INSIGHTSFALL 2015 brentwoodchristian.org

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Letter From the PresidentWhy Brentwood Christian School?

There are many data points and facts that I could use to explain the benefits of entrusting BCS with your child’s education. I could point out the incredibly high scholarship totals that our students receive. I could write about BCS placing in the top 3 percent nationally in standardized test scores. I could talk about our acceptance rates to colleges and our National Merit finalists and our exceptional ACT and SAT scores. I could talk about our art and athletics and academics. I could make an airtight case that the Return on Investment of sending your child to BCS is strong.

But that’s not why you should entrust BCS with your child’s education. Instead, it should be because BCS knows the value of education is only realized when paired with the purpose for life – glorifying our Father. The administration, faculty, staff and board of BCS are fully committed to a mission that will give your child every educational advantage. More importantly, this mission provides a why for education. Paul Samuelson once said that “Good questions outrank easy answers,” and that is my challenge to you now. Let’s look at the good question of why. Why should I sacrifice to educate my child at Brentwood Christian School? Why should I invest in Christ-centered education when other opportunities are much less expensive, or even free? Why?

You can find the answer to “why” in the mission of Brentwood Christian School. Why should you entrust your precious child’s future to the educators of BCS? Here is why:

The mission of Brentwood Christian School is to lead students to love God and to nurture them in a Christ-centered academic environment that emphasizes excellence and inspires them to develop

their God-given talents for lives of Christian leadership and service.

The mission of Brentwood Christian School – BCS is because of our mission. We are not simply educators. We have placed ourselves firmly in the ministry of education and then coupled that profound commitment with the mission of putting Christ as the reason for being. Christ is the reason for learning. Christ is the reason for questioning. We are BCS because of our mission.

Is to lead students to love God – Has our society ever needed God’s grace and love more than today? Watching the horrors of the news makes me want to hold my own children tight and not let them venture into a world that is in such need of God’s sweet grace. But, as a parent, I know my kids must enter into this world; and every day I give thanks to our Lord that BCS is leading my children and their friends to love God. I am blessed that my children, who have been taught to love God at home, are seeing Him praised and loved and taught every day at school as well. How precious is it that our children find prayer and mercy and forgiveness to be the expectation not the exception? Your love for God teaches our kids every day how to love our God.

And to nurture them in a Christ-centered academic environment – I truly believe that the purpose of education is to teach kids to think critically, to question and explore. Martin Luther King once said, “The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically … intelligence plus character – that is the goal of a true education.” These beautiful words encapsulate a theme that if held dear to our society would change tomorrow’s promise. But think of how different the world would be if the theme was “intelligence plus Christ – that is the goal of a true education.” How mighty is our God that He trusts us to educate his children. How blessed are we that we have the opportunity. How glorified is Christ in our classrooms today? Praise God for giving BCS this opportunity!

That emphasizes excellence – I love this small phrase because it completely explains the actions of a follower of Christ. We emphasize excellence. We expect. We have standards and values that should not and will not be compromised. We do all that we do to the glory of our Father so that others may see our good deeds and glorify our Father in Heaven! We emphasize excellence because we are commanded to, “In all we do, in word and in deed, do it all in the name of our Father.”

And inspires them to develop their God-given talents – This is how we emphasize excellence. Every child has been gifted by God with a blessed spiritual gift. While BCS is not for every child, and we must accept that it is not, those who are entrusted to us have been placed into our hands with a charge to find and develop and inspire that child’s curiosity and love of knowledge. Spiritual gifts are found in the journey of self-worth and identification and the confidence that grows with attainment of knowledge. Our teachers are the guiding and inspiring hand that helps you lead them on this journey.

For lives of Christian leadership and service – Leadership is service. The precious example of our Savior was that He, on bended knee, washed the feet of His followers. How dichotomous is this message to our corporate and globalized messages of today! Our intercessor, God’s own Son, placed Himself among the lowly so that He could lead through actions and not just words. BCS instills in our students the need, purity, and absolute joy of serving others. Praise God that our leaders at BCS are first taught to serve!

