Faith Christian plans expansion
Faith Christian School recently purchased an additional 20 acres and signed a contract for an additional 15 acres to expand the current campus.
From Contributed Reports ROCKY MOUNT TELEGRAM
Friday, May 6, 2016
Faith Christian School is dreaming big with the recent purchase of an additional 20 acres to expand the current campus and a contract for an additional 15 acres that will give the school an overall footprint of 73 contiguous acres.
Faith Christian has a beautiful campus with elementary, middle and high school buildings in addition to athletic facilities that include a full gymnasium, field house, cross country trail, six tennis courts, baseball field, softball field and soccer field. With a student population that has more than quadrupled over the school’s 23 years to well over 400 students in preschool through 12th grade and expectations for continued growth, there is a pressing need for additional resources.
With the steady and continuous growth of the student population in mind, the board has embarked on planning for additional resources, including a fine arts facility with a theater to seat several hundred as well as classrooms for theatre arts, music and visual arts. Additions to support the athletic program will include an Athletic Center, a football field with a track, an aquatic center and a second gymnasium. There are also plans for increased parking, a community garden and much more.
“The board realized that it was time to make bold plans for the future,” said Garry Ward, president of the Faith Christian board. “We have been blessed by the commitment of the current administration’s leading with vision. As FCS continues to grow, we wanted to be positioned to make that vision a reality for many generations to come.”
The most recent area of growth has been the addition of middle school principal Erik Harris. He joins elementary principal Elaine Bunn, high school principal Danielle Coggin and Assistant Head of School Chris Schank to complete the administrative team under the leadership of Head of School Dr. Edward Bunn.
As a new team member but veteran educator, Harris expresses his perception of FCS.
"I am encouraged by the great care our teachers take to know, understand, and meet the individual learning needs of each child at Faith Christian School,” he said. “What makes this such a great educational environment is our consistent focus on educating the whole child, with the goal of growth for each student in all areas."
FCS is dually accredited by both ACSI and AdvancED.
Elementary Principal Elaine Bunn stressed the importance of this accountability.
“The school accreditation process allows schools to achieve excellence through high standards, quality assurance and continuous improvement,” she said. “We want our students to continually improve in their educational pursuits, so we, as a school, must continually seek out ways we can improve as well.”
Fine Arts is one of the areas of excellence for FCS with opportunities in theatre arts, general music, choral music, band and visual arts.
“Faith has always been bold in embracing what comes next,” said Danelle Cauley, theatre arts teacher. ”Out of all of the schools I have worked in, this administration is by far the most vision oriented. The fact that our school has a clear purpose allows us to step forward in multiple areas: academics, fine arts, spiritual life, leadership and athletics, enabling the whole team to understand where we are headed based on what we value.”
Athletics Director Jimmy Hendricks said the expansion will lead to a larger athletics program.
“We have seen Faith Christian Athletics grow every year since 2006 and are excited that our numbers have allowed us to compete on the 2-A level for the last 5 years. The purchasing of an additional 35 acres allows the school to expand our sports facilities and additional sports. Not only can we expand our Cross Country trail but it allows us to expand in the future to include football, a multi-sports facility with a enhanced weight room, a second gym and additional parking. We are excited for what the future holds for Athletics here at Faith Christian.”
Coggin discussed the impact of growth on academic offerings.
“As we grow at FCS, it has been our desire to continue to meet the needs of all of our students,” she said. “We have added a diversity of electives that allow students to learn more about their special interests ranging from cultural studies with international travel through Global Connections, fluently speaking a foreign language through our newly added Spanish 3 course or creating an incubator and chicken coup in Ag Science.”
Bunn said the expansion is a natural progression of the school’s overall mission.
“None of this is possible without staying true to a ‘God Focused’ pursuit of educational excellence,” he said. “It is exciting to see the overall development of programs, courses and new buildings along with the spiritual, academic, emotional/social growth of our students. Yet, these great benefits will always flow from the never changing aspiration of honoring God.”
Growth is on the horizon and FCS is up for the challenge with quality planning and outstanding leadership. This is an exciting time for Faith Christian School as it continues to be a valuable asset to our community. For more information about enrolling a preschool through high school student, contact the Admissions Office at 443-3700 ext. 4.
