Scott Bowes
Superintendent of Education
Bass Memorial academy came into existence in 1961 thanks to I. H. Bass who donated more than 400 acres of land. Bass Memorial Academy has a rich and impressive history that all Bass alumni can be very proud of. Bass has always been committed to providing an excellent education that prepares students for a life of service in this world and the world to come. Our mission is to intentionally provide an environment for students to develop a personal relationship with Jesus Christ while providing an excellent and unique Seventh-day Adventist secondary education.
In the fall of 2015, the BMA Board, Administration, and Faculty/Staff of Bass Memorial Academy determined that a Strategic Plan was needed to ensure the sustainability, growth, and future success of Bass Memorial Academy. This plan is the result of a lot of prayer, very careful reflection, and discussion regarding how to make Bass Memorial Academy the best place it possibly can be.
This strategic plan helps us identify where we want to be in the future, and how we are going to get there. Eight strategic initiatives have been identified and will provide the framework for ensuring growth and the ability to respond to the challenges that Bass Memorial Academy will face. These strategic initiatives are:
1. Spiritual – To intentionally provide opportunities for students to develop a relationship with Jesus Christ, to prepare them for His soon return, and to prepare them for a life of service in this world and the world to come.
2. Academic – To ensure the delivery of a consistently high-quality educational product.
3. Campus Life – To provide a safe, comfortable and healthy living environment to support the students in their academic and student life.
4. Enrollment – To increase student enrollment in order to sustain the financial operations of the school.
5. Development – To inspire involvement and investment in Bass Memorial Academy by establishing a solid infrastructure to build and nurture relationships, coordinate fundraising activities, and collaborate with our constituents at large.
6. Plant Management – To enhance the school’s physical plant and grounds to provide a safe, attractive, and functional environment in which to learn and live.
7. Administration – To create a vision, a culture of excellence, and a healthy organization that will ensure the sustainability, growth, and future success of Bass Memorial Academy.
8. Finance – To establish a sound financial structure that ensures self-sufficiency and sustainable growth.
Here are just a few of the action plans that we have completed over the past five years:
Start each day with a school-wide Morning Worship
Mentor students through baptismal classes/discipleship Bible studies and schedule these classes once per week during free time/work time
Switch to a semester system to provide more programs that will meet the learning needs and interests of our students
Add courses: Learning Strategies, Careers, ACT Prep, Robotics, String Orchestra, Physics, ESL, PE II, Art (3 different courses)
Switch from the iPad program to laptops with the full windows suite
Place a surveillance system in each of the dormitories
Develop the BMA Safety/Emergency Comprehensive Plan
Purchase Crisis Go which allows us to communicate quickly and respond quickly in case of an emergency on campus
Develop a relationship with UNASP in Brazil allowing students who are working on a US diploma to take courses at BMA
Create a new BMA website
Develop a quarterly alumni newsletter
Renovate the 2nd computer lab to make a Robotics lab
Fix the beams and roof on the gymnasium
Update our Mission Statement, Motto and Core Values
Develop a teacher evaluation system that documents how supervision and evaluation of personnel will take place at BMA
Administer the ACT Aspire to all Grade 9 & 10 students and the ACT to all Grade 11 & 12 students and track results on a yearly basis
Work with a company to provide income for our pine straw on campus
Create an Endowment Fund for BMA (done by GSC)
The future is bright for Bass Memorial Academy. Our enrollment was consistently growing (until COVID hit), but we are in the process of bouncing back nicely. Our industries on campus our supporting BMA and our endowment fund is growing quickly.
Our strategic plan continues to help us identify areas we want to improve on. We still have many action plans we are working on that will help make BMA be the best school it can be. Over the next few years, BMA (and the other schools throughout the GSC) will be working on becoming a high reliability school. This will ensure that BMA has a safe and collaborative culture, that effective teaching is happening in every classroom, that we have a guaranteed and viable curriculum, that we are moving towards standards-referenced reporting as well as competency-based education.
I invite you to partner with us as we work hard to achieve all of our goals and dreams for Bass Memorial Academy!