The mission of BCS defines who we are and the life we have chosen. There are many who have made BCS their life’s mission and there are those of us who have joined a little later. Praise God for all who have held our mission sacrosanct, and may our Lord give us all the will, resolve, and ability to make this mission our purpose. May we always welcome our students in His name and show them His glory so that they too may develop their lives of Christ-centered service to become the leaders of tomorrow.

May our God bless Brentwood Christian School.

BCS knows the value of education

is only realized when paired with the purpose for life – glorifying our Father.

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Letter From the PresidentWhy Brentwood Christian School?

UNDER CONSTRUCTIONCampus Changes Create Excitement.

MR.TEACHER OF THE YEARBCS band Director, Travis Pollard continues the legacy of outstanding educators.

Insights Published annually by:Brentwood Christian School11908 North Lamar Blvd.Austin, Texas 78753

Publisher and Editor Kevin Claypool

Additional EditorsOriana GonzalezLibby WeedSarah Wilson

ContributorsGretchen AllanKevin ClaypoolOriana GonzalezMarquita MossSarah Wilson

PhotographerKevin ClaypoolSteven ColwellOriana Gonzalez

Graphic Design and LayoutLogan Bahler, Loghead Design

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TEACHING WORLDVIEWBCS Curriculum Dir., Mel Witcher to head

up Christian Worldview Mentor Program.

Meet: Coach CaffeyThe mastermind behind BCS’ Tackle

Football Program.

Dual CreditBCS UPPERCLASSMEN WILL HAVE THE

OPPORTUNITY TO EARN COLLEGE CREDIT.

what’s up in admissions? The latest from the admissions office.

When students converged at Brentwood Christian School to launch the

fall semester, they found changes and upgrades almost everywhere on campus, ranging from a re-shuffling of administrative offices to a complete overhaul of the soccer field.

The first clue that big changes were underway may have been the 66-passenger school bus and the 33-passenger bus that replaced two of the aging mini-buses usually parked near the Athletic Center.

These low-mileage, gently used, 7.2 liter diesel-engine buses with gleaming new paint jobs and graphic wraps will give the school added flexibility to transport students to field trips, retreats, athletic events, and academic and fine arts competitions.

Perhaps the biggest change was just north of the Athletic Center, where the multi-purpose athletic field built by volunteers in the mid-1980s was transformed and expanded with total re-grading, layers of rich topsoil and a thick surface of heat-tolerant turf.

Soccer Coach Cash Miller, who spent weeks in the summer of 2014 working to make the old field

usable, is excited about the prospect of playing on a larger, safer field. The old field was the smallest size permitted by soccer regulations. It was so narrow, Miller said, that some referees refused to officiate on it for fear of turning an ankle on the sharp drop-off on the east side.

“It was a magnificent field when Charlie Hejl built it, but over the years, the sod had been compacted, grass was hard to grow, and the irrigation system often broke down. Low spots on the field collected water and created mud while other spots dried out,” Miller said. “As a multi-purpose field, it got a daily pounding. Over 500 kids were on

that field on any given day.”

Expanded to 120 by 70 yards, the field will accommodate interscholastic competition for soccer, flag football, and tackle football, as well as P.E. classes and special events. BCS was able to host its first home tackle football games on its own field.

Middle school football coach Correy Washington will be responsible for maintenance of the soccer/football field and the baseball field, which will free the athletic directors to focus on their primary responsibilities while making sure that improved conditions are maintained.

Campus Changes Create Excitement

UNDER CONSTRUCTION

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Hallways in the high school and lower elementary buildings also have a new look. Stepping inside Building C into the high school senior hallway is like stepping into a college recruiting fair. Christian colleges have wrapped sections of the hall with colorful artwork highlighting the value of Christian education at the college level.

Oklahoma Christian University, for example, posted a collage of photo frames in the shape of the state of Texas, each filled with images of the OC campus. Mary Hardin Baylor has a wall-wrap across from the high school office.

Around the corner across from the lockers, Abilene Christian University has mounted a display, with Lubbock Christian University and York College completing the hall. Other Christian universities also have been offered the opportunity to take a spot, and future additions could be made.

Photo collages of each graduating class that previously lined the hallways now line the walls of the secondary library.

