Baymonte Christian School was founded in 1968 with the goal of providing Santa Cruz County with a school which offers a distinctively Christian and highly academic education in a loving and supportive environment. It may be the nurturing environment or the award-winning academics or the small class sizes that bring families to Baymonte, but once they arrive they experience a faith community where students thrive and grow. Some highlights that make Baymonte distinctive are:
- Small Class Sizes (20 student average/mean)
- 10:1 Average student-to-teacher ratio (K-2)
- Over 50 years of experience! BCS was founded in 1968
- Award Winning Academics
- Positive social environment that is inclusive, respectful and diverse
- Awarded National Blue Ribbon School – The National Blue Ribbon Schools Program recognizes public and private elementary, middle, and high schools based on their overall academic excellence or their progress in closing achievement gaps among student subgroups
- Faith Integration in our Classrooms
- Loving and Nurturing Environment
- Weekly Chapel focusing on values, character, and morals
- We provide every opportunity for students to grow their Christian faith through Bible class, chapel, community service and mission trips.
- Full-Day Kindergarten
- Teacher’s Aides in Kindergarten – Second Grades
- Credentialed Elementary Teachers
- PE department
- Middle School Teachers who are passionate and enthusiastic about the classes they teach (in their specialty)
- Competitive Sports Teams in middle school: Basketball, Soccer, Softball, Volleyball, Golf, Flag Football, Cross Country
- Student Government program in middle school
- Hot lunch program catered by local restaurants
- Extensive school-wide support network and a community of teachers, students, and families all committed to student success
I’d like to introduce to you my little clan, the Fenton family. We came to Baymonte in 2017 after enjoying 5 wonderful years of homeschooling. We were looking for a schooling program that provided more than just a fantastic curriculum, but a welcoming and supporting family-type environment for our kids, as well. To find a place that included reminders of God’s love and grace for the kids as they walk through the challenges that school can bring up was just that extra bonus- cherry on top! We have 3 children, Millie (6th grade), Ava (3rd grade), and Josiah (Kindergarten). Millie and Josiah are hard-of-hearing, and Ava can be very shy. Initially, the kids got to enjoy a free day at Baymonte. Immediately, following their first try-out day, everyone had already made a buddy and excitedly returned home saying they couldn’t wait to go back. What kid says that about school!? Amazingly, that is the environment that Baymonte has provided consistently over our two years now. When one of the kids is sick, prayers are not only lifted up for them, but sweet get-well cards are also passed along. Everyone, from the teachers, yard-duties, day-care, and office staff have shown over and over again that we are not just a number on campus, we have been included into their Baymonte family. I am so grateful for the comfort that I have received knowing that my children are getting a good education, but more importantly, learning that the greatest goal in life is to care for one another the way Jesus did. I am proud to call Baymonte our school.
Our sons love going to Baymonte. We have enjoyed everything about the school and what they have to offer. The school has a warm, welcoming feel, they have excellent teachers who care and nurture your child and the administration is available and approachable. The integration of faith and learning and their low student/teacher ratio leaves us no doubt Baymonte provides an environment where our sons will excel academically and socially, and where they will be built up spiritually. It warms our hearts every time any of our kids comes home from school and tells us their feelings about a Bible story and how they enjoyed it.
Baymonte Christian School has been a part of our lives for over a decade now. During this time, the amazing staff and dedicated teachers have truly become a part of our extended family. It is such a comfort in today’s world to know that when we drop our kids off at school in the morning, we are placing them in the hands of people whom we trust implicitly to educate their minds, mold their characters and keep them physically safe until we return. At Baymonte, our children are not just a name on the attendance list; the staff and teachers know their hearts, personalities, and passions. A child can sense when an adult is not really interested in them and, fortunately, that is not ever the case at Baymonte.
Our daughter, Ashlyn, just started high school in the fall after attending Baymonte for eleven years. Since we have never known any other school, we were a little unsure how she would handle the transition. I remember driving her to high school one morning in the first few weeks and she said to me, “Sending me to Baymonte was the best gift you could ever have given me.” I was surprised that she already had such an appreciation for her years there. Ashlyn just completed her first semester and has exceeded our expectations in every way.
