknowledged.

The same for Savannah and Isabella who earned first and third out of over 1200 entries in the MLK writing contest sponsored by ASU. They also enjoyed the presence of their teacher, parents, and a grandparent at the breakfast.

The different writing contests we have our students participate in serve many purposes. First, they provide a structure and purpose to their writing. One to three different contests are entered each month keying on a variety of topics and writing modalities – essays, research papers, and poetry; with history, science, culture, and the arts represented.

I know of no other writing program as rich in purpose, recognition, variety, and topics as ours.

Judging and recognition by people other than the student’s own teach is important. In many instances I have heard from teachers that a student’s paper which won in a contest would not have been their choice. When I taught our own children, I favored and enjoyed my oldest son’s style of writing while usually just accepting my youngest son’s compositions. Yet, both earned recognition of their writing efforts in contests we submitted to. Our requirement that all student’s writings are sent in for every contest works around our personal biases.

Finally, even though both contests were essentially different secular cultures, they shared similarities. Both had great tasting bacon included in their meals. Both were focused on honoring heroes – veterans and Martin Luther King Jr. And both ended with honoring the God of the Bible – the veterans with prayer in Jesus’ name and the university with a public school choir singing “Praising His Name.” Amen.

Registration for Next Year

2010-01-21T16:14:00.000-08:00

Registration for our current families begins on Wednesday, February 3^rd. New families will start to register on February 17^th for any open spots. Forms may be picked up on the first day of registration.

There will be ten openings for kindergarten, six for primary (1^st-3^rd) and twelve for elementary (4^th-6^th). (We have a group of fourteen sixth graders heading up to seventh and only two third graders coming up from primary to elementary.)

We are expecting 70 to 75 students will be in our junior high/high school next year with room for 84.

We continue our college prep emphasis school with four years of math, science, English and Bible required. Three years of history, two years of Spanish (and four encouraged), a year of art, performing music, and computers round out the requirements.

Additional class offering for high school include art, government, economics, AP Biology, Advanced Physics, Word and Excel certification, and computer programming.

Additional instructors are being hired or interviewed for math, Spanish, art, and drama. An additional math teacher who is a graduate from Duke University in mechanical engineering will be added. We are interviewing candidates for a Spanish instructor to teach four periods of Spanish for JH/HS and one period a day for primary, elementary, and home school. An art teacher is needed for one high school period a day and one period a day teaching primary, elementary, or home school classes for a total of two periods a day. And we continue to look for someone to direct two plays a year after school.

The tentative plan for sports next year is the following: for junior high and high school we will continue to participate fully in the Christian schools league (CSL) and for junior high teams and for sports not offered in the CSL we will participate in the charter schools league with the goals of honoring God in our sportsmanship, developing skilled players and winning teams.

Fall	Winter	Spring
Boys JH/HS soccer (CSL)	Boys HS basketball (CSL)	Boys HS golf (charter)
Boys/girls JH/HS XC (charter)	Boys JH basketball (charter)	Girls JH/HS soccer (CSL)
Girls HS volleyball (CSL)	Girls HS basketball (CSL)
Girls JH volleyball (charter)	Girls JH basketball (CSL)
	Boys/girls bowling (charter)

Homeschool remains the same with two days of primary (Monday and Wednesday) and two days of elementary (Tuesday and Thursday).

We will have a graduating class of six next year with (12) eleventh graders, (9) tenth graders, (11) ninth graders, (13) eighth graders, and (14) seventh graders following them.

AIMS Test Scores Exceed

2009-12-16T09:26:00.001-08:00

Our eleventh grade students had the opportunity to increase their scores on the state AIMS exams this past fall. The results were very encouraging.

The AIMS is the state’s required exam for all high school students in public schools. While it is not required by the state of Arizona for private schools, it does provide the opportunity for our parents to compare apples-to-apples.

There are four possible scores on the AIMS high school exam for grades 10-12. They are: falls far below, approaching, meets, and exceeds. Students in the state schools are required to have at least a score of “meets” in reading, writing, and math to graduate from high school. If a student exceeds in those three areas and earns a grade of “B” in all of their core subjects, they are eligible for a scholarship to any of the three state universities.