Across the parking lot, repainted hallways in the lower elementary building are being redecorated to create a warmer, more welcoming environment. Old door-side bulletin boards have been removed and replaced with graphic art, a process that is still underway.

New colorful shelving in the elementary library has replaced aging movable units, making books more accessible and the room more “kid friendly.”

Changes in the cafeteria are less visible but more substantive. In coordination with a parent survey, the administration has secured

a new local vendor, San Miguel Management, which had high recommendations from three other Austin-area Christian schools.

San Miguel has a reputation for fresh, high quality meals served

in an expeditious manner that eliminates waiting in long lines. Parents at other schools said their children left the lunchroom satisfied without the need to purchase extras.

Meal prices are about the same as had been proposed by the previous contractor ($4.00 for kindergarten through fourth grades, $4.25 for fifth through eighth grades, and $4.75 for high school and faculty), but students are getting more food of higher quality. Another bonus is that BCS will not subsidize San Miguel food services, saving funds for use elsewhere in the school.

“We use high quality ingredients and attempt to hand-make our offerings. In conjunction with a few unconventional tricks for enhancing the nutritional value of our foods, fresh fruits, vegetables and lean meats are the essence of our meals,” Mark Ezell, San Miguel president, explained.

“Nothing is fried,” Ezell said, and to avoid issues with food allergies, San Miguel does not use nuts and can

accommodate most food allergies and intolerances. Gluten-free alternatives are typically available and are noted on menus.

While elementary, secondary, administration, and bookkeeping offices have not moved, many offices are staffed with new personnel, and new locations have been added. Cindy Marks is the new Elementary Executive Assistant, working closely with long-time Office Manager Mary Kay Clark, who will work part-time in the office next door. Cindy Nestor is the new Secondary Executive Assistant, assisted half time by Brandy Gauthier.

Nancy Tindel, with an expanded role as Registrar for all grade levels, offices in Building C. Next door, the previous IT office has been divided into two offices to accommodate new Academic Adviser Julia Lowen and new Christian Counselor Karyn Morris.

In addition, a new position that centralizes several duties for increased communication and also combines several part-time roles has been added: Support Services Coordinator, manned by Lizzie Fleet.

“San Miguel has a reputation for fresh, high quality meals served in an expeditious manner that eliminates waiting in long lines.”

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Under Construction continued...

The central administration office suite in Building C is now home to BCS President Jay Burcham, Development Vice President Kevin Claypool, Chief Financial Officer Jeff Morris, Admissions Director Kimberly McLain, and Chief Technology Officer Wayne Marks. Joining them as the new Marketing and Communication Manager is Oriana Gonzalez, an ACU graduate who previously held a similar position at Sapling Learning.

The outer office of the suite, home to Senior Executive Assistant Penny Hagen, Event Manager Sarah Wilson, and Admissions Assistant Lauren Warner has a new, updated look, including new furniture.

New Theater Arts teacher Michelle Alexander has an office in the Center for Science and the Arts, formerly the ticket office, and fine arts has a part-time assistant, Clarissa Vazquez, with an office nearby.

In the Athletic Center, Athletic Director Brian Thrift has moved to a new ground floor office created by subdividing the athletic office into two rooms, including an office for the Athletics Business Manager Pam Hardin. His old second floor office is now occupied by football coach Stan Caffey.

Numerous other small changes and repairs around campus created a sense of excitement and enthusiasm to launch a new school year and a new chapter of school history under new president Jay Burcham.

The Texas Christian Schools Association (TCSA) established in 1991 a

“Teacher of the Year” award to recognize outstanding contribution to Christian education by a member of the faculty of a school belonging to the Association. Brentwood Christian faculty member Becky Stewart received the inaugural award that year.

The “Teacher of the Year” award is given to instructors who made a contribution to Christian education in any academic area or level of service; it is based on effort to further the scope of Christian education, community and family

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MR.TEACHEROF THEYEARBCS band Director, Travis Pollard continues the legacy of outstanding educators.

and an M.M. from UT Austin. A certified teacher, he also teaches music history, Bible, and 4th grade music. In addition to the TCSA “Teacher of the Year” award, Mr. Pollard was the recipient of the President’s School Spirit Award in 2009.