Our daughter, Alyssa, is in seventh grade at Baymonte and our son, Emmett, in kindergarten. They are both excelling in school, but we still have a long way to go before they have made the transition to high school. I have no doubt, though, that Baymonte will prepare them equally well. Our family is so grateful for the dedication, energy and example of Christ’s love that is poured into them each and every day.
It was August 2008; my wife and I were about to make one of the most impactful decisions of our lives. We didn’t realize it at the time, but eleven years later, we reflect on just how important that one decision turned out to be. That was the month we dropped off our first child at the Little Red School House on Scotts Valley Drive. As we said our goodbyes and slowly walked towards our car, I vividly remember the tears streaming down her face as she looked on from the window. I recall sitting in the car with my wife, looking over to her and asking, “did we just abandon our daughter?” With that excruciating morning under our belts, our Baymonte experience had officially begun.
Meet our oldest daughter, one of the shyest and sweetest girls you’re ever going to meet. After a couple of years, she earned that preschool diploma, and proudly marched onto the main campus on Granite Creek as she entered kindergarten. This is where she met her 4th grade reading buddy, a girl she would lean on over the years for love, encouragement and a role model to admire. Daily she would see her buddy on the playground and would be wrapped into her warm embrace. This 4th grade buddy knew just how important her role was in shaping our daughter. You see, she had the same experience when she was in kindergarten, and now, as many 4th graders at Baymonte do, so she simply repaying what she received. Looking back, this single relationship was so incredibly formative for our daughter. How do you possible quantify the value of having a 4th grade mentor, who would daily show love and guidance to your baby?
Our daughter was starting to thrive, but she still had a long way to go. Did I mention she was one of the shyest girls you would ever meet? As we sat down for our parent/teacher conference when she was in 1st Grade, this phrase is something I will never forget. “Your daughter is so sweet, but I have to tell you, she is one of the most uncommunicative students I have ever had in my class.” I recall picking her up from school and she would race to use the bathroom, she was too shy to even raise her hand to handle her business. Yes, that shy. She did well with written assignments, but when it came to vocal obligations, she was terrified. We knew this was a hurdle she would need to step over as she got older, but as her parents, it felt so insurmountable. We would work tirelessly at home to build her confidence, but the reality was, she spent most of her time at school. We could only do so much. This is where our decision in August 2008 continued to pay invaluable dividends.
Year after year, grade after grade, teacher after teacher, our daughter’s confidence was beginning to grow, her shell was starting to crack. Every day when she walked onto that Baymonte campus, she was encouraged, she would be prayed for, and daily she was relentlessly loved. It’s been said that love is the most powerful emotion we can experience. The transformative impact that we experience when we are loved cannot be refuted.
Fast forward to June 2019, our baby girl is walking down the aisle of her middle school graduation and my wife and I couldn’t be prouder. As we tried to come to grips with just how quickly eleven years had flown by, we watched on as she slowly strode to the podium to deliver the keynote student address. That’s right, the most uncommunicative student in the history of 1st graders, was about to speak at her middle school graduation to a crowd of 200 people. As I write this, the emotions of this moment stir overwhelmingly inside of me. The significance of sending this shy girl to Baymonte simply cannot be adequately expressed. Day by day, they shaped our daughter into an incredible and confident young lady.
Today, our youngest daughter is in 4th grade; every time she sees that little kindergarten buddy of hers, she races over and wraps her tightly into her loving embrace. You see, this was something she watched her brother do routinely three years ago when he had his 4th grade buddy. Our son learned this from his oldest sister. She was the shy one, who learned the value of a 4th grade buddy’s hug when she was just a kindergartener. This is one of a thousand examples of what defines the Baymonte experience. It’s incredible how one strategic reading buddy relationship can help define a culture, and why the Baymonte campus is unlike any other.
Often lessons learned at school, the experiences which help you grow and develop, extend well beyond what transpires inside the four walls of a classroom.
Sincerely,
One deeply indebted father to a staff and administration who unconditionally love on my children daily