Here are the statistics for our 11th and 12 grade students:
1. All of our juniors and seniors have scored at least at the “meets” expectation.
2. Out of eighteen possible scores for reading, writing, and math, twelve are “exceeds,” six are “meets.”
3. Three of our six students in 11th and 12th grades are eligible for the state scholarship: Austin, Jacob and Emily.

The 11th grade students have one more opportunity to “exceed” on the AIMS test this spring. Our tenth grade students have their first opportunity this spring to “exceed” on the AIMS.

Congratulations to the students, parents, and teachers for their accomplishments.

PSAT Scores

2009-12-15T09:12:00.000-08:00

Great news from the College Board concerning our sophomores and juniors and their PSAT scores.

The PSAT is a standardized test published by the College Board who also puts out the SAT college entrance exam. It is similar to the Iowa, CAT, Stanford Achievement Test which many of you have taken throughout your K-12 years.

Generally the PSAT is used to give an idea of how a student will score on the SAT. Somewhere around the top 2% may qualify for the prestigious National Merit Scholarship. Our own senior, Austin Greene, was in the running for it last fall and received Commended Status.

Divided into three sections of Critical Reading, Mathematics, and Writing, students have two hours and ten minutes to complete sections on vocabulary, main idea, fact vs. opinion, basic arithmetic, algebra, geometry, grammar, mechanics, and word choice.

So, how did we do on the PSAT’s? The average scores below are from the College Board site. The 2008 scores differed from the 2007 scores by not much. So the following should be close to 2009 averages. Scores range from 20 to 80. Score averages are different for 10th grade and 11th grade. In all three tests and both grades, we scored above the national average. While these scores aren’t the “real deal” (the SAT) they are a good reflection on the work our students, parents, and teachers have put in so far here at Bios.

Critical Reading
10th National: 42
10th Bios: 44
11th National: 47
11th Bios: 58

Math
10th National: 44
10th Bios: 47
11th National: 49
11th Bios: 53.7

Writing Skills
10th National: 41
10th Bios: 50
11th National: 46
11th Bios: 54.7

A Blog from Ms. Z

2009-12-15T09:07:00.000-08:00

Dear Bios families,

When sharing the name of our school with others, I am often met with an inquisitive look and asked to repeat the title. I am certain that some of you share my experience. After learning that “Bios” is the Greek word for “life”, the confusion turns to appreciation for the originality and the purpose behind the name.

This exchange continually reinforces the significance of our weekly study of Greek and Latin roots in our English language program at Bios Christian Academy. Along with our regular grammar lessons, literature study, and writing assignments, students are having fun, learning about the birth of words.

Did you know that 60 percent of the English language (that figure rises to over 90 percent in the vocabulary of sciences and technology) comes from Latin and Greek word origins? Understanding these origins helps to unlock a plethora of vocabulary. By learning the root and its derivation, students can decipher the meaning of new words, taking some of the guesswork out of unfamiliar terminology. Not only does this serve to expand their verbal skills, but also gives them a resource for understanding how the English language shapes our perceptions of God’s world around us.

Be mindful that words are the tools with which we think, learn, and communicate. The more words we know, the more we are able to explore thought, absorb knowledge, and get our points of view understood and expanded upon, regarding all things that are important to us.

So take a moment this week and ask your child to recite the Greek alphabet -in Greek!

Our very own school name reflects the necessity of learning our “roots”.

Bios brings “life” to learning, and learning to life!

Blessings,
Ms. Z

Why Bios is a Private Christian School

2009-12-15T06:38:00.000-08:00

Why Bios is a Private Christian School

Bios is a Christian school foremost in that we have the primary purpose of proclaiming the gospel. Second, we educate our students out of the desire to support the parents in the training of their children, not to support the state’s goals or the state’s low academic standards. Next, our students are educated in a Christian worldview. And last, we provide a broad range of skills involving math, critical reading, writing, computers, and arts to allow our students to choose among many career options for their future.

