Sophomore Year

 Last night we received this email from the Head of School at Bethany which I appreciated very much.  I was the nervous parent that he wrote about and was once again relieved to see how much effort that Bethany was putting into their safety plan in order to start the school with an in person learning option.  From our conversations with Cam, we know that he was a little bit worried as well.  We had spent a lot of time social distancing this summer and this was his first step back into some semblance of normalcy.  Even with the trepidation we all knew that this was the best option for Cam.

From the start of the day everything looked a lot different than last year with fever and symptom checks before entiring the school to first day pictures including one with a new IU face mask.  Although it felt a little strange, Cam said that it went well.  There were hand sanitizing stations throughout the school, new water bottle fountains with a foot powered pedal, social distancing in all situations, three person lunch tables instead of six and longer class periods.  It took some getting used to for Cameron, but overall he was happy with how the day went and felt safe at school all day.  From the pictures posted on FaceBook in the afternoon we knew that their COVID-19 response was giving the Bethany students the best chance to return to the classroom safely.  We have been so incredibly pleased with the education that Cam has received these past five years and know that this will be an amazing (albeit different) year for him as well.

August 9, 2020 Dear Bethany students and parents, We are excited to welcome students back to campus beginning Monday. Staff have planned and prepared for the return of students, and we are absolutely committed to creating the best learning experience possible under the current circumstances. Everyone at BCS including administrators, teachers, staff and coaches are doing extraordinary work to get ready for the school year. I have received a large number of affirming email communications from parents over the last few days, and I am grateful that others recognize the hard work and commitment of BCS staff.  When students arrive, they will notice many changes. Principal Willems has outlined these in a series of emails over the summer. You can see all of our plans laid out on the COVID-19 Safety Response page on the website. What hasn’t changed are the things that make a Bethany education unique: challenging academics and a faith-rooted care for each students' growth and development.   At our core we are a caring community. However, at times we are going to disagree. Most of us (people in general) are caring rational human beings, yet we often draw different conclusions from the same information. We recognize that for some parents, students returning to school is a relief. For others, a return to school is distressing. This is a time to rely on the strength of our community and the understanding that we all are doing are very best to navigate the slow-moving crisis of COVID-19. We welcome your feedback and your prayers. Sincerely, Tim Lehman, Ed.D Head of Schools