Celebrating Progress!

Future HCA high schoolers celebrating their new space

25 years after I first set foot on the campus of HCA as a 29 year old parent of a student in the newly-created TK class, it is hard to describe the journey from then to now. With growth always comes the challenge of maintaining the standards of excellence we have established. We have never been perfect, and never will be, but we have always had Godly, wonderful teachers, parents, and board members who have pushed us, prayed for us, and challenged us to be the best school option in this area. The bigger you get, the harder that is to manage, but I believe we have been able to do just that - to have a school that combines the highest level academic experience with an authentic Christian culture, partnering with the best parents in the area. It's an amazing formula that continues to produce amazing results. 

High School Students on the new field

As you pass by the property today, you will quickly see that the vision continues to develop. One year ago, we purchased 7 acres of land next door with the dream of a new space for our high school families to enjoy, while freeing up areas on the current campus for the yearly addition of new classrooms. Last year was a capital campaign, this year is fruit from our labors and gifts. As we watch the new facility going up one brick and stud at a time, I can't help remembering back to the dozens of people who prayed for modular units, begged for more Sunday School classrooms, set up an entire school every Monday morning and broke it back down each Friday afternoon, and dreamed that we might one day have a graduate who goes to college, or a soccer team that wins a trophy. Those folks were not just living for their own children back then, but for your children a few decades later (who were not even born yet).

First home game in September

What is the timeline? 

While the next stage of school development has taken a little longer than we had hoped, there is great excitement building as we see things coming together. Our beautiful new turf soccer field was completed in August, giving our team the best home field anywhere around. Now, the new facility is nearing completion, which will provide the best high school academic experience for our students as well. This is all not to mention the shiny new asphalt parking lot that will save your car's suspension beginning next fall! Just before Thanksgiving break, I met with our contractors and received an updated timeline on finalizing our new high school. We are now scheduled for completion in late March. At that time, we will relocate our high school students to make room for renovations on the current facility to create bigger rooms for our 3rd - 5th grade teachers in the fall. A year from now, we will repeat that process for 2nd grade and lower. As I said earlier, in between, we will pave the gravel lot (June, 2024). 

How much is this costing our school? 

As we discussed last year, the total cost of this project is around $4 Million. This includes the purchase of the land, the creation of a turf soccer field, the construction of a new high school, the renovation of current classrooms, and paving the parking lot. During our capital campaign last year, we receive over $3.2 Million in pledges, so we are just under $1 Million short of the goal. Focus has been shifted to construction this year, but at some point, we will revisit the remaining financial need to try to finish the project debt free after the three year pledges are all received. If you did not have an opportunity to contribute to the project last year, we still need you! Please let me know if you want to discuss. 

Back entry

What will this provide in future growth needs? 

Our school currently has about 520 students. Most of our grades have two classrooms per grade, but we have begun the process of adding a third classroom, which has grown through 3rd grade this year, and will continue to climb up through the school over the next 9 years. At that time, we will likely enroll between 650-700 students, which will probably be our long term landing spot. 

What is the community impact? 

While we have heard from those in our community who lament the loss of a public soccer field, a playground, a pottery class or who get frustrated with our traffic line every afternoon, the big picture is that young people are being trained to think, develop wisdom and discernment, become a positive influence on an increasingly negative culture, and be well-prepared to not only go to college, but be good moms and dads, community leaders and promote biblical worldview in the darkness. I heard someone recently say that what we are doing today is not for our children, but for their grandchildren. As a fellow parent, it is often difficult for me to see beyond my own household at times, but we all need to understand that as our society continues to decline, the importance of what we are doing here becomes increasingly critical. What will American culture look like in 30 years? We need to prepare for that, even if it is not in the forefront of our minds today. 

View of construction from the field

Why should I care? 

As I just mentioned, the world our children and grandchildren will grow up in will continue to change at least as much as we have seen changes in our world over the past few decades. HCA provides a few things that will equip our kids to thrive in that difficult future. First and foremost, our kids need biblical worldview. When newscasters and politicians are raging over endless topics, Christians should always ask the question of what God's Word says about these things, and pointing our children to that. This is beyond political parties. Every day on our campus, every viewpoint and every lesson are grounded in Biblical truth (the only real source of truth). Secondly, a Classical education will train our students to learn to reason, discern, debate, and discuss. Make no mistake that modern education primarily teaches memorization of facts through standardized testing. Those who have been raised on decades of memorization are now leading our culture into chaos, because they were not equipped to think and process and because they have only a secular definition of truth. We need to think well beyond high school and college. What will this type of education produce in our children when they are 30, 40, 50 years old? There is so much at stake, and we need to train up reinforcements for tomorrow's world. Finally, the Christian community at HCA is unparalleled. 350 families raising their children together for a common purpose is such a beautiful thing. The only thing greater would be 500 families doing the same thing. There is amazing strength in numbers, and a difficult world to raise kids is just a little easier when we do it together. 

Enjoy the ride HCA! The best is yet to come!

Future high school breezeway

Hallway between the old and new

Arched walkway for a classical look

Plumbing in place for the bathroom

Two classrooms and a gathering area planned for this space