Absolutely religion neutral is the stance that government (and charter) schools have to take by law. They are not allowed to favor or teach about a religion unless it is within the state’s goals of instructing their students about particular religions. Conversely we Christians do not want the state schools to teach about Christ. Five or six years ago our family took a summer trip to Great Britain. While visiting I had the opportunity of spending an afternoon with a principal of a public school in Wales who is a Christian. During the tour he explained that by British Law, Christianity is a required subject to be taught in the public schools in Wales. He further explained that he was one of the few Christians who taught about the Bible in the area schools. Instead, non-Christians daily taught students across Britain their erroneous versions of the Bible. It is wrong to have non-Christians teaching about the Bible. Distortions, misteachings, and unbelief are the consequences of non-Christians teaching the scriptures. The one true faith of Christianity should only be taught by those who serve the One who created the Bible.

Starting with the idea that nothing is by accident, all is going according to God’s plan to bring glory and honor to himself. A Christian worldview of a loving, forgiving God who expects justice for everyone and good for His people, provides a framework for living and understanding the world we live in. Science, history, math, music, and art are instructed with the view of discovering the secrets of the amazing world He created, while contradicting a world view of attaining knowledge for pride’s sake or just because.

With good intentions, our country’s schools label many, many students by their perceived ability to learn. The idea in the beginning was that if we provide a label then maybe a core or special method of teaching would be discovered, as though these kids had a bad disease to fix. Now, labels are there to give funding and segregate students out of the regular ed program. What we know about learning at Bios is labels have a negative effect. What is effective in student learning is a clearly focused, step-by-step educational program geared to the individual’s needs, taught by experienced teachers.

Writing additional reasons for not being a charter school would be repetitive. While charter schools serve a unique purpose in our culture and it would be far less expensive for our families to educate their children in a charter school model, our ability to educate our students in our quality manner and with our focus on our God, requires us to remain a private school for the future.

Full Day Kindergarten

2009-11-24T12:41:00.000-08:00

Here is my letter, my explanation, of why we are whole heartedly offering the option of full-day kindergarten to our school.

Throughout the years I have watched our own kindergarten classes as well as those at different schools. Most, actually all of the other programs I have observed were not what I wanted for parents who were going to sacrifice to provide a very good education for their children at Bios. So we offer a half-day, ten student class, with an academic emphasis.

In the past, at my previous school of twelve years, our kindergarten students tested in the 75th to 85th percentile year after year on the Iowa, Stanford, and the state tests. And it’s not like we screened students for the best and brightest. No, some students entered reading at a third grade level and some entered not knowing a letter of the alphabet. Half-day kindergarten is doing its job of providing an excellent foundation to enter our primary classes with.

Why the change? Because more and more parents want it. And I can honestly say we can further increase student’s skills in the added amount of time. We just continue doing what we do best – supporting our parents by educating our students with high, individual expectations with mature encouraging Christian teachers.

Half-day kindergarten at Bios Christian Academy continues to provide an excellent beginning for our students. Full-day kindergarten provides an additional option to our parents in the choices they make for their children.

B-I-O-S

2009-11-24T10:29:00.000-08:00

By Staci Fletcher

“Where do you teach and where do your children attend school?” “Bios Christian Academy.” I say. I am greeted with a blank stare. “What did you say?” Once again I reply, “Bios Christian Academy. B-I-O-S.” “Oh… what kind of name is Bios?” I answer, “It means “life”. A perfect name for what our school represents… LIFE.” I think many who attend Bios have probably encountered this same type of dialogue from those unfamiliar with the school or even the term Bios. Did you know that the program that gives life to the computers you work on everyday is called BIOS (basic input/output system)? You may be more familiar with this by the phrase “booting up your computer.” The BIOS software has a number of different roles, but its most important role is to load the operating system. When you turn on your computer and the microprocessor tries to execute its first instruction, it has to get that instruction from somewhere. The BIOS provides those instructions. Without those instructions, nothing comes to life. BIOS.

I love this analogy and how it relates to our own school. The name of our school speaks volumes about us. As the BIOS language for a computer provides the instructions for bringing a computer life, I believe our school provides the instructions for bringing your children to life. In a computer, BIOS provides instructions for multiple pieces of hardware to work together for one specific purpose which is to improve your technological quality of life. At the school, Bios, we provide specific instructions to each unique student so they may be able to work together with the talents God has gifted in them for one specific purpose and that is to bring Glory to God with their lives. Thus, Bios works with your child under the guidance of their Creator in bringing him/her to life. My prayer would be that this in turn improves the quality of every facet of a person’s life who comes in contact with a Bios student because of the life they have in them, the life of Jesus Christ.

