PRINCETON, W.Va. – Leaders at Summit Christian Academy are celebrating the expansion of a new building for classrooms at the school.
Students, faculty as well as local and state leaders broke ground on the project that will allow the school to offer education to elementary students.
“About a year ago when we started Summit Christian Academy, middle school and high school we knew that it was an option but we didn’t realize how fast our enrollment numbers were going to grow,” said administrator, Dr. Kathy Hawks.
The school’s new building will be modular style and is expected to be ready by August for students to use in the next school year.
“The numbers have exploded. We were hoping for 90 new students by August. We already have 94 and it’s just the end of March. Our enrollment is trending upward,” said Dr. Hawks.
In attendance of the groundbreaking was West Virginia State Treasurer, Larry Pack. Pack says a contributing factor for growing enrollment at private schools is the availability of the state’s Hope Scholarship.
It provides nearly five thousand dollars in state funding to parents that allows students to get an individualized education.
“I think parents are really praying about it, thinking about it. What’s the best path for my child and so many parents are taking advantage of a different path for their children. It’s also from a financial standpoint, now they have the financial help to make those choices,” said Pack.
Pack says currently around 10,000 students are taking advantage of the Hope Scholarship in the state but he expects that number to rise to around 20,000 for the next school year.
You can learn more about the Hope Scholarship by clicking here.
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