BCS Students Shine in Regional Competitions!

We are very proud to have our students participate in a plethora of activities outside of the regular school day in the areas of academics, athletics, visual and performing arts, and technology under the guidance of our teachers. Here are several of the highlights from recent weeks: Tech Challenge More than 40 students from BCS (Grades 4-6) participated in the Tech Museum of San Jose’s Tech Challenge to design a building that could withstand an earthquake.  Over 2,000 local students joined the competition, and one of our 4th grade teams won Best Overall, Third Place for their design in response to the challenge to build an earthquake safe structure that will pass 3 simulated earthquake shake tests. See a video of their design IN ACTION at Saturday’s Challenge here. Please join us in congratulating the “Kung Fu Penguin” team for their dedication and creativity on this project that they began working on in August! 40th Annual Mandarin Speech Contest Nineteen BCS students (Grades 1-8) recently competed in the 40th Annual Mandarin Speech Contest organized by the Chinese Language Teachers Association of California.  Congratulations to the three sutdents who received second place in their groups;  as well as the three students who received Honorable Mentions in their grade level groups.  The Mandarin teachers are pleased by the growth all students have shown throughout the speech preparation process and want to commend every student who participated for their hard work and willingness to take risks! Dare 2B Digital BCS 8th graders Ananya, Meghna, and Claire are the winners of the 2015 Dare 2B Digital Contest in which participants were challenged to develop a creative solution to a global problem using technology.   The competition, designed to increase digital fluency among girls ages 12-17 globally, had participants choose a problem from one of four categories - Cyber-Security, Environment, Health & Nutrition and Transportation and then create a video to describe the solution.   Ananya, Meghna, and Claire created an innovative solution for saving water - check out their winning video entry here! National Current Events League (NCEL) Winners Since the beginning of the year, our 6th-8th graders have been participating in the National Current Events League (NCEL), The NCEL, which is a national news competition for students in Grades 4-12, consists of (4) meets, or exam days, in which all students take an exam. Each meet (exam day) consists of 30 multiple choice questions and each student who participates receives his/her own test which has questions that are selected from the following areas: General News, Arts & Entertainment, Science & Health, Business & Finance, Sports.   The top ten scores are then determined and the sum of these scores is the school's team score, which is ranked against others in the state and the nation.  Congratulations to the BCS 6th grade class which placed 2nd overall in the nation AND to 6th grader Madhav, who was the top individual scorer in the nation. Additionally, kudos to the BCS 7th grade class for placing 3rd overall in the nation. BCS Chess Team National Tournament Last weekend, over 30 BCS students in grades 1-7 competed in the CalChess Scholastic Super State Championship tournament.  Over 900 students from across the country competed in this tournament, and for many of our younger students, it was their first time competing in chess.  BCS teams placed in the top 5 in every category ranging from Rookie (Grades K-3) to Champs (Grades K-8). Congratulations to all of our chess team members, and a special thank you to Lynn Reed who continues to coach our players year round! 2015 Saratoga Rotary Art Show Ten BCS students had the honor of having their artwork displayed at the recent Saratoga Rotary Art Show last weekend.  Please join us in congratulating these young artists for their great work! 2015 Margaret Thompson Historical Essay Contest Congratulations to third grader Krithi for earning first place in the historical essay contest sponsored by the Los Altos Historical Commission - read all about the event in this week’s Los Altos Town Crier. Genius Kids Math Kangaroo Contest Third grader Ryan placed first at both the state and national levels in the Genius Kids Math Kangaroo Contest held in March! Ryan has been working hard in math class this year, and we are proud to share this tremendous achievement with the school community!   Keep up the great work, Ryan! Holy Names University Choral Festival Our Sonore Choir (Grades 4-5) participated in the Holy Names University Choral Festival last weekend, where our students had the opportunity to perform and participate in workshops with other local students and experts.   Another great opportunity for our singers who have had several performances and adjudications in the last month!

Young Artists Showcase at SCCOE

For the second year in a row, BCS has two students whose work were selected by the Santa Clara County Office of Education to be displayed as a part of their permanent collection at their offices in Santa Clara!

Please join me in congratulating kindergarten students Alyssa and Aaron on this great achievement!  Alyssa and Aaron are two of only 30 students countywide whose pieces will join the largest collection of adjudicated student artwork in California.  

Aaron’s artwork, titled “Get the Bad Guys” shows a police car rushing to arrest some bank robbers.  When asked about his inspiration for this piece, he said, “I like police officers, and I love cars.  I would like to catch bad guys such as robbers and thieves.”

Alyssa wanted everyone to see a smiling panda in her winning piece titled, “Playing Panda” that she painted because she and her sister both like pandas. Alyssa added feet to her panda to make him look like he is walking. She is most proud of the mouth she drew on the panda.

BCS Students Shine in Bay Area Events

BCS Choirs Earn Top Marks at Festival

Earlier this month, all five of the BCS choirs, spanning grades 1-8, participated in the CMEA Choral Festival in San Jose.   The BCS Treble Voices, G-Clef, Sonore, Cambiata and Mattiniere each performed 3 pieces and were adjudicated by 3 different judges.  EVERY ONE of these choirs, whether at the beginning or intermediate level, received an “Unanimous Superior” rating - the highest score possible - from every adjudicator.   The Cambiata Choir performs at the CMEA Festival held in San Jose Additionally, Sonore (grades 4-6) and Mattiniere (grades 7 & 8), our two intermediate level groups, were judged on their sight-reading abilities, the ability to sing a 2-3 part song they had never seen before.  Both choirs also garnered “Superior” grades! Mr. Belles, our choir director, and all the students are to be congratulated for these tremendous achievements!   BCS' All Female Mattiniere Middle School Choir If you would like a chance to hear these amazing ensembles, please attend the Choir Concert on May 20th at Cubberley Community Center or a special performance by some of them at our 10 Year Anniversary and Open House celebration on May 22nd! 8th Grade Student Received Leadership Award Congratulations to our very own 8th grade student, Damoni Nears, for being recognized by the Santa Clara County Alliance of Black Educators at their 25th Annual Spring Recognition Ceremony. Leon Beauchman, President of both the SCCABE and Santa Clara County Board of Education, presented Damoni an award for her leadership and civic involvement.  We are very proud of Damoni and the leadership she has demonstrated during her time at BCS, and we look forward to seeing the great things she will continue to do in the community as a BCS alumn! Damoni and Ms. Lee after the awards ceremony  at San Jose State University