Enrollment nearly doubles at Christian academy
WITH ENROLLMENT NEARLY DOUBLING since June, some classes at Cornerstone Christian Academy have had to be combined because teachers need the extra space. Here, Dawn Eckstein, left, with her kindergarten class, shares a room with Marcy Heald and her pre-kindergarteners. According to Head of School Brigitte Morse, the academy may need to look at adding on next year “because we’re at full capacity in some of our classrooms and are now even having to hold classes in the auditorium due to lack of available classroom space.”
Photos courtesy of Cornerstone Christian Academy
DOUBLING UP — With available classroom space already filled, Cornerstone Christian Academy is now utilizing the auditorium for some classes. Here, Isaac Ashby, left, teaches a music class for students in grades 1-3, while Kelly Carter, right, teaches an art class for the pre-K and kindergarten children. During the 2012-13 school year, the academy started with 46 students and ended with 45 as one student moved away. Now there are 76 students attending, with some inquiries still coming in.
By Scott Mitchell Johnson
Staff Writer
PRESQUE ISLE — Enrollment at Cornerstone Christian Academy has nearly doubled since June.
According to Head of School Brigitte Morse, as of Aug. 28 — the first day of school — there were 76 students enrolled at the non-denominational, independent Christian school.
“During the 2012-13 school year, we started with 46 students and ended with 45 as one student moved away,” she said, “and now we have 76 students attending. We’re still getting some inquiries coming in, so that number may increase.
“We’ve grown to the point where we’ve had to split students’ lunch and recess time because we have more students than we do space,” said Morse, noting that the academy has 37 students in the lower grade levels (kindergarten to grade 3). “Now students up to third grade eat together, and then grades 4 and up eat at another time. That’s something that they’ve been looking forward to being able to do for years, and we’re now at that point.”
Morse attributes the spike in enrollment to several factors.
“I think our location is very visible, and the staff that we have acquired throughout this past spring are known to many people,” she said. “We have staff saying, ‘I’m going to work at Cornerstone this year,’ and that’s opening up doors for other people to say, ‘Wow, if you’re going to have your children there and you’re working there, this might be a really good school.’ That publicity has been helpful, and we have a board whose heart is centered on what’s best for the children and I think it shows.
“We also have parents who are constantly talking up our school which is awesome,” said Morse. “We have one family that has actually brought in four referrals just from them talking to different people and mentioning how their child has flourished here.”
Eight new staff members have joined the ranks at Cornerstone.
“They’re mostly part-time staff,” Morse said, “plus we have regular volunteers this year, too, which is really helpful. They come in two or three times a week — scheduled — which is huge for us.”
For the first time since the school opened in the fall of 2006, Cornerstone is looking at having “club sports” this year.
“We’re not doing team sports yet because we don’t want to hinder students from being able to participate in their own town’s sports programs,” said Morse, “so we’re looking at more club sports for the first year. Plus, we don’t have a gym here, so that hinders us in terms of practices.
“With club sports, you have teams mixed with boys and girls,” she said. “We’re looking specifically at track and field, and swimming … things that are more individualized, but our long-term goal is to be able to offer some team sports.”
While the academy, located at 180 Houlton Road in Presque Isle, moved into its own renovated facility in the fall of 2012, the increased enrollment may lead to another building project.
“We’d love to see 150 students enrolled at Cornerstone within the next three years,” said Morse. “I think next year we’re going to need to look at adding on because we’re at full capacity in some of our classrooms and are now even having to hold classes in the auditorium due to lack of available classroom space.”
“We’ve actually had to combine classes just because we needed extra room. For example, pre-kindergarten and kindergarten are combined this year. We have two teachers in that classroom and that’s our largest classroom,” she said. “We may see another building project in our near future, but we’re very excited about the growth.”
Another goal, Morse said, is to “get an established high school program and have our first graduating class which will happen in 2016.”
For admissions information, contact the academy at 768-6222 or log onto www.cornerstoneme.com.
