Lynwood Christian Academy set to launch June 1

A school that once faced an uncertain future may finally be on solid ground.

Lynwood Baptist Church members voted recently to start a new school at its Cape Girardeau campus, essentially absorbing Cape Christian Community School and giving it a new name: Lynwood Christian Academy.

Lynwood senior pastor, the Rev. Mark Anderson, said starting a school was a personal vision he had for Lynwood Baptist Church, but noted Cape Christian’s need for a permanent facility was really the catalyst to create Lynwood Christian Academy.

“I always felt like Lynwood could have a Christian school and should do it, but it was not the right time until Cape Christian came to us in October,” Anderson said. “Instead of us hosting Cape Christian school at our facility, we entered into an agreement where we’re assuming responsibility for the school.”

Lynwood will assume ownership of Cape Christian effective June 1, according to current principal Carroll “Coach” Williams. The school has an enrollment of about 41 students and 11 faculty and staff, he said.

Cape Christian — which began at Bethel Assembly of God in 1975 — has been through some changes as local churches have allowed the school to use their facilities over the years. But due to the financial obligation associated with running a pre-K through eighth-grade school, former homes of Cape Christian were not a sustainable solution.

Bethel leaders announced in April 2018 the school would close at the 1855 Perryville Road location. But thanks to the generosity of Cape Bible Chapel, 2911 Kage Road, the school was not shuttered.

“I can’t say enough for Cape Bible Chapel and what they did for us last year and this year,” Williams said. “We were in a situation where, when Bethel closed the school, we had no place to go. And if we had not been able to go to Cape Bible Chapel, and if they hadn’t stepped up and offered to help us do this ... we would have been finished at that point.”

According to Anderson, Lynwood Baptist Church is the long-term solution.

‘Enrollment drives everything’

The creation of Lynwood Christian Academy, Anderson said, is a move right in line with the church’s vision: “To engage all people to experience Christ and equip them for life,” Anderson recited Monday.

The words, “engage,” “equip” and “experience” are echoed in what will be the school’s mission statement: “Lynwood Christian Academy exists to engage students and their families to experience excellent academic instruction through a biblical worldview and equip them to be champions for Christ,” Anderson said.

While Cape Christian has historically been nondenominational in its theology, Anderson said Lynwood Christian Academy will be “Baptistic in its biblical foundation.” But students from all denominations are welcome, he said.

Part of the vision for Lynwood Christian Academy is to increase teachers’ salaries over the next several years, which Anderson said will be dictated by enrollment.

“Enrollment drives everything from a financial standpoint,” he said, noting church leadership is optimistic tuition will eventually be able cover the school’s operational expenses. “Our goal is not to allow fundraising to be used for the operational expenses. ... We’re going to have to start out doing fundraising to help with the operational expenses, but we want to get to the point, based on enrollment, where any fundraising is used for projects, resources, future building, scholarships, those types of things.”

Cape Christian’s tuition is about $4,990 per student per year. Asked whether there would be a change in tuition with the move to Lynwood, Anderson said, “At some point, there may be a change. We don’t anticipate a change in the first several years of the school. We would love to decrease tuition if enrollment is able to sustain that.”

Enrollment also dictates whether an additional building is needed to house the school.

“For the immediate future,” Anderson explained, “we will be housing the school in our current facility, and as the school grows, then we will address space issues.”

Another structural change will include the addition of a headmaster, and Anderson said church leadership is searching for the right person to fill that role.

Williams has been the principal of Cape Christian for the last three years and said he will continue to serve the students and families of Lynwood Christian Academy in a similar capacity as the school makes its transition.

“My role next year is just going to be whatever I can do to help keep it going, and that’ll be fine,” Williams said.

Whether the school will need a principal and a headmaster not been determined, Williams said, and decisions of such nature may take time.

“We anticipate that most, if not all, the [current] faculty and staff will be a part of Lynwood Christian Academy, as well as students,” Anderson said.

Also anticipated is the immediate growth of enrollment “because it is associated with our church and church members will want to participate,” he said.

Lynwood now has a membership of about 1,300, with an average service attendance between 900 and 1,000, Anderson said.

Footprints, the church’s on-campus preschool that would become a feeder for Lynwood Christian Academy, has 65 students.

Footprints meets three days per week, but Anderson said Lynwood Christian Academy will offer parents the option of a pre-K class that meets five days a week.

“Right now, it’s really two separate things,” Anderson said. “ ... If [parents] want a five-day [class], that’s going to be under the school. But if they want a three-day experience, then it’s going to be under Footprints.”

A biblical worldview

Lynwood Christian Academy will offer more than an education, it will also offer a “biblical worldview,” Anderson said.

“The school’s going to have a positive effect for the student, for the home, for the church and ... for the community,” Anderson said. “We’re trying to give them a foundation in academics and spiritually so that they’re well-prepared for whatever it is in life they’re going to face.”

Lynwood’s desire is to develop Christ-like character in students, Anderson said, “which ultimately produces moral change.”

A biblical foundation, therefore, is a filter by which students are able to process what they learn in school, Anderson said, “so they’re able to see the world through that biblical lens and so they’re able to understand how the Christian worldview shapes their understanding of knowledge.”

Asked whether she thought such a worldview was important for students to get through an education, Cape Christian board member, parent and member of Lynwood, Julie Ann Palmer said, “Oh, absolutely.”

“You’re trying to teach them to be compassionate, to be kind, to be loving, to look on others with love,” Palmer said. “We just want everybody to love who Jesus loved, and he loved everybody.”

Though such worldview is a crucial piece of the parochial school, Anderson emphasized the church was “not anti-public school.”

“We’re giving parents an option who want this option,” he said. “Our church is still going to be very connected to the public schools. We do a lot of ministry to help support and encourage the public school system, the teachers and the students, and those ministries are going to continue.”

The excitement for the school’s future is growing, Williams said, noting that since the vote was taken at Lynwood and subsequently shared with parents, the school has already had several calls about how to apply.

“I’m biased,” Williams admitted. “ ... But we think the future is really bright.”