You see; the name of our school actually speaks volumes about who we are and what we represent in our community. So when you get the blank stare after sharing with someone the name of our school, be sure that you not only restate it and spell it, B-I-O-S, but also take the opportunity to share the life changing meaning behind it. “Bios means LIFE.” Subsequent articles I will be posting will continue to build on this theme of BIOS. Each month I will focus on a different set of instructions the school provides the students which intricately work together in supporting families, along with their Creator for bringing children to LIFE.

Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it. Proverbs 22:6

Field Trip of Experiences

2009-11-16T11:30:00.000-08:00

by: Lori Halbison

The entire experience of a field trip is exciting. The students anxiously count down the days, ask lots of questions and of course are hoping their parent might be the one who will get to come along for the exciting day. If there is a picnic lunch in the park afterwards, the ultimate question is "what should I pack in my sack lunch?"

For some parents it is the first time they have allowed their most precious possession to ride with someone else. It is a scary thought to allow your child to go off for the day with a large group to some place they have never been before. We always try to make our families at Bios feel comfortable and allow the time for families to get to know one another and adapt to the situations presented at the school.

Many children do not have the privilege of attending live theatre. Each year our school takes advantage of this wonderful opportunity. After all, this may be the only live theatre experience that these young people may ever experience. Each year I try to figure out who likes it more, children or adults. I try to satisfy my curiosity by observing the faces in the audience and asking my own students and chaperones what they thought.

The Tempe Center for the Arts creates theatre experiences that educate, challenge, entertain, and inspire young people. By presenting significant themes that affect young people's lives in our community, they seek to foster dialogue and discussion.

Upon entering the theatre we walked into this large open common area with tall windows to see breathtaking views of Tempe Town Lake and the Papago Mountains. The high ceilings and art decor make everyone slow down to look in awe. As we single file in, quietly to our seats, we are gently reminded as to where the restrooms are located. The majority of hands go up then. What child does not like to go explore the bathrooms in a really cool new building? Who knows what might be in there too. Quickly, a few of us left to check it out and returned to watch the performance.

The performance lasted about an hour with the actors involving the students at first by a chase around the theatre. One of the actors was searching for the bells that were making noise and the other four were part of the silly prank of hiding them. The children in the audience could not wait to be the one to hold the bells and shake them. Now the actors have their full attention. The hour flew by. Watching the students laugh wholeheartedly, standing up in front of their seats out of excitement of what was going on, and even clapping at various fun parts because they were so entertained, are captured moments to smile about again and again.

After the performance the actors stay on stage and take questions from the students. Questions such as how did you make the smoke, or where do you change your costumes, or how did you make the scenery change so quickly. My favorite question is "how long did it take you to memorize all the words?"

When it was time to return to school I observed once again, and with some minimal questioning, that the adults and students had an eventful day. We enjoyed an important day of new adventure, experiences, and learning outside of the classroom.

As a teacher I can always count on going to their website and following up with writing projects and more fun activities for my students. The theatrical characters care about what we think so letting them know is always a priority for them. We have not had the time in class to follow up yet but I do have the students mimicking the actors and talking about how much fun the field trip was for them. The journey may have been short but it will be an adventure to remember.

Teachers and Thinking

2009-11-04T13:10:00.000-08:00

A common question throughout the years about our school’s instructional methods has been something like “If differential instruction is so good, why doesn’t everyone else do it?” My first comment usually is “Just because everyone else isn’t doing it, doesn’t mean something is not good.”

But the main point of my answer to this question is that in most situations most people pretty much follow the crowd and whatever they are doing. This is also true for teachers and the instructional model of lecturing to larger and larger classes of students.

As a part of teacher training we use a book by cognitive psychologist Daniel T. Willingham, Why Don’t Students Like School? One of his first points is the three properties of thinking: (1) thinking is slow; (2) thinking is effortful; and (3) thinking is uncertain. Interestingly, he continues that because we are so bad at thinking, we rely on memory. He quotes two psychologist who say “Most of the time what we do is what we do most of the time.” Teachers are people. And like the rest of us they work from their own past experiences in school and what their teacher training in the universities taught them; lecturing to large groups and with material that reaches the middle to low-middle skilled students.

