Westminster Christian Academy (Georgia)

Westminster Christian Academy
Location
1640 New High Shoals Road
Watkinsville, Georgia 30677
United States
Information
Type Private
Religious affiliation(s) Christian (Protestant)
Denomination Presbyterian[1]
Established 1989 (1989)
CEEB code 113196
NCES School ID A9102257 [2]
Headmaster Jared Clark[3]
Enrollment 270 [4]
Color(s)         
Nickname Lions, Lady Lions
Lower School Principal [5]
Upper School Principal Ryan Gibadlo[5]
Website www.wcalions.org

Westminster Christian Academy (WCA) is a K–12, private, college preparatory school. Its campus is located at 1640 New High Shoals Road in Oconee County, Georgia.

History

Westminster Christian Academy was founded in the fall of 1989. The school's initial class was composed of 10 first, second, and third grade students meeting in rented space at Faith Presbyterian Church in Watkinsville, taught by Karen Schaefer.[6][7] The school grew alongside the oldest kids in this first class, adding a new grade level after each school year.[8]

In 1994, enrollment in the school outgrew the capacity of its facilities at Faith Presbyterian. As a result, the school's lower grades (K-4) remained at Faith, and the higher grades (5-8, the highest grade offered at the time) moved to facilities at Watkinsville First Baptist Church. WCA's first high school class graduated in Spring, 1999.[6]

The school completed the first phase of development at its present location, a 30-acre (120,000 m2) site in Oconee County, in the fall of 1998.[6] An additional expansion has been planned that would add a new gymnasium and bring the school's capacity to 500 students.[9]

Academics

The school enrolled 270 students across all grades for the 2011-2012 academic year.[4] WCA's Facilities include an administration building, which also houses the library; a lower-school building, which houses Pre-K through fifth grade; an upper-school building with a gymnasium, which houses the middle grades and Westminster High School; and two athletic fields. The gymnasium in which the middle and high school grades houses ten classrooms where the students are taught.

Uniforms are required four out of five days, with Friday being "casual Friday," in which the students can wear non-torn jeans, and T-shirts without emblems. Also, there is a chapel held every Thursday mornings where all students K-12 sing praise songs and hymns before going to their regular classes.

WCA is accredited by the Georgia Accrediting Commission and has a dual accreditation with the Southern Association of Independent Schools and the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.[10]

Athletics

WCA's athletics teams compete in Region 1-A of the Georgia Independent School Association.[11] The school sponsors teams in the following sports:

The school claims that nearly 75% of the student body participates in an officially-sanctioned sport.[12]

References

  1. "Private School Universe Survey". National Center for Education Statistics. 2009-2010 academic year. Retrieved 10 April 2012. Check date values in: |date= (help)
  2. "Search for Private Schools – School Detail for Westminster Christian Academy". National Center for Education Statistics. Retrieved April 10, 2012.
  3. "Westminster Announces New Head of School". WCA Web Master. March 6, 2015. Retrieved 6 March 2015.
  4. 1 2 "Westminster is Growing" (Press release). Westminster Christian Academy. September 2, 2011. Retrieved April 10, 2012.
  5. 1 2 Faculty section of WCA official website. Last accessed April 10, 2012.
  6. 1 2 3 Greg Martin (March 7, 1999). "Private schools add diversity to Athens' educational system". Athens Banner-Herald. Retrieved 9 April 2012.
  7. "Westminster Founder Receives Distinguished Honor" (Press release). Westminster Christian Academy. April 9, 2012. Retrieved April 10, 2012.
  8. Founding Principles section of WCA official website. Last accessed April 10, 2012.
  9. "Westminster Christian readies for academy's first expansion". Athens Banner-Herald. February 16, 2008. Retrieved 9 April 2012.
  10. Purpose section of WCA official website. Last accessed April 10, 2012.
  11. "School list by Region". GISAStats.com. Georgia Independent School Association. Retrieved 10 April 2012.
  12. Athletics section of WCA official website. Last accessed April 10, 2012.

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/27/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.