“Travis is truly blessed because our Lord has given him the gift of being able to relate to students from the youngest years to those preparing to graduate. His gift isn’t just his exceptional musical talent and his ability to impart musical skills; his gift is that he can instill a desire and understanding of the beauty of the arts while holding himself as an example of a strong Christian man,” said BCS President, Jay Burcham. “He is respected by his peers, admired by his students, trusted as a gifted teacher and, more importantly, esteemed as a true disciple of Christ.”

Mr. Pollard has shared his love of music with students for the past 11 years, 9 of them being at Brentwood Christian School. When he is teaching his students, one of his main goals is to emphasize the value of working together at something they love. “I want my students to love music. Putting on a great concert is something we work towards, but it’s really about the day-to-day process of learning how to work together to create something you couldn’t do on your own. I want my students to feel like they are an important part of the group,” said Mr. Pollard.

His decade of teaching, most at the same school, has not gone unnoticed. Fellow teachers and faculty nominated him for “Teacher of the Year” for always encouraging students to do their best.

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education, community and family involvement in Christian education, on effort to develop curriculum from a Christian perspective, work to help other educators teach from a Christian perspective, and on demonstrated Christian impact on the lives of students. These teachers demonstrate excellence in all aspects of their profession. The determining factor in selection of “Teacher of the Year” is a distinctive contribution to the uniquely Christian character of education in TCSA schools.

In August 2015, the Texas Christian Schools Association recognized Travis Pollard,

Brentwood Christian School Fine Arts Department Chair and Band Director, as “Teacher of the Year.” Mr. Pollard is the eighth member of the BCS faculty to receive this notable honor.

“It was a huge surprise when I heard the news. I’m humbled and grateful to the great examples of Christian leadership I’ve had to learn from over the years, particularly Marquita Moss, Libby Weed, and Mel Witcher,” said Mr. Pollard when reflecting on the announcement of this prestigious award.

Mr. Pollard holds a B.M. in Music Education from Tennessee Tech

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Keeping Brentwood Christian School faithful to its mission in a time of transition is a

top priority for new president Jay Burcham as he takes the reins of the 52-year old school.

With the retirement of Marquita Moss after 36 years at the helm, Libby Weed after 30 years of co-leadership, and such stalwart faculty leaders as Linda Pimentel, Sondra Strietelmeier, Jodie Coyle, and Glenda Morrow over the last four years, Burcham is putting a new faculty mentor plan in place to keep BCS on course.

Burcham has appointed Curriculum Director Mel Witcher to initiate the plan, which will place all faculty members in small groups with a faculty leader experienced in writing curriculum and teaching with excellence in biblical worldview. Both concerns are at the heart of the school’s mission.

Witcher is noted both locally and by sister schools around the nation for his ground-breaking work on the effects of worldview, those taken-for-granted assumptions –

often unexamined or unconscious – that undergird everyone’s life and behavior, and especially the ways that worldview affects classroom instruction.

He served as a key presenter for the “Taking Every Thought Captive for Christ” workshop that Moss and Weed led at Abilene Christian University in 2006 under the auspices of ACU, Harding University, and the National Christian School Association (NCSA). Since that time, Witcher has been invited to speak at numerous national and state conferences and seminars for Christian school leaders and teachers.

At BCS, Witcher has melded the honors worldview seminar developed by retired teacher Gary Moss and the “History and Philosophy of Science” class developed by former teacher Kevin Moore and created the Capstone course required of all BCS seniors. This course is designed to solidify the Christian perspective students have been developing through all their course work and prepare them

for college success with a solid Christian worldview.

This course and its predecessors consistently have been cited by alumni as key ingredients in helping them understand the worldviews they encounter in college, and to navigate college successfully with their Christian faith intact and a maturing understanding of the Christian calling.

Witcher said the “Christian Worldview Faculty Guide Program” is designed to enable teachers to understand the world, and especially their subject matter, through the eyes of faith in Christ and then to help their students to see everything they study and the world beyond through those same lenses.

