News Headlines
Christian School Breaks Ground for New Campus
By MARY JEKIELEK INSPRUCKER, correspondent
A long-awaited groundbreaking will take place for the Cary Christian School (CCS) on Sept. 13 at 9:30 a.m. The event will signal the beginning of construction on a new $7 million campus for the school.
The new school will be situated on 21 acres on Old Apex Road between West Chatham and Maynard, right next door to the Triangle Swim Club. It will hold up to 780 students. Oaks Construction is building the campus, and BB&T is the lending institution.
The new campus will include 36 classrooms, a full-size gymnasium, soccer and baseball fields, library and computer and science labs. Highlights of Phase II, several years from now, are an auditorium, large lecture hall, the great library, and additional classrooms.
The Cary Christian School was incorporated in 1994. It opened its doors in the fall of 1996. Tuition is $3,900 for half-day kindergarten, and $4,825 for all other grades. In seven years, the school has grown from 85 students to over 500. There are 71 staff members.
In fact, their growth has taken them from their modest beginnings in modular units at Peace Presbyterian Church, just off Cary Parkway, to three sites. K-2 meets in the education wing of Peace Presbyterian Church. Grades 3-5 meet in the education wing of Salem Baptist Church. A commercial building on N. Salem Street houses grades 6-11.
"Our many locations were one of the reasons we decided to build the new campus," said Development and Marketing Director for Cary Christian, Gene Liechty. "We were spending $30,000 on rent for all the places, and could have one location for a comparable amount."
Teena Armstrong, the grammar school principal, has been with Cary Christian since the beginning. She said the school, which has a waiting list for some grades, would have grown even more if it were not limited by its facilities. She credits many factors for such rapid escalation.
"Initially, when we started, many students came to us because there were not many Christian options," said Armstrong. "Then, word of mouth spread the word about the quality of our school and its curriculum."
The curriculum at CCS includes a phonics-based and literature reading program. Grammar studies begin in first grade. Categorical and symbolic logic is taught. The Periodic Table is memorized in 5th grade. There is a mandatory Latin based course, although Hebrew, Greek, Spanish and French are also taught. Theology classes are taught in the high school. However, fifth, sixth, and seventh graders must memorize books of the Bible.
"We want our students to be able to read the word of God in its original text," said Armstrong. "Our school is non-denominational. We teach a worldview of the bible. Our teachers are Christian and they model a Christian life."
The last year of school, which currently only goes up to the 11th grade, will include studies on a compilation of books by Aristotle and Socrates. When the new school is built, there will be a 12th grade.
As for statistics, Liechty boasts, "The school regularly scores in the top 15 percent of students nationwide, high enough for admission to the most prestigious universities, on the annual Stanford Achievement Test. Our high school freshmen averaged 1,240 points on the SAT (Scholastic Aptitude Test). North Carolinas average for college bound seniors is 985. National average for college bound seniors is 1,010."
Athletics at CCS include soccer, basketball, volleyball, track, cross country, and an award-winning golf team.
Soccer is a highlight for eighth grade student Tylar Brannan. "My favorite part of school is the soccer games when everyone comes to see us play." She also likes CCS because, "I feel safe; Im not under peer pressure for being a Christian, and I can be myself."
Tylar, who has attended CCS since first grade said, "The things Ive notice changed at the school over the years is the growth, and better teachers who love us and love to teach."
Tylars mom, Jody, and her father, Greg, who is a physician in Cary, picked CCS for several reasons.
"We read a book by Doug Wilson, who is a superintendent of a school in Idaho, about the Logos classical education movement," said Jody. "It involves three stages of education, grammar, logic, and rhetoric. When we found out Cary Christian followed this program, we signed up. But it was the Christian aspect that was of the utmost importance."
In addition to Tylar, the Brannans sixth-grader Peter, third-grader Madison, and first-grader Grace, attend CCS. Therefore, they are looking forward to the new campus.
"Right now, I have to drive them to three different campuses because of their ages," said Jody. "It will be great to have a unified campus and know you really belong to one school."
Armstrong hopes the campus will be completed by the 2004-2005 school year.
"The new campus is a dream come true," said Armstrong. "From the beginning we had a vision of a unit school where brothers and sisters could all attend in one site, and we would be their extended family."
This article originally appeared in the Holly Springs Sun.