Mission, Values, and History
Mission
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.
The liberal arts are defined as the studies (language, philosophy, history, literature, abstract science, and mathematics) intended to provide broad knowledge and to develop the intellectual capacities of reason, judgment, and discernment.
The education of students is of the utmost importance today and for future generations. The Bear Creek School provides students opportunities to grow into the individuals God intends by presenting a challenging academic curriculum from a Christian worldview. We strive to educate children through a high-quality Christian liberal arts education, producing graduates qualified for acceptance into the finest colleges and universities and who engage the world with wisdom, compassion, and courage.
Core Values
Faith
We believe that faith supports knowledge, reason, inquiry, and analysis and that faith combined with reason produces wisdom.
Excellence
We believe in pursuing superior standards of academic, artistic, and athletic excellence, enabling students to grow in maturity, to learn how to think, to succeed in higher education and in life, and to engage the world.
Virtue
We believe in education designed to encourage individuals to live lives of truth, beauty, and goodness and to inspire others in the same direction.
Trust
We seek to strengthen mutual trust and caring among our employees, relying on one another as one coherent team.
Innovation
We seek to empower faculty and staff members to address challenges creatively, to grow and learn, and to view their Bear Creek experience as a shared adventure.
Predictability and Support
We seek to create an environment focused on stability and reliability, in which students and adults alike clearly understand expectations and receive the support they need to meet and even exceed those expectations.
Wisdom
We seek to cultivate intellectual virtue in students so they develop wisdom to live lives of integrity and influence.
Compassion
We seek to foster in students a love and compassion for their neighbors and the greater community, demonstrated by word and deed.
Courage
We seek to encourage students to be courageous and to lead by engaging the world with wisdom, compassion, and courage.
Diversity
Diversity Statement
The Bear Creek School defines diversity, equity, and inclusion through the lens of faith—that God is the author and originator of all things, including humans, the crown of His creation, made in His image. As an image-bearer of God, each person contains value and significance, and thus, should be valued for his or her uniqueness, treated with equity and respect, and invited to participate in every aspect of the life of the school.
See Headmaster and President Patrick Carruth's letter to our school community regarding racism and racial injustice.
Non-Discriminatory Statement
The Bear Creek School admits students of any race, color, or national and ethnic origin, to all rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the school. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, or national and ethnic origin in administration of our educational policies, admissions policies, or scholarship, athletics, and other school-administered programs.
History
Each year as a school community, we have rejoiced in changed lives resulting from a strong commitment by faculty, students, and parents to excellence, both in academics and faith. The mission and vision that began The Bear Creek School continue to be central to all that we do. Building upon a strong foundation of academic excellence and spiritual development, we look forward to the future.
The Bear Creek School was founded in 1988 by Dr. Nancy L. Price. Opening the first year as a home school extension while seeking a facility, Dr. Price wanted a true combination of high academics and a Christian educational environment. Operation began the fall of 1989, with twenty-one students in kindergarten through grade 4.
By 1994, The Bear Creek School had outgrown its space at Bear Creek Community Church and bought 15 acres of property on Union Hill. The year 2000 saw the completion of our $12M building project to house grades K – 12 in a 90,000 sq. ft. facility.
In the 2000 – 2001 school year, the first classes were held in the new facility and in June 2001 Bear Creek graduated its first class.
In 2005 the school expanded by purchasing a 10-acre property, just over a mile from Redmond Campus. The following year, the students at our Woodinville Campus (grades K – 6), moved to Valley Campus.
In fall 2008, Bear Creek launched the Preschool program to serve students ages 3 – 5. These students attend class at Valley Campus which was re-envisioned in 2015 as a home exclusively for our youngest learners.
In fall 2015, The Bear Creek School opened a new 52,000 square foot Upper School building located on Redmond Campus south of the Main building. Designed for grades 9 – 12, the building echoes a collegiate environment, with a central commons and separate floors for the humanities and for math and science. The performing arts wing has classrooms and a 350-seat theater. With the opening of the Upper School building, our Main building at Redmond Campus was re-purposed serve all our K – 8 students.
School Traditions
Mascot
Bear Creek’s mascot is Titus the grizzly bear. Titus appears at basketball games and other athletic events. He promotes school pride and adds an element of spirit and entertainment for the fans.
Colors
The school’s colors are forest green and white with an accent of gold. Forest green symbolizes our new life in Christ, white symbolizes purity, and the gold symbolizes royalty in regard to Christ being our King.
Seal
Our school seal is a visual reminder to our school community of the purpose of our school and to help keep us focused to achieve our goals.
Motto
Beneath the clock on the clock tower standing guard over the main entrance of our school is inscribed our school motto CREDO UT INTELLIGAM, taken from St. Anselm's famous maxim. This Latin phrase may be translated "I believe that I may understand." It is an affirmation declaring to all who approach the view of truth to be found within these walls. Etched with symbolic permanence deeply into the stone, these words guard both the vision upon which our school has been established and the course into the future.
Anselm meant, and we mean by this motto, that reason is not the only way of knowing. Contrary to modern assumption, reason by itself it is not the sole, or even an adequate means for complete understanding. We believe in order to understand, and claim with reason that it is right and necessary to believe in order to understand. The word credo refers here specifically to belief in the testimony of Scripture, not to just any belief. Anselm did not, as is so common in the modern age, oppose reason and faith. Christian faith is not irrational, but complements and completes reason.