Individual teachers in groups of three to five will share life stories and experiences within the classroom, discuss how experiences may be understood in light of God’s work in Jesus Christ, develop strategies to inculcate Christian perspectives and dispositions

TEACHING

WORLDVIEWBCS Curriculum Director, Mel Witcher to head up Christian Worldview Mentor Program.

within their students, and reflect together on various discussion starters that will help them identify the “taken-for-granted world” of culture and contrast it with the Kingdom of God.

Witcher conducted a training session for mentors during the summer and an orientation for all faculty during August back-to-school training days. Throughout the year he will monitor the program and support the faculty mentors as they lead their groups.

As a means of nourishing depth of wisdom in Christian worldview, Witcher has designed a small-group approach for mutual encouragement toward seven hallmarks of a mature Christian teacher:

• Faithful in church and family and in support of school mission• Positive relationships with co-workers, students, and parents; team player• Counter-cultural with insight into the world’s idols• Malleable or capable of being shaped by scripture and prayer and through readings and discussions• Apt to teach, seeking and using best practices and relating concepts and skills to the big picture• Witness, verbalizing faith flowing naturally out of focus on Christ • Love for Christ and his church and for all in the school community

Each descriptor is spelled out with a definition, criteria, expectations, and evaluation tools. For example, criteria for “malleable” include the practice of a daily devotional time, pursuit of opportunities for personal growth, and acceptance of and positive response to advice and constructive criticism.

Expectations include such things as sharing daily devotional insights and practices with their mentor team and fully participating in Christian worldview faculty mentor assignments, discussions, and observations.

“In a world in which materialist presuppositions and assumptions based on radical individual freedom shape every decision, we need for teachers to think as believers and as members of the community of faith in planning and teaching and building relationships,” Witcher said. “We have to question the assumptions of the culture.”

Through the years, Witcher said, BCS has found that teaching in worldview not only prepares students for a life of faith but also helps them do well on college entrance testing and pursue higher education with excellence. Students learn to think critically through this process and to dive into their studies at a deeper level, a practice which is more likely to be retained throughout life.

“No matter where students study,

curriculum will be structured and instructors must teach according to assumptions of what is important and what is insignificant. Our culture sees Christian faith as either insignificant or strictly private and personal.

“Christians see faith as central to every pursuit in education and in life. If we are not intentional, our students could relegate their faith to the periphery of their lives or even discard it as irrelevant,” he explained.

Burcham and Witcher agreed that the mentor program is not a one-shot effort. It will be an ongoing process to nurture a faculty community in spiritual wisdom and insight that will undergird concurrent training toward pedagogical excellence in pursuit of the school’s mission.

Burcham wants to be sure that BCS will continue to lead students to love God, nurture them in a Christ-centered academic environment that inspires excellence, and develop their God-given talents for lives of Christian leadership and service.

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When Coach Stan Caffey boarded a Caribbean cruise ship headed for

Mexico last winter, he had no idea that it would take him to Austin, Texas.

The circuitous path that led Caffey from Winters High School in West Texas to Austin convinced him that God was at the helm when he answered the call to initiate Brentwood Christian School’s first tackle football program.

For example, how likely is it that among more than 3,000 cruise-ship passengers, the Caffeys would be seated for lunch twice in a row with Brentwood Oaks church elder Joe Farmer and his wife Jill, who told them that BCS was launching its first tackle football program?Caffey was not looking for a move. In only two seasons he had led the Winters Blizzards out of the tank into district and area championships and garnered the title of 2015 District Coach of the

Year.

He mentioned the opportunity to his two football coaching sons, Jeff and John David, and dismissed the idea. But memories of his coaching experiences at Christian high schools, concern with changes in public schools, and his love of a challenge kept playing in the back of his mind.

Long story short – Caffey decided to explore the possibility and won the hearts of the BCS search team that was looking for a man of strong Christian character with a proven record of football coaching expertise and a desire to shape boys into strong Christian men.

Caffey will be creating a football program from the ground up at BCS, starting with a six-man program in high school before gradually adapting to the 11-man game. He will launch an 11-man program for seventh and eighth grades.

Experience in rescuing several

football programs gives Caffey a lot of confidence that he can launch a successful program at BCS. “I have had some of my most fulfilling moments as a coach by taking over programs that had lost their confidence and turning them into winners.”

