The Bear Creek School

The Bear Creek School is a preschool through grade twelve private school in Redmond, Washington. Educating around 750 students, the school is a Christian religious school.^[1] Established in 1988, it lies within the Lake Washington School District.^[2] The Head of school is Patrick Carruth.

Mission

Mission Statement: "Our mission is to provide a high-quality, Christian liberal arts education in a nurturing environment that will enable each student to become the individual God intends." ^[3]
The Bear Creek School a classical Christian education, modeled after the Classical trivium, with a focus on college preparation. It is non-denominational; curriculum is taught from a Christian worldview.

Campuses

The Bear Creek School has three campuses. The main (Redmond) campus (K-12), situated on 208th Avenue, was opened in the fall of 2000. Previously, the school had been using the Woodinville Campus (located at Bear Creek Community Church in Woodinville) and space in the First Baptist Church of Redmond. The Woodinville Campus was used until it was replaced by the Valley Campus (preschool-5), located near Perrigo Park, in January 2006. At the beginning of the 2010 academic year, an additional branch campus was opened in Woodinville Alliance Church, housing preschool and pre-Kindergarten; at the beginning of the 2011 academic year, another early childhood education campus will be opened on the Sammamish plateau.
Concern has been expressed locally at congestion caused by traffic entering and leaving the 208th Avenue campus.^[4]

Academics

The Bear Creek School is accredited by the Northwest Association of Schools, Colleges and Universities and the Pacific Northwest Association of Independent Schools. The school is also a member of the Association of Christian Schools International.^[5]

Despite being a small school, Bear Creek have had consistent successes in the National Merit Scholarship competition:

• 2002: one student became a Merit Scholarship semifinalist.^[6]
• 2003: three students became Merit Scholarship semifinalists.^[7]
• 2005: two students became Merit Scholarship semifinalists.^[8]
• 2006: four students became Merit Scholarship semifinalists.^[9]
• 2007: two students became Merit Scholarship semifinalists. ^[10]
• 2008: two students became Merit Scholarship semifinalists. ^[11]
• 2009: one student became a Merit Scholarship semifinalist. ^[12]
• 2010: one student became a Merit Scholarship semifinalist. ^[13]

Athletics

The school is a member of the Washington Interscholastic Athletic Association (WIAA) and they participate in athletics as a member of the SeaTac 2B League and the Cascade Middle School League.^[14] In 2000 Bear Creek opted up to the larger division 1A classification. While the 1A classification provided a high level of competition and higher quality venue of sports competition, the results were troubling for the school. In 2004, the School returned to the division B classification and has since won many Seatac League titles in almost all sports offered. Numerous teams have also won academic state titles.

Performances of note:

• Student Cara Linnenkohl took sixth place in the women's pair final at the FISA World Rowing Junior Championships in Beijing in 2007, and second in the single in 2008 in Austria.^[15]

• Marianne Banton placed second in the 2004 Class 1A/B state girls golf tournament, despite carding an 89 in the first round. In 2005, she won the 1A golf girls individual title.^[16] In 2007, Sydney Conway won the Class 2B/1B golf girls individual title.^[17]

• Student Kimi Pohlman signed with the University of Washington in November 2007 to play softball for the Huskies.^[18] Along with her accomplishments in softball, Pohlman also excelled in track, soccer, and basketball.^[19]

• In 2006, the varsity boy's soccer team won the 2B/1B state soccer championship over Northwest Christian in a penalty kick shoot out.^[20] The team also took second place in 2009.

• The boys' varsity basketball team took fourth in 2008^[21], fifth in 2010^[22], and third in 2011^[23] in the State 2B tournament.

• In 2009, freshman Jake Imam won the 1A/2B/1B state singles tennis title. ^[24] In 2010, suffering a back injury, he and senior Jamie Meyer placed second in the 1A/2B/1B state doubles tennis championships. ^[25]

• In 2009, freshman Madelyn Magee placed second in the 2B state high jump competition^[26]; in 2010^[27] and 2011^[28], she placed first.

History

• 1988 - School is founded by Drs. Nancy and William Price on the campus of Bear Creek Community Church, Woodinville, WA.
• 1999 - New and current building is opened.
• 2005 - School acquires new Valley Campus to start a new K-6 school, after leaving former Woodinville campus.
• 2006 - Nancy Price resigns from her position as the head of school to pursue mission work in Africa.
• 2006 - Karen Beman is appointed Interim Head of School.
• 2007 - The Board of Directors announces Patrick B. Carruth as the new head of school from July 1, 2007.^[29]

School Symbols

The school's original crest displays four symbols surrounding a cross: a book and pen signifying the arts; an atom, the sciences; a winged shoe, athletics; and an honor torch, personal character. Above the crest is the Latin motto of the School, Credo Ut Intelligam, which means, "I believe so that I may understand."^[30] A more recently updated crest shows a cross and a path. The cross represents the school's Christian foundation, while the path represents the path of life.
The motto, chosen by the founders, is traceable to St. Anselm and St. Augustine before him. It expresses the necessary relation between faith and learning which is the task of the educator to nurture.

Notable faculty

• Dr. Ron Lynch, a former member of The Cascades, directs the school's drama department.
• Rev. Dr. Curtis Ward Brannan, retired Dean, LCDR USN RET
• Dr. Stephen C. Meyer, vice president of the Discovery Institute is a former board member and current apologetics teacher.

References

External links

• Official site