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Family Focus 6/30/24

date 07/12/2024 author Kris Sauer category June 2024, 2023-24 comment Leave a comment

"Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you."
Deuteronomy 31:6 (Campus Ministry-selected Bible verse for 2023-2024)

June 30, 2024

Dear Parent/Guardians: 

The Bethlehem Academy Board of Directors closed out the 2023-2024 school year at their meeting Wednesday night. Thank you to outgoing Board Chair, Cory Caron, for his leadership these past three years and welcome to incoming Board Chair, Beth Dienst. We extend our gratitude as well to Dominican Sisters of Sinsinawa Associates Mary Jane Alexander and Patty Murray, for their service to the Board. 

The Selection Committee for the Head of School position, together with school leadership, is actively working on an interim leadership model for the 2024-2025 school year while we continue with the search process. We will share more in the coming weeks.

The Board also passed an updated PSEO class reimbursement policy effective for next school year: for each PSEO class of 3 credits or more taken in a high school semester, tuition may be reduced 3.5% if, upon successful completion of the course, parents make a request to the BA business office within a time period set by the school administration. Once classes begin in the fall, details on the process and relevant deadlines will be provided in a timely manner to those affected by this policy.  

Tuitio
n contracts / Scrip: We ask parents to complete their tuition contracts and set up a payment schedule in EduTrak ASAP. Click HERE to log in. Find the purple tuition icon and follow the prompts to set up your contract. Email Lisa Moon if you need family key information to set up an account. FYI: Scrip credits earned will be applied to EduTrak contracts as a payment June 28.

Happy Fourth of July! A reminder that the office will be closed next week, July 1-5. The leadership team is likewise taking time away from the office July 1-5. Enjoy your time with friends and family!

Blessings, The BA Leadership Team
Kris SauerEd Friesen, Brent Zabel
Click on individual names to contact a member of the Leadership Team or email the entire team at leadership@bacards.org


ALL BA UPDATES

RAFFLE/VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES:
Parent Volunteer Program Information: Click HERE

  • July 11-13: SMART Bike Ride for Catholic education. Click HERE to register to ride or sponsor a rider. (Participating parents earn volunteer hours for biking!) 
  • July 17-21: BA fair stand @ the Rice County Fair - parent and student volunteers needed, click here to sign up. 
  • August 2: BA Cardinal Golf Classic - sponsor this great event and/or golf with us at the Legacy! Click here to register. 

FREE Baby Grand Piano! A member of our BA community has a Yamaha baby grand piano they would like to give to a passionate instrument lover who will take it and care for it. Please reach out to Gina Yetzer if interested. 

2024-2025 BA School Calendar: Click HERE 

Student Summer Reading Assignments: Click HERE to find titles and reading guides for each grade and/or high school class for your sons and daughters. 

Lost and Found: Claim by July 10!



Summer Office Hours: BA's front office is open Monday through Thursday, 9am-1pm, closed Fridays, and will be closed the week of July 1-5.



PSE Local Coordinator Position Available: PSE, the student exchange company that is sending Bethlehem Academy a Korean boy for the '24-'25 school year is looking for a Local Coordinator.  This is a contracted, paid position and is about 1 hour per month.  The Local Coordinator checks in with the student and the host family monthly and fills out an online report (14 questions) and uploads the students grades in a PDF format. The LC vets the host family, making a trip to the home to meet the family and see the student's bedroom and also does an orientation with the family (a PowerPoint presentation) and also the same with the student. The pay is $80 a month to fill out the online report and the LC then gets paid $300 for meeting the family and doing the orientations for both students. Please contact Cheryl Da Silva, PSE Regional Manager 617 710 5700 or cdasilva@pse-edu.org if interested.

DIVINE MERCY CHURCH & SCHOOL UPDATE
  

Register for the Eucharistic Congress here: https://giving.parishsoft.com/App/Form/4cb0329e-b079-490f-a808-16c9d3c1d5b6
 
COMMUNITY UPDATE 

Faribault Transportation Open House
Faribault Transportation is holding an Open House on Tuesday, June 25th from 4:00 to 6:30pm. It’s a fun Summer get together with our drivers.  It is open to the community.  If you are interested in driving school bus or being a bus aide, this is a great opportunity to learn more about these positions at Faribault Transportation. Tuesday, June 25th from 4-6:30pm. Bring your family!!  Faribault Transportation is located at 2615 NW 1st Ave. in Faribault.


 
Fall sport option for BA students!  Mountain biking with the local team: Cannon Valley Composite.  All ability levels are welcome.  For more information, reach out to Coach Todd Trembley at ttrembley@charter.net
 

Online BA School Calendar:
https://gopherconference.org/public/genie/7/school/7/

Online Faribault Falcons Calendar:
https://big9conference.org/public/genie/4/school/7/

Family Focus 6/21/24

date 06/27/2024 author Kris Sauer category June 2024, 2023-24 comment Leave a comment

"Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you."
Deuteronomy 31:6 (Campus Ministry-selected Bible verse for 2023-2024)

June 21, 2024

Dear Parent/Guardians: 

Summer is underway and the leadership team together with staff are working hard to close out 2023-2024 and prepare for the next school year. Look below our signature for information on summer events including parent and student volunteer opportunities, student & staff summer read info, lost and found items, and office hours. 

