From Our High School Principal

School seems especially busy right now. Basketball season has ended, but the spring sports of track, soccer, baseball, tennis, and softball are practicing and preparing for their seasons. The spring musical Oklahoma is being performed this week and combines the talents of over 70 students plus a large portion of the high school band. Re-enrollment is complete and new families are applying for the next school year. The Latin students competed in the Mississippi Junior Classical League activities and brought bringing home many 1^st place honors. A lot is happening.

With so much activity, it is easy to become distracted and miss the primary focus of SBEC. Our mission statement states:

As a Christ-centered college preparatory school, SBEC enables our students to:
• know and honor Jesus Christ
• grow in knowledge and wisdom
• reach their God-given potential

As the high school principal, I must always keep that mission foremost in all we do. It is great to have the excellent sports program and the outstanding drama productions, but these activities serve to augment what SBEC is called to do. We teach; we play sports; we perform; we do all for His glory and honor and we want to do everything well because God has called us to excellence. But we must not forget our mission.

Each February our current families decide if SBEC is staying true to its mission and whether they will make a commitment to partner with us for another year. New families come to examine SBEC and see if this is the place they want to send their children. In both instances, my desire is that parents see something unusual at SBEC. I pray they see a school that loves God, loves their children, and loves them. May SBEC never lose sight of its mission nor the God we serve.

Sam Wrigley

High School Principal

From Our Director of Development

Our re-enrollment process has been positive. First, we introduced online enrollment. This web-based advancement in the admissions process confirmed our commitment to being a leader in the integration of technology.

Second, we have experienced a high level of re-enrollment. Within two weeks after the end of our priority re-enrollment period for returning students, we completed the process for 85% of all potential re-enrolling students. Further, an additional 55 students are in some stage of completing their application and making their payment, which soon should bring the re-enrollment percentage to 90%. Approximately 70 other students are in the decision-making phase of the re-enrollment process.

Significantly, we have received 69 applications together with down payments from new students. This week we will begin testing and evaluating these students for enrollment. This number of new applications represents over a 100% increase in new applications that we had at this same time one year ago. Interest in the school is high with daily phone calls, campus tours, and mailing of admission information.

The final Open House of the spring will be held this Sunday afternoon, February 26, from 2-4 PM. Teachers, admissions personnel, and administrators will be present to talk with families about enrolling their children and what to expect in next year’s classes. Tours of the campus will be available together with light refreshments. There is no better time to get to know the school than at our Open House. Moreover, potential students can schedule visitation days to spend a day or less visiting the school with a current student, attending classes, and meeting faculty and other students.

You may come and go or stay as long as you wish at the Open House. For more information, please contact our Admissions Director Sheila Sheron at 662.349.5127.

George Carnall

Director of Development

From Our President

The television game show “The Family Feud” popularized the phrase “the survey said!” At SBEC we have not been playing “The Family Feud”. However, our administrative staff and faculty leadership team have been investing time evaluating what “the survey said”. As you may recall in early November we distributed a survey to school families, school staff, former families, alumni, and current SBEC seniors. Upon our return for the second semester, we began to review the initial results from the survey company, and just recently received hundreds of pages of information that comprise the final document. There were a significant number of people participating in the survey. As a result, we were provided with many valuable insights.

We were so encouraged by the overwhelming number of positive commendations that were voiced regarding SBEC. At the same time, we are equally grateful for the constructive comments that were offered for the purpose of assisting us in our desire to be better. We have taken the time to read through the results and have held discussions both at the administrative and faculty leadership levels. Some of the cited areas have already been addressed, and we will continue to evaluate the information. It is our goal in the near future to provide you with various aspects of the survey results. Thank you for assisting us in this endeavor and for the privilege to partner with you in Christian education.

David Manley
President

From Our Elementary Principal

CAMPUS SECURITY

Our elementary playground and band practice field were recently enclosed by a brand new 6 foot fence.  This new section that is along the north side of our property will now completely enclose the playground area and also add another measure of security to our campus. Our campus (inside and outside) is now being monitored by approximately 60 cameras and additional camera placements are currently being considered, one of which will be positioned to focus on the elementary playground.

As always, we are thankful to have Officer Bruce Holbrook on our campus to assist us with our campus security.  During the school day, Officer Holbrook is constantly patrolling our hallways, parking lot, playground and other outside areas. He also does a great job in assisting our parents and students as they enter and exit our campus from the Getwell Road area as well.

David Fox

Elementary Principal