Briarcrest Christian School

Infobox Secondary school
name = Briarcrest Christian School

motto = With God All Things Are Possible
type = Private co-educational elementary & secondary
affiliation = Non-denominational Christian
headmaster =
city = Memphis
state = Tennessee
country = USA
enrollment = 780
class size = 20
Student/ teacher ratio = 14 to 1
free_label_1 = Tuition
free_1 = $10,995
colors = green & gold
nickname = Saints
mascot = Saint Bernard
grades = pre-K–12
established = 1973
website = [http://www.briarcrest.com www.briarcrest.com]

Briarcrest Christian school is a college preparatory school with 3 campuses located in Memphis, Tennessee and Cordova, Tennessee. Briarcrest was founded by Baptist minister Wayne Allen. Programs for kindergarten through Grade 8 began in 1973, as Briarcrest Baptist School System, and a program for Grades 9-12 was added in 1974. In 1988, facing severe financial distress, the school disbanded its board of trustees and re-chartered as Briarcrest Christian School. The school is fully accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. Briarcrest is also a member of the Association of Christian Schools International, Southern Association of Independent Schools, Tennessee Association of Independent Schools, Memphis Association of Independent Schools, and the College Board.

Campuses

East Memphis

The East Memphis campus contains facilities for preschool-Grade 8. It is located in east Memphis, near the Poplar/I-240 interchange. The facility contains an auditorium, a cafeteria, two libraries, a gymnasium, 4 science labs, 4 computer labs, and 59 regular classrooms. There are also three playgrounds and two practice fields. The building was originally used for high school grades 9-12. It is now used only for pre-kindergarten through eighth grade.

Leawood

The Leawood campus contains facilities for students in Preschool-Grade 5. It is located inside Leawood East Baptist Church at 1620 Houston Levee Road in Cordova. The facility contains a gymatorium, a cafeteria, a playground, and a library. The campus uses a mobile computer lab which has wireless internet access.

High School

The high school campus located near Cordova, Tennessee, and Eads, Tennessee, is the newest addition to Briarcrest Christian School system. The campus contains facilities for grades 9-12, and in addition a complete sportsplex. The building contains approximately convert|100000|sqft|m2 of instructional and support space for students. The building also contains 27 regular classrooms, 3 computer labs, 5 science labs, a science lecture lab, a library/media center, a cafeteria, a multi-purpose room, and an area of the school designed specifically for the fine arts. The gymnasium contains locker rooms, a fully-furnished weight room, and a wrestling room. The sportsplex contains a football stadium and track, baseball stadium, softball stadium, soccer field, and a tennis complex containing 6 courts, In addition the stadium contains a field house and two concessions buildings.

ports

Briarcrest Christian School has fielded varsity sports teams since the mid-1970s. The school's team name is the Saints, and their mascot is a St. Bernard. Briarcrest competes in Division 2, the private school division, in the Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association. In football, they have one of the top players in the nation at left tackle, Austin Long. He will attend the University of Georgia to play football next year. They also have Leslie McDonald, one of the best basketball players in the nation. He is a shooting guards and will attend University of North Carolina as an archaeology major and to play basketball for Roy Williams and the Tar Heels.

Briarcrest Fine Arts Department

The mission of the Briarcrest Christian School Fine Arts Department is to provide a Christ-centered curriculum that inspires, equips, and empowers students to discover, develop, and demonstrate their God-given talents while establishing a life-long appreciation for the arts. The Briarcrest Christian School Fine Arts Department provides instruction for students beginning in Preschool and continuing through the twelfth gradein art, drama, and music. The department also provides creative and cultural opportunities for all students at the Briarcrest Christian School and members of the Memphis community. The Fine Arts Department offers instruction in visual arts, choral music, instrumental music, general music, and theater.The Fine Arts department lists accomplishments including: artists placing in various competitions, the honors band talent winner performance, the choir, and the theater's productions.

The Briarcrest Christian School Vocal Music Department strives to provide middle and high school students with a medium for musical expression. High school students may audition for the Briarcrest Singers or the Concert Choir. They may also audition for the High School Spring Musical. High School vocal students also participate in events sanctioned by the West Tennessee Vocal Music Educators Association. The Briarcrest Christian High School Singers is the high school’s premier vocal ensemble. The Briarcrest Singers provide auditioned vocal students a medium for advanced musical expression. Concert Choir members will receive training in musical fundamentals preparing them for placement in the Briarcrest Singers or a life making music. Audition is not required. This ensemble is open for freshmen through seniors. Each year the choir performs for chapel, churches, and local festivals.

