Bethel Lutheran School

Board Report – January 2004

The school board is pleased to report that the Bethel Lutheran School (BLS) is having another successful year. BLS is a ministry of Bethel Lutheran Church providing excellent education to the children of our church members and also to the children in the community around us. Through this ministry, we were able to bring new families to be part of our church family. We thank God for His manifold blessings on our school and its ministry.

Our programs include preschool, junior kindergarten, and elementary grades 1 through 6 as well as before- and after-school care (the “AM/PM” program.) We have been receiving compliments from our school parents for the excellent programs we have and for the excellent staff who treat the children with care and with Christian principles.

BLS continues to be financially strong, and currently it is running in the “black” in spite of the tough economic climate. While we have a breakeven budget for the year, our current projection indicates a small profit of income over expenses. The school board, principal and staff review income and expenses monthly so that immediate action can be taken if it appears expenses might exceed our income. The following pie chart shows the breakdown of the projected expenses of $1.72 million.

This year, keeping the strong student enrollment has been a challenge due to the fact that several parents lost their jobs and had to move out of the area. We are working diligently to bring new students into our school by advertising our programs in the local newspapers and yellow pages. In addition we targeted 15,000 homes with postcards about the school in August and are repeating the postcard campaign in January. An open house will be held before the end of this month for people who saw our ads or were referred by current school parents or church members. One of our best sources for new students is the Bethel congregation and we ask that you continue to represent the school to your friends, neighbors and relatives.

The school board has been busy with various activities during the year to support the school facilities, the staff, and the programs. Following are the key projects with which the board has been involved in 2003:

1. Raised just over $21,000 with the Annual Giving Program. These funds along with monies raised by the annual Walk-A-Thon were mostly allocated to the new playground equipment.

2. The fund raising, grant application process, bidding and construction of the new playground equipment was a year long task. Many thanks to Alice Isaacson who spearheaded the Annual Giving Program, wrote the proposals to the Lucille Packard Foundation for the three grants and then coordinated the bidding process and the construction of this new equipment. The playgrounds are a major improvement to our school facility.

3. Continued the process to obtain accreditation of the elementary school by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC.)

4. Continued to improve the educational programs. Thanks to Yvonne Waters and her staff for providing their leadership to all our programs.

We are excited to provide an excellent educational experience to the children of BLS through our highly skilled staff! In 2004, we will be working on the following projects:

1. Continue to work with the church long range facilities planning committee to launch the new building project.

2. Review and improve the heating system in the preschool building.

3. Continue the accreditation process with WASC for our elementary school program.

4. Continue to improve the BLS programs.

The following members have been very active in the board to ensure that we have one of the “best in class” church schools in our community. Our special thanks to the following members for giving their valuable time and talents!

· Ordetta Hovland

· Alice Isaacson (Secretary & Super Fund Raiser!)

· Yvonne Waters (Principal and ex officio member of the board)

· Bill Howard

· Pastors Jim Cords and Rick Sherrill (ex officio members of the board)

· Garry Gillette

· Charnel Wedgwood

· Jack Wedgwood (Chair)

We particularly want to thank Pastor Rick Sherrill for his commitment and support of the school staff, especially in connection with the weekly chapel presentations. Finally, the BLS board expresses its deep and profound thanks to Bethel Lutheran Church for its many years of ministry support. If there are any questions, comments, and compliments, please pass them along to Jack Wedgwood.