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| Q:
Is your school controlled by the Christian Reformed Church? |
| A: No, it
isn't. Quite a few of our families attend Christian Reformed Churches and
this denomination has been in the forefront of Christian day schooling
in Canada for over 50 years. However, BCS has over 35 different denominations
represented within our student body and that number is growing every year. |
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| Q:
Do you have French immersion? |
| A: No, but
we do begin a solid program of French instruction in Kindergarten. By the
senior grades, students are receiving about 35 minutes a day of French instruction
using up to date resources. |
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| Q:
Will my child be out of step with others if s/he enrolls for the first
time in one of the junior or senior grades? |
| A: Possibly
a little, depending on which school they had previously attended. Usually
we find that new students need to work to catch up in a number of areas,
but our faculty is quite prepared for this working patiently with
each students. |
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| Q:
What kind of curriculum materials do you use? |
| A: Many
of our textbooks and related materials are published by Christian Schools
International (CSI) and the Ontario Alliance of Christian Schools (OACS).
These materials present challenging information from a point of view that
always points students towards Jesus Christ. |
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| Q:
Is the school involved in any kind of skills testing? |
| A: Yes.
Every other year, we test all the students in grades 3-8 using the Canadian
Tests of Basic Skills. This comprehensive testing, and the wealth of computer
printouts that accompany it, provides our faculty with a valuable tool to
assess individual, class and full program progress. |
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| Q:
How does the Bible fit into your programs? |
| A: We seek
to teach all of our subjects from a Biblical perspective. Some subjects
allow for more of that than others but teachers make a continuous effort
to make connections between concepts and Biblical applications in all subjects. |
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| Q:
Who actually controls this school? |
| A: We are
a parentally-controlled school. Parents are elected by the membership
to serve terms on the Board of Directors. In addition, about ten committees
provide valuation information to the Board on a regular basis. Our management
is truly site-based. |
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| Q:
Is transportation an additional expense? |
| A: Yes. |
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| Q:
How long has this school been in the City of Brantford? |
| A: Since
1963. |
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| Q:
What if we live outside of the established bus routes? |
| A: The bus
routes are somewhat flexible from year to year, but it may be necessary
to drive your child to an agreed-upon pickup point. We do try to provide
full service for all parents. |
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| Q:
How many other Christian schools are in Ontario? |
| A: About
75 schools, educating over 10,000 students. |
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| Q:
Where do all your school families live? |
| A: We have
a huge geographical base from within Brant County. |
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| Q:
Does your school receive any government funding? |
| A: Not yet,
but we continue to state our case for educational justice in Ontario. Some
good things are beginning to happen in this area, such as providing selected
health services for children in Christian schools. We are also looking
into getting some support in the area of transportation.
In the year
2000 the PC government introduced legislation which gave the EETC [Equity
in Education Tax Credit] to the parents of independent school children.
In the year
2003 when the Liberals were voted in, this legislation was reversed. Please
don't hesitate to speak to your MPP about this unfair and unjust move on
the part of the Liberal Party.
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| Q:
Why should we send our children to your school when we can send them to
public or separate schools at no cost? |
| A: We believe
that our school does an excellent job of helping Christian parents raise
their children with a clear Biblical perspective. We want children to face
everyday life knowing that God has a claim upon their lives. We try to assist
parents and various churches to equip students with a Christ-like sense of
purpose and mission. |
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Tuition Policy
Providing a Christ-centered education for our children has
proven to be very challenging in different ways for all families. Financing
Christian education is one of these challenges; in our society this is becoming
more and more difficult. Christian education seems to cost more each year
and continues to frustrate families who struggle with finances. On the
positive side, our BCS supporters and our churches have helped the school
tremendously, recognizing that BCS parents cannot do it by themselves.
Whenever possible,
families are expected to pay the full cost of educating their children.
All families are accountable to pay the set tuition, which is determined
annually by the Board. If a family has difficulty paying the set tuition,
it has the responsibility to ask for financial help from family members or
relatives. Those unable to pay this tuition, must apply to the Grant Committee
for assistance. The applicant will be required to give specific financial
information during the application process, eg., income tax data, supporting
multiple Christian schools, anticipated special circumstances, etc.
The Grant Committee
will review each application for assistance. The Committee will ensure that
each family makes a satisfactory commitment and will report to the Treasurer
the amount of tuition that each family is accountable for and the total amount
of assistance needed. If a family's income declines, the family may ask the
Grant Committee to review the application. Also, if a family's income increases
after a grant has been given, it is expected that the family will increase
its tuition payments. We trust that each family will make an honest assessment
of its financial status and pay the required tuition so that the financing
of Christian education will be shared by all families.
Note:
Full cost tuition = total budget ÷ number of families.
Set tuition is
determined by the Board of Directors and approved by the membership at
the Spring membership meeting.
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