Centralia Christian School Principal Ann Stout, left, laughs with a class of eighth graders on Friday afternoon at the school in Centralia.
A class of seventh graders at Centralia Christian School work on a math lesson on Friday afternoon.
In an effort to combat decreasing enrollment, Centralia Christian School plans to add a ninth- and 10th-grade program next year, providing high schoolers with an opportunity to obtain a Christian school education.
The school’s current enrollment is 136, down from when it peaked during the 2007 school year with 219 students.
Principal Ann Stout said ideally the school would like to have 175 students. The hope is to expand the programs the school has, catering to a population of students who don’t have the option to continue with a Christian education after eighth grade.
“We want to increase our enrollment,” Stout said. “All Christian schools are struggling with enrollment, so we think that this will maybe be a way to increase enrollment as well as meet a need in the community.”
As long as the school has enough students enroll in the program, it plans to offer core classes in math, English, world history, science and the Bible. In all, 12 students would need to enroll for the combined grade levels. There will be four levels of math, and students would be assessed to see what level they are at. The combined ninth- and 10th-grade class would “loop” through the subject matter, ensuring each student learns the same information.
The school also plans to add electives such as Spanish, robotics and online classes.
Through an auction held in March, the school raised money for what it calls a STEAM program, which would focus on science, technology, engineering, art and math.
“I think there’s a real interest in it among our kids and among our families,” Stout said. “That’s where education is going and a STEM program really tries to integrate those problem solving content areas and collaboration.”
Classes will also be offered “a la carte,” providing students, especially those who are homeschooled, an opportunity to attend class on a specific subject matter. The first-year principal said it would allow parents to enroll their children in one or two classes, providing a little help when it comes to upper-grade math and science courses.
“The homeschool movement, I think, has become such a viable alternative. It’s such a strong community that a lot of families really enjoy,” Stout said. “We really want to be able to serve those homeschool families where we can be of help.”
The goal of the expansion is not only to increase enrollment, but to provide the students with an educational experience that prepares them as well or better than the public schools, Stout said. Although the students currently enrolled in the school leave eighth grade academically ready, the principal said adjusting to a public school can be difficult. By expanding the school to include high school grade levels, it would allow the students to continue learning in an environment they are comfortable in.
“They are well prepared academically, but socially it’s way different,” Stout said. “Families who have a student that they think would benefit from a smaller setting like we can provide I think would benefit.”
