Bradenton Christian School -- Ground Breaking Ceremony

BRADENTON, Fla. - Nov. 15, 2015 - PRLog -- Bradenton Christian School will celebrate the ground breaking of its new Middle School Building Friday, November 20, 2015 at 9:00am.  Extravaganza may be a strong word, but 1,000 people will be attendance to celebrate another milestone in the wonderful 55 year history of a Christian school that began with a dozen families using classrooms in a local church.

During the ceremony, each grade will present a construction stake inscribed with a Bible verse to dedicate the building.  The BCS Panthers Pep Band and Drumline will provide musical entertainment.  Students will also participate in the ceremony with representatives from each of the campus schools (Elementary, Middle School, and High School) giving prayers and dedication words.

Superintendent Dan Vande Pol will preside over the ceremony and will be joined by several special guests in providing a few words.  General contractor Kevin Oden, Architects Zoller and Associates, ZNS Engineering, and BCS school board members will be present, standing hand-in-hand with the entire student body, faculty, staff, and parents as Bradenton Christian School takes the next step in expanding the dream of the founding families. The public is welcome and encouraged to attend.

The new middle school building will be the latest addition to the Bradenton Christian School campus, a 24 acre site located at 3304 43rd Street.  Nearly 55 years after the original vision of the school’s founders, who sought to bring Christian education to the Bradenton community through a parent governed school with extraordinary teachers and a nice facility, Bradenton Christian School continues to exceed their wildest dreams.

With enrollment continuing to increase yearly (up nearly 25% in the last two years), BCS is literally running out of space, serving over 700 students this school year.  Maintaining small class sizes is a high priority of Bradenton Christian School, so to say an expansion plan was needed is an understatement.  About a year ago, shortly after the arrival of Superintendent Dan Vande Pol, he and Development Director Heidi Sikkema were blessed to have meetings with an anonymous donor with strong family ties to Bradenton Christian School.  This donor offered to fund $2.4 million toward the cost of a new middle school with the balance needing to be raised by the greater BCS family.  During the 15 months that followed, Zoller Autrey Architects and ZNS Engineering worked diligently to get this project through the design and city approval stages. For more detailed information about the school or to donate to building fund, please visit www.BuildingBCS.com

Cutting-edge educational technology will be embraced by the middle school.  Each of the nine new classrooms will take advantage of multi-media learning trends and will be fitted with 70” interactive HDTVs, laptops for each student, document cameras and projectors.  Two science labs compliment the classrooms and will be equipped with Forward Vision I Four-Student workstations with their own sinks and Octagon Lab workstations, which will allow for collaborative learning experiences in a whole new way.  Extra wide hallways have been incorporated into the design to allow for social interaction, devotions, announcements and a more enjoyable “middle school experience”.

The new building will be located just south of the High School building, which will enjoy a refreshing facelift to match its new sibling.  A covered walkway connecting both buildings and the 17,000 square foot McClure Center for Fine Arts and Media Technology will complete the overall integrated look and feel of the south side of the campus.  The north side of the campus recently enjoyed a dedication ceremony following the completion of the new Mary Jane Spencer Athletic Building and Bouwer Athletic Complex, which were the grand finishing touches to a multi-year athletic complex upgrade.

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Bradenton Christian School, a private Christian school, has been preparing the hearts and minds of God’s children for over 50 years.  For media requests or more information about Bradenton Christian School, please visit our website at www.BCSpanthers.org or contact:  Jennifer Calhoun, Director of Communications, Marketing, and Event Planning, 941-792-5454. Also, look for and follow us on Twitter (@BCSpanthers), Facebook (/BradentonChristianSchool), bcspanthersblog.com, and other social media.