Mark Pennington, a reading specialist who also has his own publishing company, has similar thoughts. Mark’s blog of October 11th titled 12 Reasons Why Teachers Resist Differentiated Instruction has three of his twelve reasons supporting this idea. #1 – We tend to teach the way that we were taught. #5 – Although teachers prize their independence and academic freedom to teach how we want, we are generally conformists. #7 – The influence of university professors.

Bios Christian Academy is not alone in using differentiated education. But for most of the world, to change to differentiated education is like changing the direction of a slow moving train to nowhere. It takes a lot of effort, planning, and desire before it can happen.

Learning with Sports

2009-10-07T13:10:00.000-07:00

Young boys are different in many ways from girls. They tend to mature physically and mentally behind girls. They tend to play in a rough manner, and they tend to apply a different role to sports in their lives than girls.

While all of the above are tendencies, and may or may not be true for your son, sports is probably going to be the rule he will follow if there is one. If you stand out in the parking lot of our school and watch the boys first through eighth grades out playing in the grass, what you won’t observe is a number of boys standing in a group just talking. Instead they are throwing a football, hitting a volleyball, or playing some active game that involves competition. For boys it is their method of relating, seeing how they fit in, making friends, and passing time.

Sports is an integral activity in our school. It is one of our prime opportunities for older men, and dads, to train younger men. Individually and as a team, they learn to fall and pick themselves up again. Practice and hard work can have tangible rewards. Honoring God, or as our culture would say “good sportsmanship,” is encouraged and used with other teams and one’s own teammates. Commitment, patience, friendships, and how to play a game well are other positive aspect to sports.

But learning how to win, is best done by losing a lot. If you lose correctly, you will learn from your mistakes or lack of skills what you need to improve to try and win at the next opportunity. Winning always or winning by great margins creates an attitude of superiority and little motivation to work diligently on individual skills on teamwork.

The teams of my oldest son and I only had two winning seasons in our six years of being a coach and player together. Our first four years always had us being the youngest and smallest team in the league. But with essentially the same group of players for those six years they learned to play as a team, many times not even looking where they were passing the ball, just knowing certain players were going to be at certain spots on the court when they passed the ball.

The fifth year we went 12-5 and the sixth season we won the championship after being down by 24 points at the half and the game winning shot at the buzzer.

But the most enjoyable year I have ever coached was last year with one team not winning a single game and the other holding on to a close final game and the championship. Both teams provided equal enjoyment because both teams improved greatly as individuals and as a team. Learning to play as a team involves a selfless attitude, hard work, and figuring out where you fit in.

Christian schools need to look different than the public model and sports is a part of that difference.

Recently I enjoyed a great conversation with a parent from Bios on sports in Christian schools. It was encouraging for me to hear I was not alone in thinking that winning is what happens when the players honor God in their sport, work hard, play as a team, and are gracious in winning and losing.

Sports can provide an active model to train young men in putting others first. Sacrifice, honor, hard work, and learning to do something well are lifelong skills to carry into a boys culture, jobs, families, and service in churches.

Bios Christian Academy ACT and SAT Scores

2009-10-01T12:22:00.001-07:00

First, on August 19th came the headline “ACT Study Shows Students Unprepared.” A week later “High School SAT Scores Slip.” Both articles were reported in the Wall Street Journal. ACT reported that only “23% of this year’s high school graduates had scores that indicated they were ready for college in all four ACT subject areas, or had at least a 75% chance of earning a grade of C or better in entry-level courses.” And the news from the SAT college-entrance exam was that the performance of high school students on the SAT college-entrance exam fell a little.

This is sad news. Less than one fourth of our high school students nationwide can expect to earn a grade of C or better in even entry-level courses.

While we have had no ACT or SAT scores from students attending Bios yet, the scores from our first start, Surrey Garden Christian were three points above Arizona’s average from the SAT and four points above for ACT. And there is no reason to believe our results will not be the same or higher at Bios. Clear individual goals, intelligent and skilled teachers, and hard work almost always provide success in learning and school.

Cherubini Coffee Co. and Christian Schools

2009-09-28T10:00:00.000-07:00

I am sitting at McClintock and Broadway at the Cherubini Coffee Company owned by my former college pastor from Grace Community, Don Ekstrand. It is different from most coffee houses in Tempe in that it is clean. It also has an Italian Provincial in the desert look.