The primary goals of the Band Program at Briarcrest are to enhance the individual's potential to understand music as an art form, to encourage the use of music as a form of expression, and to teach the value of music as an aesthetic experience. The Band Program seeks to provide instruction which focuses on a sequential program of skills development, while allowing the student to grow intellectually and socially. In order to accomplish these objectives, the program is divided into four levels: the High School Band and three Middle School bands. The high school band usually consists of ninth through twelfth grade students. These students are taught skills in music theory and music history through the performance medium. These students participate in the high school Marching Band and the high school Concert Band. The marching band usually competes in 6 marching contests during the fall semester. They also have an award-winning colorguard unit. The concert band competes at the state and national level. This group gives a concert at Christmas, as well as performing in up to five different concerts during the spring semester.

The Briarcrest Christian School drama program is designed to allow students who are interested in acting and staging to participate in plays and musicals. The high school curriculum includes an Introduction to Theatre Arts class, an Acting Class, Dance class and a Production Workshop class. The dramatic production during the fall semester is a classical or modern selection. Some past fall plays include A Midsummer Night's Dream, Father of the Bride, The Taming of the Shrew, The Crucible, Neil Simon's female version of The Odd Couple, The Nerd and The Fantasticks. The high school play in the spring semester is a musical that involves all areas of the fine arts department: drama, visual arts, choir, and the band. Some past musicals include Peter Pan, Annie, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Carousel, She Loves Me and Oklahoma!. The 2007-2008 season includes Neil Simon's Rumors and Stephen Sondheim's Into the Woods. The annual middle school musical is presented in the spring semester. Productions have included Schoolhouse Rock, Jr., The Music Man, Jr., Aladdin Jr. and The Wizard of Oz. The 2008 BCMS production will be Seussical the Musical.

The curriculum of Visual Arts organized at Briarcrest Christian Schools is both vertical and horizontal in approach. Through the implementation of a cross-cultural and cross-curriculum based approach, each instructor intentionally connects art history and art making to math, science, history and writing. The visual arts are taught from a biblical perspective relating art production to art history, criticism and aesthetics.

Notable Alumni

*Todd Adams- Owner, Newby's Restaurant, Memphis
*Robert Crump- President, Crump Mortgage Company
*Tim Dulin- Former Baltimore Orioles & Pittsburgh Pirates player; owner of Dulin's Gameday Sports Academy in Cordova, TN.
*Jeff Fite- University of Memphis punter; 1990 First team All-American
*John Hemphill- Actor/ Comedian
*Keith Kessenger- Former University of Mississippi All-SEC & All-American baseball player, former Cincinnati Reds player; Current head baseball coach at Arkansas State University.
*Jim Mabry- University of Arkansas football player; Associated Press First team All-American 1989.
* Dr. John Marr - Executive Director, Caribbean Marine Research Center and Perry Institute for Marine Science Inc. [http://www.perryinstitute.org]
*Michael Oher- University of Mississippi football player; First team all-Southeastern Conference football team 2006; subject of book, "", by Michael Lewis.
*Lisa Pickens Quinn- Guest Designer: The Oprah Winfrey Show, National Spokesperson: Kenmore Appliances and IKEA, HGTV’s "Sensible Chic": 39 Episodes as Design Director and Host
*Duncan Williams - President, Duncan-Williams, Inc. Investment Bankers.
*Garrett Evans - Mayor, Jackson, Tennessee
*Robert Towns- former football player at Harding university, now plays in the Arena Football league
*Greg Hardy- Ole Miss football player, Pre-season first team SEC player
*Leslie Mcdonald- #25 overall player (#7 shooting gaurd) in the class of 2009, will play for the University of North Carolina
*Alan Williams- former Wake Forest basketball player and writer of the book "Walk-On"

External links

* [http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/24/magazine/24football.html The Ballad of Big Mike] , "New York Times Magazine" article on Michael Oher '05, Memphis Briarcrest graduate, now playing football for Ole Miss.
* [http://www.briarcrest.com Briarcrest homepage]

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