Greetings, First Baptist Community!
Happy New Year! As we step into 2025, we’re reminded of the fresh opportunities a new year and a new semester bring—a time for new beginnings, renewed focus, and continued growth. This season, our theme comes from Matthew 5:14-16: “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead, they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in Heaven.”
As we embrace this message, I encourage each of you—students, staff, and parents—to reflect on how we can be a source of light and positivity in our school community and beyond. Let us shine through acts of kindness, dedication to learning, and service to one another. Let us remember the importance of perseverance and resilience. Each challenge we face is an opportunity to grow and shine brighter. Together, we can make our school a place where every individual feels valued, empowered, and inspired.
This January marked an exciting milestone for our James Island campus, as students and teachers returned to school to find six brand-new classroom spaces ready for use! These additional rooms have already been a blessing, enabling us to make mid-year adjustments to better support our teachers, particularly those who had been sharing classrooms. Over the summer, we plan to implement a larger-scale classroom reorganization to fully optimize our new spaces.
The newly added classrooms were created in a space previously occupied by the weight room. To address this shift, we are currently in the process of building an auxiliary weight room directly behind the gym. This project has experienced significant delays due to challenges with permitting and ensuring compliance with city stormwater regulations. However, we are grateful to have contracted the same civil engineering firm that designed the James Island campus master plan to guide us through these hurdles. With their expertise, we are hopeful that this project is now back on track and moving forward.
During this interim period, we are incredibly thankful to Gold’s Gym on Folly Road for generously allowing our student-athletes to use their facilities at no cost. Their support has been instrumental in ensuring our athletic programs continue while we work toward completing this important project.
We deeply appreciate everyone’s patience and understanding throughout the construction process. The need for these updates is a direct result of the growth we are experiencing as a school community—a sign of great progress. These improvements position us to better serve our students and staff, and we are excited about what the future holds.
On the Athletics front, basketball season is off to a strong start and we certainly have no shortage of teams competing. We have six middle school teams and our four high school teams working hard and playing at a high level. The future looks very bright for FBS basketball. Our varsity girls are off to a 15-2 start while scoring some impressive wins over some notable programs. Spring sports are just around the corner as many of our sports have started working out in preparation for their upcoming seasons. Information for all spring sports was sent out this past week so that you can reach out to any coaches you would like information from. You can also reach out to the athletic department if you have any questions about the upcoming Spring season. We are also excited about the incoming FBS Athletic Hall of Fame Class of 2025. We hope you can join us for their induction ceremony February 1.
Thank you for your unwavering commitment to our school’s mission. I’m thrilled to embark on this journey with you as we continue to light the way for a brighter future. Let’s make this semester one to remember! Together, we shine brighter.
We invite you to stay up-to-date with current events by following First Baptist School’s social media and our school webpage. #WeAreFB
Be Blessed!
Dr. Justin Mitchell
Head of School
Check out this month's newsletter here!
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