Anyway, there was an article a few months back in the Wall Street Journal on Starbucks saturating their markets and how that affected the competing coffee houses. Surprisingly, the study found the greater the number of Starbucks, the busier the other coffee shops became. Yep. More Starbucks, more coffee drinkers.

I think the same could be said for Christian schools. And the basis for my argument is back in Seattle, in particular a suburb named Belleview. Back when we began Surrey Garden Christian, the superintendant from a Christian School District, Belleview Christian Schools, spent a month giving advice on how our school could run better. Once when talking together he explained how in Belleview, which is similar to Gilbert in size and income, there were seven healthy Christian schools in the area. My guess is the more quality Christian schools, the more the expectation to consider attending one because your family and friends were.

Finally, the milk and doughnuts are very good here at Cherubini.

Educational...No Segregation Here

2009-09-03T14:42:00.000-07:00

Christian schools should look quite different from government or public schools in a variety of ways. Just as you would expect there to be a difference in your treatment and care from a government hospital to a private hospital such as Mercy Gilbert or Banner Gateway, you would expect to see differences between public and private schools. A Christian school should be salt and light to a world whose eyes are closed to the darkness which surrounds it. One of those differences is in how we look at, treat, and education our students.

When we educate, train, correct, encourage, and teach, we build upon basic principles which are held to dearly. The idea that all students are able to learn is a key component. A part of that component is all students are unique learners. Continuing on this theme we actively work with students who have physical, mental, and/or social impairments to their education. I would add to this last principle that the majority of students entering our school have some impairment. These may include attitude, confidence, lack of skills, and work ethic. While these impairments usually do not have a label attached or federal funding, they are consistently as big or bigger an impairment as the typical labels of learning disabilities or ADHD.

We also believe segregating students because of stigmatizing labels is harmful and of no educational use in working towards the goal of increasing a student’s skills.

School wide we meet the needs of a diverse student population through a well thought out, richly developed, consistently trained education system. Our experience for over fourteen years has shown this idea to be consistently successful – at our first model Surrey Garden Christian, and now our second effort Bios Christian Academy. From kindergarten through twelfth grade all students are integrated in a challenging, individualized learning environment.

In this educational system, diverse educational extremes may be actively addressed in the same classroom. High school math students with skills below a beginning second grade student’s grow significantly in their math skills along side high school calculus students. Teachers are trained how to set baseline information and how to break instruction and specific skills into blocks of learning in order for students to progress.

Since President Ford’s signing into law P.L. 94-142 (signing with concern) the segregation of students in public/government school has increased at a higher rate than the general school enrollment since 1998. The educational model the law is built around is a medical model of identifying a problem with a student and attempting to fix it. The thinking behind the labels (emotionally, mentally handicapped, learning disabled, etc.) when first introduced was that someday there would be a specific method for instructing each label. Specific methods of instruction would probably be different for each area or label. This specific method of instruction would probably be different for each area or label. What works for the mentally handicapped may or may not work for learning disabilities. Research would pave the way to showing us what is best.

It didn’t work that way. There was no one method specific to each handicap. On the contrary, research overwhelmingly demonstrated that each student was unique in his or her own way, in their needs, and how to instruct them.

There is a movement nationally to change the prevailing idea of a medical model which fixes the educational problems of the student to a social model which says “the educational difficulties experienced by disabled children in the regular classroom are not necessarily caused by their individual impairments, but might rather be the result of a poorly developed regular education system. . .”

Returning to our school, Bios Christian Academy, one of the basic principles of our school is to not segregate because of ability, lack of or increased. It is another reason our students have been successful for over fourteen years. It is one more way we set ourselves apart from public schools.

Sports

2009-09-02T12:03:00.001-07:00

Over sixty the first game, over seventy the second, the crowds keep growing at our Tiger home volleyball games played around the corner at the Boys and Girls Club. Coach Ravenhill and her team lost the first game to Providence two sets to one but came back last Friday in a victory over Redeemer in two sets. Monday was a similar story with the Tigers two sets to zero victory over Faith High School.

The boys began their season Monday with a 5-0 loss to Faith. With one senior and one junior, the team looks to build towards a promising future. The team is well coached by Coach Bumpass and assisted by Coach Maier.