Caffey began his football career in seventh grade in Seminole, Texas, where his coach gave him a nickname, “Fat Daddy Caffey,” that stuck. “Of course, I grew out of that, but coaches still call me that to this day.”

But that nickname meant no disrespect. At Seminole High School, Caffey served as captain of the team, earned recognition as an all-state offensive tackle, and won a football scholarship to Sul Ross State University. His classmates elected him to class office and as vice president of the Student Council. He also received the Golden Arrow Citizenship Award.

Respect is something Caffey teaches

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MEET: COACH CAFFEYThe mastermind behind BCS’ Tackle Football Program.

his players. An out-of-breath eighth grader ran upstairs from the weight room, popped his head in Caffey’s open door during the interview and said, “Coach, I made 160!”

“You’ve already qualified for the Little Bear Club?” Coach asked.

“Yeah.”

“Yes, sir?” Caffey questioned.

“Yes, sir!”

“Let’s make a habit of that.” He marked the number of jumps in his notebook and looked up. “Well, that makes you the second member of the Little Bear Club.” He smiled his congratulations.

Caffey created four T-shirt clubs to give his athletes an incentive to work hard. The first, for middle school only, is called the Little Bear Club. The next is the Big Bear Club, followed by the Wild Bear Club, with the Top Bear Club as the goal.

At Sul Ross, Caffey started for three and a half years and played left guard. He won recognition as outstanding blocker and often served as team captain, meanwhile making the Dean’s List seven out of eight semesters.

The only thing Caffey prizes more than his football experience at Sul Ross is that he found his wife Becky Lynn, who was a cheerleader there. Beating the odds of college romance statistics, they married their sophomore year and will soon celebrate their 40th anniversary in December.

They have two sons and a daughter and four grandchildren. Jeff, his older son, is athletic director and head football coach at Ralls High School, and John David (JD) is the offensive coordinator at Rice Consolidated in the Houston area.

Meredith, the youngest, is the girls’ coordinator and head coach for the varsity basketball and track teams at Crosbyton.

Caffey said he learned important life lessons playing football, and he has always tried to teach those lessons to his players. “Life is tough. It’s going to hand you some challenges. I tell my boys, you want to become a good husband and father. Are you going to hang in there or are you going to give up when the going gets tough?”

“Football teaches you that you can do some things you don’t think you can do. You are stronger than you think you are. When they’ve done all the pushups they think they can do, we insist that they reach down deep inside themselves and do more. It is important for kids to get off the couch and do something difficult.”

Caffey said he personally learned the importance of this lesson when he was defensive coordinator at Sul Ross, finishing a master’s degree there, teaching classes, and preaching every weekend at Alpine Church of Christ. “I found out that my training as a football player and coach helped me reach down and find what it took to do all those things well at the same time.”

“At Winters,” Caffey recalled, “we had a ‘no-quitters’ policy. If you quit one sport,

you were not allowed to play any other sport. We didn’t have any quitters. This teaches that choices have consequences.”

At all Caffey’s schools, he has had three goals with catchy mottos – to develop a good work ethic –Work Wins; confidence – Believe and Achieve; and loyalty – Ride for the Brand. At BCS, he has listed a fourth goal: Christian character. “Developing a Christ-like attitude has always been my goal, but now I can be public about it.”

When Caffey first started to coach, his grandmother sent him a prayer she clipped out of her church bulletin. Gen. Douglas MacArthur wrote it for his son during World War II. Caffey pulled out the faded clipping and read it. As he read the final lines, he choked up:

If I raise this child right, then I, his father will dare to whisper that I have not lived my life in vain.

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A Prayer for My Son

Build me a son, O Lord, who will be strong enough to know when he is weak, and brave enough to face himself when he is afraid; one who will be proud and unbending in honest defeat, and humble and gentle in victory.

Build me a son whose wishes will not take the place of deeds; a son who will know Thee — and that to know himself is the foundation stone of knowledge.

Lead him, I pray, not in the path of ease and comfort, but under the stress and spur of difficulties and challenge. Here let him learn to stand up in the storm; here let him learn compassion for those who fail.

