Beira United Christian Academy Commitment to Parents
Based upon its mission, faith, and pedagogical convictions, Beira United Christian Academy makes the following commitments to its students and their parents:
To maintain an optimal atmosphere for the cultivating of the hearts and minds of students.
Beira United Christian Academy will be characterized by:
- Reverence for God, confidence in His loving presence, and a commitment to obedience, according to the principles of Jesus Christ;
- Kindness and respect for all with the proper submission to authority;
- Learning and growth in a multitude of spheres, intellectual, spiritual, physical and relational;
- Ideas that engage the mind;
- Work that is fruitful, satisfying, and harmonizes into a daily rhythm; and
- Neatness, beauty, and general good order.
Beira United Christian Academy will not be characterized by:
- Exclusive relationships or cliques;
- Sarcasm, base humor, or demeaning language;
- Artificial incentives (stars, candy, grades, awards, etc.) and manipulative techniques (shame, wrongly expressed anger, excessive praise, and other forms of emotional manipulation);
- Labeling students in a way that limits or creates a false sense of inferiority or superiority;
- Trivial work, meaningless tasks, or superficial amusements.
To foster good habits in regards to work, thought, self, and others.
Beira United Christian Academy will hold students to a high standard in their academic work.
- All students will be supported in the habit of doing good work (work that is completed punctually, accurate, neat, and demonstrates a high level of academic thought, mastery, and skillfulness).
- If a student’s work indicates lack of carefulness, focus, or effort, then teachers will use inspirational ideas and natural consequences to motivate the student towards the formation of the necessary habits.
- If a student’s work indicates lack of comprehension, then teachers will be available after school to provide additional assistance.
- If regular after-school work proves insufficient to bring the student to needed mastery, then the teacher and administration will work with student and parents to develop and implement a plan to foster the necessary habits, skills and knowledge.
Beira United Christian Academy will hold students to a high standard of self-management and inter-personal relationships.
- All students will be supported in mastering the habits of:
o Focused attention
o Self-control of speech, hands, and posture
o Kindness and respect towards others
o Appropriate submission to authority (teachers, administrators, and school policies – including the dress code)
- If any student fails in one of the above, then the School staffwill use inspirational ideas and natural consequences as the primary means for promoting student growth.
- If a severe lapse or a persistent pattern of lesser failures occurs, then the teacher and administration will work with student and parents to develop and implement a plan to foster the necessary personal and interpersonal habits.
To engage and nurture the students’ minds through a rigorous and rich curriculum.
- The Beira United Christian Academy curriculum consists of “living books”, the best books, written in fine literary style by the best minds, rather than traditional text books.
- The curriculum provides a broad array of food for the mind, including: Bible, English, Portuguese, math, science, history, literature, music, art, grammar, nature study, picture study, composer study, leadership, poetry, handwork, drama, and physical exercise.
- At the School, students are given the opportunity to grow in knowledge and skill through worthy work and worthy thought.
Parents’ Commitment to Beira United Christian Academy
Parents have been given the primary care and oversight of their children through their office as parents. Enrolling their children at Beira United Christian Academy, parents consent to work together with qualified educators and able administration for the growth and development of individual children. Parents, teachers, and administration working in cooperation provide relational support and accountability for the child to raise him/her beyond “his nature” to maturity. Based upon these principles of cooperation and authority, parents make the following commitments:
To be punctual: At arrival and dismissal times and in fulfilling financial commitments.
To foster healthy communication with teachers, administration, the Board, and parents:
- Talk directly to the person with whom you have a concern or conflict, not about the person to others.
- Seek to get a full account of an incident from teachers or administration, acknowledging that a child’s retelling of an incident is only one perspective of the incident.
- Follow the “Concerns and Grievance Policy” in a timely manner as outlined in the Beira United Christian Academy Parent/Student Handbook.
- Be inclusive in social events such as birthday parties and also in peer relationships as outlined in the Beira United Christian Academy Parent/Student Handbook.
To support the intellectual growth of your child:
- Ensure students spend a minimum of 15 – 30 minutes each day in after-school reading (family read aloud or individual reading).
- Ensure students complete homework assignments thoroughly.
- Review and discuss with your child the weekly assessments in math, spelling, and dictation.
- Take the initiative to inquire of teachers concerning your child’s progress.
- Develop a plan with the teacher to overcome areas of academic and/or relational weakness and implement the home requirements of this plan.
To support the work of Beira United Christian Academy:
- Meet the minimum requirements for parent participation at school programs, fund raisers, etc.
- Attend all Campus Meetings, Parent Teacher Conferences, and other required parent meetings.
- Uphold school policy (dress code, attendance, homework, etc.).
- Volunteer through PVA.