Tuition contracts/registrations/Scrip: As we near the end of June, we ask parents to complete their tuition contracts and set up a payment schedule in EduTrak ASAP. Click HERE to log in. Find the purple tuition icon and follow the prompts to set up your contract. Email Lisa Moon if you need family key information to set up an account. FYI: Scrip credits earned will be applied to EduTrak contracts as a payment June 28.

2 Host Families Needed! We are looking for two families to host an 8th grade girl and an 8th grade boy (not siblings) from South Korea for 2024-2025. See the parent email sent 6/20; contact Kris Sauer if interested. 

Prayers and thanksgiving for a successful, faith-filled trip student trip to Italy (including Rome, Assisi, and Florence), for an end to this incessant rain, and for a safe, happy, and healthy summer break!

Blessings, The BA Leadership Team
Ed Friesen, Brent Zabel, Kris Sauer, Stephen UphusKatie Smith
Click on individual names to contact a member of the Leadership Team or email the entire team at leadership@bacards.org


ALL BA UPDATES

RAFFLE/VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES:
Parent Volunteer Program Information: Click HERE

  • WIN CASH-Cardinal Club Raffle: Order your 2024 Cardinal Club raffle tickets by noon June 27 for a chance to win cash! Top prize: $1500. Click HERE for an order form. 
  • July 11-13: SMART Bike Ride for Catholic education. Click HERE to register to ride or sponsor a rider. (Participating parents earn volunteer hours for biking!) 
  • July 17-21: BA fair stand @ the Rice County Fair - parent and student volunteers needed, click here to sign up. 
  • August 2: BA Cardinal Golf Classic - sponsor this great event and/or golf with us at the Legacy! Click here to register. 

2024-2025 BA School Calendar: Click HERE 

Staff/Student Summer Reading Assignments: Both students and staff have a summer reading assignment this year. Click HERE to find titles and reading guides for each grade and/or high school class for your sons and daughters. Staff is reading "The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness" by Jonathan Haid, a particularly timely title as social media warnings and school cell phone bans are in the news this week. 

Lost and Found: Claim by July 10!

 



Summer Office Hours: BA's front office is open Monday through Thursday, 9am-1pm, closed Fridays, and will be closed the week of July 1-5.



PSE Local Coordinator Position Available: PSE, the student exchange company that is sending Bethlehem Academy a Korean boy for the '24-'25 school year is looking for a Local Coordinator.  This is a contracted, paid position and is about 1 hour per month.  The Local Coordinator checks in with the student and the host family monthly and fills out an online report (14 questions) and uploads the students grades in a PDF format. The LC vets the host family, making a trip to the home to meet the family and see the student's bedroom and also does an orientation with the family (a PowerPoint presentation) and also the same with the student. The pay is $80 a month to fill out the online report and the LC then gets paid $300 for meeting the family and doing the orientations for both students. Please contact Cheryl Da Silva, PSE Regional Manager 617 710 5700 or cdasilva@pse-edu.org if interested.

DIVINE MERCY CHURCH & SCHOOL UPDATE
  

Register for the Eucharistic Congress here: https://giving.parishsoft.com/App/Form/4cb0329e-b079-490f-a808-16c9d3c1d5b6
 
COMMUNITY UPDATE 

Faribault Transportation Open House
Faribault Transportation is holding an Open House on Tuesday, June 25th from 4:00 to 6:30pm. It’s a fun Summer get together with our drivers.  It is open to the community.  If you are interested in driving school bus or being a bus aide, this is a great opportunity to learn more about these positions at Faribault Transportation. Tuesday, June 25th from 4-6:30pm. Bring your family!!  Faribault Transportation is located at 2615 NW 1st Ave. in Faribault.


 
Fall sport option for BA students!  Mountain biking with the local team: Cannon Valley Composite.  All ability levels are welcome.  For more information, reach out to Coach Todd Trembley at ttrembley@charter.net
 

Online BA School Calendar:
https://gopherconference.org/public/genie/7/school/7/

Online Faribault Falcons Calendar:
https://big9conference.org/public/genie/4/school/7/

Family Focus 5/31/24

date 06/20/2024 author Kris Sauer category May 2024, 2023-24 comment Leave a comment

"Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you."
Deuteronomy 31:6 (Campus Ministry-selected Bible verse for 2023-2024)

May 31, 2024

Dear Parent/Guardians: 


Happy summer! We hope you and your family has a wonderful, relaxing break. School may be finished for the year, but there is still a lot happening at BA! See below for important summer transition information.

