St. Barnabas Episcopal School

St. Barnabas Episcopal School is a co-education day school in the city of DeLand: a regional retail, medical, financial, educational, and recreational center in Central Florida. With a current school enrollment of 372 students in preschool through eighth grade, St. Barnabas Episcopal School is one of two Episcopal schools in Volusia County that is accredited by the Florida Council of Independent Schools (FCIS). It is also a member of the National Association of Episcopal Schools and the Central Florida Episcopal Schools Association. Based on Christian principles, democratic ideals, and the system of free private enterprise, St. Barnabas promotes spiritual, ethical, cultural and social development in addition to challenging its students academically. The original education building was constructed at St. Barnabas Church in 1967, four years before the school opened. The Vestry of St. Barnabas Church approved the establishment of St. Barnabas School on March 8, 1971. The school opened for the 1971-72 school year with 175 days of instruction for kindergarten through third grade. The 2007-2008 school year began with the kickoff of the school's 35th Anniversary and St. Barnabas Episcopal Church's 125th Anniversary. A celebration of both anniversaries and a Dedication of our new Family Life Center were held in October. The Family Life Center was formally named the "Harwood Center" in honor of the Brown Family. Academically our students were strong as ever. During this school year students again scored within the top 4% in the nation as they had in the previous year. Our students are testing between 2 and 5 years (grade equivalent) ahead of their peers nationally. Eleven 7th graders qualified for the prestigious Duke University Talent Search. These students qualified because they received a 95% or greater on the ITBS. One student received state recognition by scoring in the top 30% of the talent search pool. In competing in the American Scholastic Achievement League 2008 Scholastic Challenge, our 8th graders participated in an online competition against 18,000 very knowledgeable students in American Schools worldwide. Thirteen St. Barnabas students scored above the national average of 52. Locally, 12 students (grades 6-8) were selected to go to the Volusia County Social Studies Fair. One 8th graders won first place and represented our school in the state competition. One 7th grade students won a special award from Stetson University Multicultural Institute for her project and presentation. Fifty-five students again this year (grades 6-8) participated in a variety of venues at Volusia County's Foreign Language Arts Festival. Seventeen students received first place awards and the school received first place overall. 4th-8th grade students participated in the Florida Mathematics League: 10 of the 40 students in 4th grade, 12 out of the 40 students in 5th grade, 27 students out of 103 middle school students earned national honors scoring above the national average. 3 students, 1 from 2nd grade, another from 3rd grade, and one student from 4th grade won 1st place in the DeLand Women's Club Spelling Bee.