Bethel Lutheran School

Board Report – January 2003

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. The school board, principal and staff continue to monitor the income and expenses on a monthly basis with the goal of ending this school year with positive financial results. The following pie chart shows the breakdown of the projected expenses of $1.64 million. The projected income for the year is $1.65 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 5000 homes with postcards about the school in August and are repeating the postcard campaign to 16,000 targeted homes in January , covering an expanded radius around the school. An open house has been held this January, attended by 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. The following are the key projects in which the board has been involved in 2002:

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

2. Raised just under $28,000 with the Annual Giving Program. These funds are committed to help cover the cost of retrofitting the preschool and elementary playgrounds. The funds will be combined with two grants received for the same purpose. Many thanks to Alice Isaacson who spearheaded both the Annual Giving Program and the proposal to the Lucille Packard Foundation for the two grants.

3. Installation of air conditioning units for the preschool rooms and selected elementary rooms.

4. Initiated the process to obtain accreditation of the elementary school by the Western Association of School and Colleges (WASC.)

We are excited to provide an excellent educational experience to the children of BLS through our highly skilled staff! In 2003, we will be working on the following projects:

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

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

3. 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)

· Kelly Tomich (Director, Pre-school)

· Nannette Wylde (Director, AM/PM Program)

· Bill Howard

· Ted Yanak

· Pastor Jim Cords (ex officio of the board)

· Sam Sudarsanam (Vice Chair)

· Jack Wedgwood (Chair)

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 to Jack Wedgwood at (408) 364-9100.