Both teams have games on Friday, September 4th. The kids have mentioned how excited and appreciative they are when there is a large group of cheering fans. We hope to see you at the Tiger’s games.

Games:
Friday, September 4th 4:30 soccer at Freestone Park (Lindsay south of Guadalupe)
Friday, September 4th 5:30 volleyball at Boys & Girls Club (Elliot west of Gilbert Rd)

How are we different? We differentiate our instruction.

2009-08-13T10:29:00.000-07:00

Yes, school-wide our unique educational instruction provides differentiated instruction and expectations, from kindergarten through our senior class, with all subjects taught including music, math, English, science and foreign language. Every day our students have clear, measurable learning goals in each subject. Every day students read, write, and complete multi-step expectations to increase their knowledge and skills at expectations of 80% to 95% for passing grades. Every day their teachers have the ability (and expectation) to modify their daily goal if (1) it would assist the students understanding of the concept; or (2) would create greater expectations.

Teachers are required to know where each student stands in their understanding and their confidence in learning the subject by the second day of instruction. Without this knowledge, the teacher would be unable to arrive at the decisions she would need to make and where to focus the student’s instruction.

Where we would disagree with most purveyors of differentiated instruction is the idea of basing our methods of instruction to the preferred cognitive style of the student. There is a lack of evidence to justify any particular approach. Our training and teaching is built on our teachers building longer (more than a typical school year) relationships with students and their families and differentiating the instruction based on sound practices and teacher experience with the student.

Instruction, encouragement, and correction are the key focuses of our differentiated approach which compliment the above mentioned ideas of sound practice and individual knowledge of each student.

Instruction is provided through many one-on-one meetings between the teacher and the student in each subject period. This face-to-face meeting provides rich language opportunities and practice for each student and immediate accountability, encouragement, correction, and individualization of student goals.

We also may vary student objectives or performance standards. While this is quite contrary to most educational practices, it works. If, while instructing a second grade student in multi-digit addition, it is observed during the one-on-one instruction that the student is unable to recognize place value for a three-digit number, the student’s goal will immediately change to mastering the concept of three digit place value and then return to the concept of multi-digit addition. Only our student with the missing skill is affected, because each and every student in his math class most probably has their own unique goals for the day. The student’s instruction in mastering three-digit place value may involve using pencil and paper, base ten blocks, counting pieces, etc. to assist him in achieving mastery. Working towards the same daily standards and objectives is mistaken in assuming each student enjoys the same background of skills and experiences. They do not. Our differentiated approach provides challenging daily expectations for each student and immediately addresses issues and problems each student may have.

Along the road of educating our students, the differentiated approach practiced at Bios educates to the strengths and weaknesses of each student, which results in a very skilled and learned individual.

Book Review - Founding Brothers

2009-08-12T06:57:00.000-07:00

I knew the book had great potential when I read “…the pages that follow, constitute what I hope is a polite argument against the scholarly grain, based on a set of presumptions that are so disarmingly old-fashioned that they might begin to seem novel in the current climate. In my opinion, the central events and achievements of the revolutionary era and the early republic were political. These events and achievements are historically significant because they shaped the subsequent history of the United States, including our own time. The central players in the drama were not the marginal or peripheral figures, whose lives are more typical, but rather the political leaders at the center of the national story who wielded power. What’s more, the shape and character of the political institution were determined by a relatively small number of leaders who knew each other, who collaborated and collided with one another in patters that replicated at the level of personality and ideology the principle of checks and balances imbedded structurally in the Constitution.”

So begins Founding Brothers, the Pulitzer Prize winning book on principally seven men who “collaborated and collided” to create the nation we have today. With insightful detail the author focuses on the Burr-Hamilton duel, a monumental dinner involving Madison and Hamilton, the silence for seventy years concerning slavery, Washington’s historically important Farewell Address, the collaboration of the political teams of John Adams and his wife Abigail verses Jefferson and Madison, and finally the ageless friendship of Adams and Jefferson.

For many years it was difficult for me to find new biographies for our students which focused on the political leaders of the past which greatly influenced our political past. Instead the bookshelves reflected the fairly brief emphasis on everyday people from our American history. Of course this forced me to find out of print books until this passing faze of historical interpretation blew over. Times have changed, with his book being a great example leading the way.