Build me a son whose heart will be clear, whose goals will be high; a son who will master himself before he seeks to master other men; one who will reach into the future, yet never forget the past.

And after all these things are his, give him, I pray, enough of a sense of humor, so that he may always be serious, yet never take himself too seriously. Give him humility, so that he may always remember the simplicity of true greatness, the open mind of true wisdom, and the meekness of true strength.

Then I, his father, will dare to whisper, “I have not lived in vain."

General Douglas MacArthur

“Really, that’s the reason I coach,” he said. “I want to live a life that matters.

“Kids have to see character in their leaders. You are going to lose some games. How are you going to do that? You come to work and do your job.

“No matter what happens, don’t get in the tank. You will win some games. Stay humble.”

Caffey is confident he can develop a strong program at Brentwood. He brought Correy Washington with him from Winters to serve as his defensive line coach and head middle school coach. Coach Correy played for Caffey at Westbury Christian. Caffey will call the offensive for both high school and middle school teams.

With 37 years of football coaching experience, Caffey has guided 13 teams to the state playoffs, some for the first time and some for the first time in a long time. Prior to Winters, he served as athletic

director and head football coach for the Springlake-Earth Wolverines, where his teams returned to the playoffs and stayed there each year from 2006 to 2012, advancing to regionals twice, quarter finals once, and state semi-finals once. He was named South Plains coach of the year twice.

Caffey said he is known as an option coach, but he always molds his offense around what his kids can do. With the right players, he switches to a passing offense.

While he was head football coach at Westbury Christian School in Houston 2003-2006, he led the team to the school’s first playoff in school history and was named District Coach of the Year. Earlier at Lubbock Christian School 1982-1984, his team was a state finalist.

BCS’s varsity team will compete in nine games as a free agent this fall and will not be eligible for playoffs. When the Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools (TAPPS) does its biennial re-alignment for 2016-2018, BCS will be placed in a district and eligible to earn post-season honors.

The 2015 schedule includes Abilene Christian School, Concordia Academy, Veritas Academy, Katy Faith West Academy, Hill Country Christian, Waco Vanguard, New Braunfels Christian, Oglesby, and Our Lady of the Hills.

The middle school team will play in the Austin InterParochial League, with its first game against Hyde Park on Sept. 17 at home. Other teams on the schedule include St. Stephen’s, Holy Family, Regents, St. Gabriel’s, Texas School for the Deaf, and St. Andrew’s.

Schedule details are listed on the school website at www.brentwoodchristian.org, including game times and locations.

Open weight room schedules got under way shortly after Caffey arrived on campus in June. Right off the bat, he challenged prospective players to work up to 200 jump ropes a minute.

Tackle football camp for incoming 7th through 12th graders was held June 8-12. Practices began for high school on Aug. 3 and for 7th-8th graders on Aug. 17.

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Beginning in the fall of 2015, Brentwood Christian School’s upperclassmen will have the opportunity to take a college-level math course to earn dual credit with BCS and Abilene Christian University. This rigorous course, Quantitative Reasoning, will cover subjects such as probability, statistics, and finance, and will offer an alternative to upper-level classes like Precalculus and Calculus, which many students won’t need for their chosen college or career paths, says BCS teacher and course instructor Dr. Brooke Hollingsworth. Students who successfully complete the course will earn one year’s worth of high school credit at BCS and a semester’s worth of credit at ACU.

The idea of offering dual-credit options has been circulating in the school community for many years, says BCS president Jay Burcham, but leaders judiciously weighed the drawbacks and benefits before proceeding with a plan. First and foremost, any program has to stay true to the key elements of the BCS mission: classes still need to be taught from a Christ-centered perspective, emphasize excellence,

and help students develop their God-given talents for lives of Christian leadership and service. “BCS is blessed to have educators who are firmly grounded in a Christian worldview perspective,” Burcham says. “They know how to educate our students so that they receive an excellent college-preparatory education, but they do so with Christ firmly at the center of the reason, rationale, and purpose of all.”

