-----PHILOSOPHY, EXPECTATIONS, POLICIES-----

Prospective Parents and Students,

We are thankful for your interest in Blackhawk Christian School. As you review the following pages, we welcome questions and encourage you to contact us at any time. While many of our instructional practices have changed during our school’s history, the core of who we are has remained the same.

Our Mission: Preparing Hearts and Minds to Serve Christ

Our Core Values

Academic Excellence – employing educational practices, methods, technology and tools that exceed state and national standards; empowering students to reach their full potential and prepare them for their educational and vocational future.

Biblical Foundation – utilizing curriculum and instruction that recognizes that all truth and knowledge is rooted in God’s divinely inspired Word and that imparts a Biblical worldview to students so they see themselves, others, and their world through Christ’s eyes.

Christ Centered Community – providing a relationally, physically, emotionally, spiritually, and morally safe environment, led by administrators, staff, and teachers, who in partnership with parents, model Christ and serve as examples for students to develop Christ-centered lives.

Our Vision

Blackhawk Christian School personnel model and students / graduates exemplify the following traits:

Christian Character – committed to Scripture: abiding in Christ, building community, serving others and making disciples.
Core Capabilities – excellent understanding and competency in core subjects.
Critical Thinking – purposeful, reflective judgment in thought, belief, speech and action.
Collaboration – highly cooperative, highly engaged in dialogue and committed to “finding a better way together.”
Creative Problem Solving – the ability to develop and implement innovative solutions to problems and life issues.
Communication – effectively deliver ideas, thoughts, and information to diverse audiences through oral, written, and nonverbal expression.
Continuous Learning – developing a "growth mindset and humble heart": committed to putting forth best efforts, willing to try new things, understanding that mistakes are opportunities to learn.

Our Expected Student Outcomes

Blackhawk Christian School students will graduate with skills and traits aligned with the vision and core values of Blackhawk Christian School.

Academic Excellence

BCS Graduates are prepared for college and career by demonstrating understanding and competency of standards in core subject areas
BCS Graduates demonstrate the ability to develop and implement innovative solutions to problems

Biblical Foundation

BCS Graduates are committed to abiding in Christ through study of his word personally and in Christian community
BCS Graduates own a Biblical worldview through which they use purposeful, reflective judgment in thought, belief, speech, and action

Christ-Centered Community

BCS Graduates are cooperative and highly engaged in collaboration and dialogue with others
BCS Graduates are Christ-like and effective communicators through oral and written expression

In addition to the expectation that your child is prepared scholastically for further education and the world of work, our distinction is that we also want students to be prepared for living a full life that is pleasing and honoring to our Heavenly Father. We recognize the importance of the decision that you as a parent must make in determining who will play a primary role in the education of your child. We are eager for you to discover our school.

Pre-Application

With our Mission and Vision in mind, we encourage you to continue considering Blackhawk Christian School for your child’s future. If your home and our school are in agreement philosophically, we believe you will find Blackhawk Christian School to be a great investment in your child’s educational and personal future that will render dividends today, tomorrow, and eternally. We join you in praying as you think through the following three considerations while determining the best educational setting for your child.

1. Parent Partnership

Consistent with our mission, we believe that Blackhawk Christian School must partner with parents to achieve maximum results in the educational process. However, ultimately we understand Biblically that “training up a child in the way he should go” is fundamentally the parents’ responsibility. Accordingly, we see our role as being a partner in the educational process with parents who desire a Christian education. Therefore, the admission process at Blackhawk Christian School begins by determining if the home and school are in philosophical agreement.

2. Student Life Patterns

A second consideration in the admissions process looks at the individual student applicant. In the primary and intermediate schools, the parents and school administrators will primarily determine the child’s appropriateness for enrollment. By middle and high school, the student applicant will be more engaged in the admissions process. Our students are expected to be pursuing a personal walk of accountability to God, to others and to be following Biblical morality so that they will flourish within our school community. BCS seeks students who are:

a. Accountable to God by actively working at building a nourishing and personal relationship with Jesus Christ, studying God’s Word, maintaining an active prayer life, worshipping with fellow believers, thinking about what is true, noble, right, and pure, while living under the authority of God and their parents by obeying applicable rules.

b. Accountable to Others by encouraging and building one another up, communicating Biblically with one another in the spirit of love, choosing friends and associates carefully, and demonstrating honesty and integrity by refraining from lying, stealing, and cheating.

c. Accountable to Biblical Morality by caring for their body as a “temple of God” refraining from the use of alcoholic beverages, tobacco, illegal drugs, abusing prescription drugs or any other harmful substance or activities, by maintaining Biblical standards of morality in staying pure sexually until marriage, and by demonstrating self-control by being quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry.

3. Academics

The last consideration in the admissions process is for parents and school administrators to determine if Blackhawk Christian School is an appropriate academic setting for the student. We identify ourselves “primarily” as a college preparatory school with high academic standards and equally challenging expectations. Blackhawk Christian School students may take more courses and spend more time studying than many of their area school peers. Students and parents should familiarize themselves with our academic and graduation requirements in the academics’ portion of our Parent/Student Handbook (Admissions tab on the BCS webpage). In terms of preparation for college and life, we believe a rigorous academic experience is essential.

Typically, our enrollment criteria for grades 9th-12th is a minimum of a 2.3 grade point average (GPA). However, our desire is to serve the whole family. Therefore, we do not select students for enrollment solely on academic abilities. While we clearly must determine whether a student can be successful at Blackhawk Christian School, we equally understand God has made each of us as unique individuals gifted with certain abilities. We recognize that Blackhawk Christian School is not the best learning environment for every student. In such cases, we are committed to working with parents to identify the most appropriate educational options within the community.

After reviewing our Admission materials and concluding that Blackhawk Christian School is the right educational setting for your family, we WELCOME YOU to begin the Application Process.

Application for Admission to BCS (Grades K-6)