Illinois Valley News

Principal and teacher Michelle Harris with students at Community Christian Academy. (Photo by Scott Jorgensen I.V. News)

Since 1974, Community Christian Academy (CCA) has offered faith-based education to students throughout Illinois Valley.

Principal Michelle Harris said that prior to the school“s founding, parents seeking such an education for their children had to transport them to New Hope Christian School, near Grants Pass.

Community Christian is adjacent to Downtown Cave Junction, with its rear portion right across Junction Avenue from Lorna Byrne Middle School. It serves students from preschool through the 12th grade, and offers an individualized curriculum.

“They progress at their own speed and rate of learning,“ Harris said.

Enrollment at CCA is right around 34 right now, as the school year comes to a close. Students are tested and placed at the level where they are learning, Harris said. Placement is based on performance, instead of age.

“They don“t have to wait for everybody at their level to get the information,“ she said.

Classes are taught by three teachers, including Harris, as well as many volunteers from the community. Class sizes deliberately are kept small, with approximately five students in pre-school, 14 in kindergarten through fifth-grade and around 14 in high school.

CCA prides itself on providing a “Biblical worldview,“ Harris said, as that religious text is included in the six subjects taught.

High school courses include Old Testament history and the life of Christ; and those classes are transferrable to other institutions, the principal said.

Bible verses are used to teach 60 character traits, Harris said, but students don“t have to be of the Christian faith to attend the school.

“We try to teach Biblical principles and plant the seeds,“ she said.

As part of lessons, students also memorize Scripture and attend chapel once per week. The school also has spent the past several years emphasizing its reading and creative writing programs.

Harris said that the school teaches its kindergarten students to read, at which point they become prepared to teach themselves. Students do their class work individually at their desks, which have star charts spelling out the long-term learning goals that they set for themselves.

“It proves to be a very effective system of learning, because it“s goal-oriented,“ Harris said. “They even score their own work.“

At the end of the school day, students submit their packets and exercises for approval, and then tidy up their desks. A prayer is recited and led by a student before they are all dismissed.

The school year ends in just a couple of weeks at Community Christian, which keeps a schedule similar to the area“s public schools. Harris said that is done to accommodate some of the many parents who have students enrolled in public school and CCA.

But students who meet all their goals can end their school year early, she said.

Community Christian“s enrollment is bolstered by many of the students who return every year.

CCA has accumulated many success stories in its more than 30 years of existence, Harris said. Its students have gone on to become physicians, lawyers, airline pilots and missionaries.

“We send out qualified people all over the place,“ Harris said.

She counts herself as one of the school“s success stories, as she is an alumna. She attended George Fox University in Newburg, Ore., and has taught at Community Christian for 26 years.

Parental involvement is the “key“ to success at Community Christian, she stated.

“We“re like-minded in our goals of what we want for the children,“ she said.

Tuition at Community Christian is lower than at many private schools, Harris said, and is made possible by donations from the church ministry. The church also provides the school with its facilities and utilities, which cuts down on its overhead, she added, and frequent fund-raisers also help keep costs lower for parents.

Monthly tuition is $190 per month for elementary school students; $195 per month for high schoolers.

For more information, phone 541-592-3896.

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