Staffing Updates: The end of the school year also brings with it some changes in staffing for next year. We are excited to welcome Mr. Tom Nardi to the staff as our new middle school theology teacher. Tom is a University of St. Thomas alumni who spent the last year in the Bronx with the with the Seton Education Partners program. We are excited to welcome him to the BA team! Sadly as the school year ends, we say farewell to Ms. Emily Cicha (Choir) who will be moving on to new opportunities and to Mr. Ken Gigante who has returned to the Philippines with his family. Mr. Stephen Uphus will also be departing staff for a new opportunity, but will be available to work with students through the end of July and will continue coaching football in the fall. We are thankful for their time with us at BA and wish them all the best. We are working to fill these positions, along with hiring a night time custodian and a high school math teacher. Find current openings HERE and please spread the word!  

Parent Volunteer Program: Information was sent out via email Thursday. A reminder that the policy was amended this year and any parent hours not served (25 hours per family) will be billed next May. Please click HERE for all the details and to get signed up in POINT (replacing SignUpGenius) to volunteer. LOTS of summer volunteer opportunities, including selling raffle tickets after Mass June 15-16, the Heritage Days parade June 15, helping on the golf tournament committee, biking the SMART Ride July 11, 12 and/or 13, working at the BA fair stand (July 17-21), and signing up to be a parent class ambassador. Reach out to Kris Sauer with any questions.  


2024-2025 tuition contracts are now available in Wordware/EduTrak. If you have an existing account, please click HERE to log in. Find the purple tuition icon and follow the prompts to set up your contract. Don't have an account? Watch for an email from Lisa Moon with your family key and login information. Please reach out if to Kris or Lisa if you have any questions. Thank you! 

2 Host Families Needed! We are looking for two families to host an 8th grade girl and an 8th grade boy (not siblings) from South Korea for 2024-2025. Please consider opening your home to this student so they can join us at BA! Host families receive a monthly stipend, a tuition credit, and fulfill their parent service hour commitment when they host an international student. Please contact Kris Sauer if interested. 

UPCOMING EVENTS: Click HERE for a copy of the 2024-2025 BA School Calendar

  • June 15: Heritage Days parade - parent/student volunteers needed. Click HERE to sign up. 
  • July 11-13: SMART Bike Ride for Catholic education. Click HERE to register to ride. 
  • July 17-21: BA fair stand @ the Rice County Fair - parent and student volunteers needed, click here to sign up. 
  • August 2: BA Cardinal Golf Classic - golf with us at the Legacy! Earn service hours - be a committee member for this event! Click here to sign up. 

Kudos to our spring sport athletes! Good luck to our co-op track athletes competing in section finals tomorrow. Special shout out to Barak Barner (110 hurdles) and Brooklyn Becker (800m) qualifying for state in Thursday's preliminary races. Girls softball finished their season in Austin last week, boys co-op baseball finished their season in Winona yesterday with a tough 6-5 loss. 

Prayers for a safe, happy, healthy summer break!

Blessings, The BA Leadership Team
Ed Friesen, Brent Zabel, Kris Sauer, Stephen UphusKatie Smith
Click on individual names to contact a member of the Leadership Team or email the entire team at leadership@bacards.org

ALL BA UPDATES

Summer Office Hours: Starting Monday, June 3, BA's front office will be open Monday through Thursday, 9am-1pm, closed Fridays.

Summer Reading Assignments: English teachers have begun sharing the 2024 class-based summer reading assignments. Click
HERE to find titles and reading guides for each grade and/or high school class.

BA Summer Camps: All are welcome to join our summer camp programs! Click HERE for information and registration forms for our volleyball, girls & boys basketball, football, and robotics camps this summer. Information for the fall 2024 grade 4-6 youth football league sign up is also included on this page.

DIVINE MERCY CHURCH & SCHOOL UPDATE

Click HERE to register for Totus Tuus.

Click HERE to sign up for Summer Stretch.
 

Register for the Eucharistic Congress here: https://giving.parishsoft.com/App/Form/4cb0329e-b079-490f-a808-16c9d3c1d5b6

 
COMMUNITY UPDATE

 

 
Fall sport option for BA students!  Mountain biking with the local team: Cannon Valley Composite.  All ability levels are welcome.  For more information, reach out to Coach Todd Trembley at ttrembley@charter.net
 

 

Online BA School Calendar:
https://gopherconference.org/public/genie/7/school/7/

Online Faribault Falcons Calendar:
https://big9conference.org/public/genie/4/school/7/

Our Mission
Bethlehem Academy, a Catholic school in the Sinsinawa Dominican tradition, strives to empower its students and staff to achieve personal, spiritual and academic excellence. We challenge ourselves to love as Jesus Christ loved, to lead, to serve, to inspire and to seek the truth: Veritas.
Address
105 3rd Ave. SW
Faribault, MN  55021
Phone:  507-334-3948
Fax:  507-334-3949