The Bios tenth grade U.S. History students will be required to read and take an open book exam while working through the chapter on the American Revolution.

If you have the chance, you might want to give Founding Brothers a read. A real find involving real history.

Web Site

2009-07-24T09:41:00.000-07:00

Our school web site is an important tool in communicating our school to our families and interested visitors.

There is a useful report sent to me on a weekly basis containing information about the number of visitors each week, the number of brand new visitors each week, and where the visitors spend their time while they visit.

My brother, Paul, who designs website for local, national, and international companies (and who designed our beautiful site for free) tells me that the number of visitors we receive each week would be considered by most businesses a very positive interest and use of the web site. We have in the summer 120 to 155 visits each week. And of those visitors perusing our pages, 35% to 55% are first time visitors. Around 10% visit the tuition page and 5% find out how to contact us.

For example, last week we had 125 visits of which 52.8% were new visits, 14.5% visited the tuition page, and 8% went to our homeschool page.

Great web site and a great tool.

More than Just Pie

2009-07-22T09:28:00.000-07:00

If you type the phrase “seeing old friends” into Google search you will read newspaper articles and blogs on the joys of reuniting with friends, family, and former alumni after long pauses in seeing each other. Each reading espouses the joys of conversing, catching up and reminiscing on past lives.

On Thursday, August 13th at 7:00 p.m. we invite all of our families to Pie and Praise. A time of seeing old friends and meeting new ones. A time of sharing praising our Lord together in song, scripture reading, and prayer. And a time for parents to come in and see their child’s classroom.

I look forward to seeing all of you there.

2009-07-03T10:42:00.000-07:00

Post from Rosemary Boswell, BCA Home School Support Teacher:

Hello Bios Christian Academy Home School families!

I hope you are enjoying your summer break. I have met with Mr. Ihms a couple times about our new Bios Christian Academy Home School Support program and I am excited to share with you our plans for the coming school year.

Our classroom will be off the hallway near where the bathrooms are located. We will be inside the middle building with the primary and elementary students, cafeteria, and office. I'm very pleased with our location. The modular building separate from the church will be Junior High and High School classrooms.

Mr. Ihms and I would like this program to truly be a support system for our homeschooling families. Two ways we will offer assistance this coming school year are:

1. A Home School Support Guide - I am currently working on putting together a guide that clearly spells out what we do in our program and what needs to be taught at home. We will not be intruding on what you do at home. We will continue to keep what we do at school separate from what you do at home. It is our goal to provide curriculum/resource ideas and support.
*Please email me with any ideas or items that you would like to see covered in the guide. I am making it for you.

2. Home School Support Meetings - Mr. Ihms and I would like to offer homeschooling families an opportunity to meet with us to discuss our program. Making sure this program is meeting the needs of our homeschooling families is a main objective for us. During these meetings we will share with you our curriculum, checksheets, and method of teaching. A question and answer session will be included as well. We want our homeschooling families to feel like a valuable and supported part of the school.

Our first BCA Home School Support Meeting will be on Tuesday, July 14 at 7:00 pm at the Boswell Family Home, 1825 E Appaloosa Road, Gilbert.

{We are located at Val Vista & Warner behind Home Depot in the Rancho Cimarron neighborhood. From Warner Road, turn north into the Rancho Cimarron neighborhood on Key Biscayne, take the third right (east) on Appaloosa (at the park), we are the third house on the right.}

Please feel free to bring any curriculum you use to share with Mr. Ihms. He will be happy to look it over and give you feedback on what you are using at home. As much as I would love to see your children, if possible, please find childcare for your children during the meeting.

PLEASE NOTE: We are making some changes to the planned subject list.

For both the primary and elementary home school programs, we are removing Easy Grammar from the daily schedule. I will include some basic grammar during composition, but I will not be doing a set grammar program with the students. You will need to teach a daily grammar program at home.

Elementary students will be happy to know that we will include the G-Quest geography curriculum in the 4th - 6th grade class this coming school year! You do not need to purchase a geography program; we will have it covered.

If you are unable to attend the meeting, let me know and I will send you information on what was discussed.

As always, if you have any questions, give me a call or send me an email.

Blessings,

Rosemary Boswell
Bios Christian Academy Home School Support Teacher
480-588-7052
rosemaryboswell@cox.net