Saturday, June 06, 2009
Life Lessons at Life Academy
As the small Christian school in Roanoke prepares to graduate its first class, it also hopes to raise awareness of its programs.
ERIC BRADY The Roanoke Times
Kaitlin King, a kindergartner at Life Academy in Roanoke, plays at Troutville Park during a school outing. Life Academy, a private school affiliated with Life Church, is holding a festival in Elmwood Park today to raise awareness of its programs.
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Kim Burnette, a mother in North Roanoke County, has a short script prepared for times people ask where her 10-year-old daughter goes to school: Do you know where the Oakey's North Chapel is on Peters Creek Road?
Yeah?
Well, right behind it is Life Church and next to that is Life Academy.
And when they ask what kind of school it is, she's got another reply ready: The school teaches students in pre-K through 12th grade, uses a curriculum based on Christian values and welcomes children regardless of their faith.
Such can be the situation for parents of children in small, church-run schools. So today -- from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Elmwood Park in downtown Roanoke -- parents, students and teachers from Life Academy plan to be more visible with a celebration festival. "We just want to raise awareness of who we are and where we are," said Burnette, who is president of the school's Parent Teacher Fellowship. "It is nondenominational, so we want everyone to feel welcome and be a part of what we do."
Life Academy is a ministry of Life Church, a Pentecostal Assemblies of God congregation on Deer Branch Road. It has a typical Sunday morning attendance of more than 300 people.
The church itself has grown rapidly, with attendance quadrupling since the Rev. Joe Copolo joined in 2003. The school has, too.
This year, Life Academy will see its first graduating class. And student enrollment for the academic year grew to 131 students from about 110 the previous year, said Sally Truslow, principal of the school. They expect about 145 in the fall.
Truslow said small schools such as Life Academy are competitive with larger private schools or with public ones because of a small student-teacher ratio (class sizes are from 12 to 14 students) and because students are generally well-behaved there, without the need of disciplinary enforcement.
"The most common comment we get from people who visit is the peace and joy you feel here," she said. "Now, I know kids don't wake up and say, 'Oh joy, I'm going to school.' But students come here and feel the joy of the Lord, and it really is present."
Small schools rely primarily on word-of-mouth marketing to get their names known in the community. So what better way to get some than with a festival, organizers said. Parents and teachers have been planning the event since October, Burnette said. They're looking to raise money -- through concession sales -- for the school's scholarship program, which helps about 30 percent of students pay for at least part of the $4,200 to $4,800 tuition.
And they also want to let people know that even though the school has its foundations in the church, it's not exclusive to Christians or people of faith.
"We welcome people and families of all walks, whether they are involved in a church or not," Truslow said. "You don't need to tell believers about Christ. You need to tell unbelievers, and bring them into the kingdom."
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