Dr. Hollingsworth—who holds a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Harding University, a master’s in theological studies from the Austin Graduate School of Theology, and a PhD in mathematics from the University of Texas at Austin—is more than qualified to teach a college-level course. More importantly, Burcham says, she also has “a true love of our Lord and an ability to teach the principles of mathematics, with full acknowledgment of and glory to our Lord.”

Though BCS is blessed to have many other faculty with advanced degrees, Burcham says, dual-credit classes won’t be offered merely

for the sake of giving students a chance to save on college tuition or to progress more quickly through the stages of their education. He believes there is great value in students completing high school before going on to experience college. “Even though they will get college credit, we believe that the process of moving systematically through degree programs is the best way our students will fully learn what they need both academically as well as socially and emotionally,” he says.

For that reason, each and every future dual-credit offering at BCS (an ethics class is one currently under consideration) will be designed to enhance the students’ college-preparatory experience and contribute to the school’s mission in a meaningful way. “BCS will not offer dual credit as a cheap replacement for college-level courses,” Burcham says. “Instead, when it is offered, it is to better prepare our students for the rigors of higher education and as a platform to forearm them further against the secularization that can occur in college.“

DUAL CREDITDUAL CREDITBCS UPPERCLASSMEN WILL HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY

TO EARN COLLEGE CREDIT.

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Newly Remodeled Lobby and Prospective Families Web Page Welcome Potential New Students to CampusProspective families who visit the BCS campus for a tour or a face-to-face meeting with McLain will be greeted in a newly remodeled lobby area. Students and their parents can visit classrooms and tour facilities such as the libraries, sports fields, athletic center, cafeteria, and the recently built Center for Science and the Arts, which houses the band, choir, and science labs, as well as a state-of-the-art theater that seats 393 people. Families who prefer to schedule a tour and/or begin their application process online will be introduced to the campus via an easy-to-navigate page on the BCS web site. The page includes links to information about admissions procedures, tuition, and financial aid. It also features a short video that captures the spirit of BCS. McLain invites anyone who is interested in learning more about BCS to contact the admissions office and schedule a campus visit. “We’d love to hear from you!” she says.

During the spring and summer seasons, the admissions office at Brentwood Christian School, one of the largest private schools in Austin, is a bustling center of activity on campus, where director Kimberly McLain and her assistant, Lauren Warner, are regularly giving tours, answering questions, and processing applications for the ever-growing K4-12 programs.

what's up in admissions?

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For more information about enrolling a student at BCS, visit our prospective families’ web page (www.brentwoodchristian.org/prospective-families), or contact Kimberly McLain at (512) 835-5983, ext. 118 or kmclain@brentwoodchristian.org.

Second K4 Class to Open This FallLast fall, in addition to its part-time preschool program, BCS began offering a full-time program for 4-year-olds, who are fully integrated into the fabric of the rest of the school—wearing uniforms, following the same schedule as older students, attending chapel, eating in the cafeteria, and taking P.E., library, and computer classes. Students are also eligible to participate in the school’s extended day program, which is a helpful benefit for working parents. “This class filled up much more quickly than we anticipated last spring,” McLain notes, “so a second K4 class will open this fall to accommodate interested families.”

Sixth Grade Class Will Be Largest Ever

For example, the incoming sixth grade class reached the maximum size of 72, and will be the largest group of students in one grade ever enrolled at BCS. Relocating some classrooms five years ago opened up additional space in the middle and high school building, allowing more room for the upper grades to expand from two sections at the elementary level to three sections of 24 students each. McLain says the school has been able to add a third sixth grade section each year for the past five years and will continue to do so as long as there is enough interest. “This allows many students who have been on waiting lists during their elementary years to finally get a coveted spot at BCS,” she says.

K4x2

BCSbrentwood christian school

learning with a

higher purpose

BCSbrentwood christian school

learning with a

higher purpose

Brentwood Christian School11908 N. Lamar Blvd.Austin, TX 78753-2123

NON PROFIT ORGU.S. POSTAGE

PAIDPERMIT No. 59

AUSTIN, TX

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to join us for the

Renaissance Austin Hotel

SAVE THE DATE

PARTNERSHIP DINNERBRENTWOOD CHRISTIAN SCHOOL

Details to Come

SUNDAY, MARCH 5TH 2016