Faith Christian School recently purchased an additional 20 acres and signed a contract for an additional 15 acres to expand the current campus.
From Contributed Reports ROCKY MOUNT TELEGRAM
Friday, May 6, 2016
Faith Christian School is dreaming big with the recent purchase of an additional 20 acres to expand the current campus and a contract for an additional 15 acres that will give the school an overall footprint of 73 contiguous acres.
Faith Christian has a beautiful campus with elementary, middle and high school buildings in addition to athletic facilities that include a full gymnasium, field house, cross country trail, six tennis courts, baseball field, softball field and soccer field. With a student population that has more than quadrupled over the school’s 23 years to well over 400 students in preschool through 12th grade and expectations for continued growth, there is a pressing need for additional resources.
With the steady and continuous growth of the student population in mind, the board has embarked on planning for additional resources, including a fine arts facility with a theater to seat several hundred as well as classrooms for theatre arts, music and visual arts. Additions to support the athletic program will include an Athletic Center, a football field with a track, an aquatic center and a second gymnasium. There are also plans for increased parking, a community garden and much more.
“The board realized that it was time to make bold plans for the future,” said Garry Ward, president of the Faith Christian board. “We have been blessed by the commitment of the current administration’s leading with vision. As FCS continues to grow, we wanted to be positioned to make that vision a reality for many generations to come.”
The most recent area of growth has been the addition of middle school principal Erik Harris. He joins elementary principal Elaine Bunn, high school principal Danielle Coggin and Assistant Head of School Chris Schank to complete the administrative team under the leadership of Head of School Dr. Edward Bunn.
As a new team member but veteran educator, Harris expresses his perception of FCS.
"I am encouraged by the great care our teachers take to know, understand, and meet the individual learning needs of each child at Faith Christian School,” he said. “What makes this such a great educational environment is our consistent focus on educating the whole child, with the goal of growth for each student in all areas."
FCS is dually accredited by both ACSI and AdvancED.
Elementary Principal Elaine Bunn stressed the importance of this accountability.
“The school accreditation process allows schools to achieve excellence through high standards, quality assurance and continuous improvement,” she said. “We want our students to continually improve in their educational pursuits, so we, as a school, must continually seek out ways we can improve as well.”
Fine Arts is one of the areas of excellence for FCS with opportunities in theatre arts, general music, choral music, band and visual arts.
“Faith has always been bold in embracing what comes next,” said Danelle Cauley, theatre arts teacher. ”Out of all of the schools I have worked in, this administration is by far the most vision oriented. The fact that our school has a clear purpose allows us to step forward in multiple areas: academics, fine arts, spiritual life, leadership and athletics, enabling the whole team to understand where we are headed based on what we value.”
Athletics Director Jimmy Hendricks said the expansion will lead to a larger athletics program.
“We have seen Faith Christian Athletics grow every year since 2006 and are excited that our numbers have allowed us to compete on the 2-A level for the last 5 years. The purchasing of an additional 35 acres allows the school to expand our sports facilities and additional sports. Not only can we expand our Cross Country trail but it allows us to expand in the future to include football, a multi-sports facility with a enhanced weight room, a second gym and additional parking. We are excited for what the future holds for Athletics here at Faith Christian.”
Coggin discussed the impact of growth on academic offerings.
“As we grow at FCS, it has been our desire to continue to meet the needs of all of our students,” she said. “We have added a diversity of electives that allow students to learn more about their special interests ranging from cultural studies with international travel through Global Connections, fluently speaking a foreign language through our newly added Spanish 3 course or creating an incubator and chicken coup in Ag Science.”
Bunn said the expansion is a natural progression of the school’s overall mission.
“None of this is possible without staying true to a ‘God Focused’ pursuit of educational excellence,” he said. “It is exciting to see the overall development of programs, courses and new buildings along with the spiritual, academic, emotional/social growth of our students. Yet, these great benefits will always flow from the never changing aspiration of honoring God.”
Growth is on the horizon and FCS is up for the challenge with quality planning and outstanding leadership. This is an exciting time for Faith Christian School as it continues to be a valuable asset to our community. For more information about enrolling a preschool through high school student, contact the Admissions Office at 443-3700 ext. 4.
