CHRISTIAN SCHOOL ASSOCIATION OF history

In 1959, a Fine Arts Festival as well as the practice of awarding of an annual scholarship was begun.

The school was first governed by the board of the college and subsequently by a committee selected from among members of that board as described in a letter by Doctor F W. Mattox in 1961.

In 1964, a new constitution was adopted with a couple of significant changes.

In 1966, the Midland Park School was moved to a larger site in Midland Park.

Athens Christian School was founded in 1970 by Drs.

The American Association of Christian Schools began in August 1972 in Miami, Florida.

Eastern Christian started a preschool in 1973 to help parents begin their children’s education in Christian day school.

In 1978 Arno (Bud) Weniger, Jr., became executive vice president and assumed responsibility for day-to-day operations, and the office was moved from Hialeah, Florida, to Normal, Illinois.

The Christian Learning Center (now doing business as All Belong Center for Inclusive Education) was founded in 1979 in order to compensate for a lack of non-public, religiously affiliated school services in the greater Grand Rapids (MI) area for students with disabilities.

In the late 1980’s, CLC leadership and staff learned about the concept of inclusion, called “supported education” at the time.

He also discusses the development of Logos School in 1981.

When Gerry Carlson was promoted to executive director in 1985, AACS opened a DC-area office in Fairfax, Virginia.

In 1988, a new wing of classrooms was added to the Elementary School.

On August 29, 1989, 17 students with disabilities became the first students to participate in this program.

In 1991, Douglas Wilson, founder of Logos School, published Recovering the Lost Tools of Learning.

Upon Doctor Janney’s retirement in 1992, the AACS national office moved to Independence, Missouri, and Carl Herbster became president.

Directed by Charles Walker, the AACS education office opened in Chattanooga, Tennessee, in 1993.

By 1994, The Association of Classical Christian Schools (The ACCS) was started to help meet the overwhelming demand for training and information on classical Christian education.

The AACS legal office was established in Atlanta, Georgia, in May 1996.

Oostburg Christian School in Wisconsin joined CLC as the first out-of-region satellite program in 1998.

Also in 1999, the donated Terrace Lake property was sold, adding $2.8 million to the Endowment Fund.

By the 2000’s, hundreds of classical Christian schools were serving tens of thousands of students.

The national office was moved from Kansas City to Chattanooga, Tennessee, in September of 2003.

To represent the network of Christian schools serviced by CLC, the organization adopted the DBA (doing business as) CLC Network in 2005.

The Preschool moved several times until its final move to a renovated facility on the Midland Park campus in 2006.

Fueled with a passion for inclusive church community, CLC Network launched the church services division in 2007, led by Barbara J. Newman.

In 2008, CLC Network transitioned from a teacher placement service to a nonprofit consulting and advocacy firm, an important step to bringing our ministry of reconciliation to communities across North America.

July 1, 2009, LCS officially separated from LCU. The Lubbock Christian School Board of Trustees is made up of parents from the LCS community, and they have complete authority to govern and operate Lubbock Christian School.

In celebration of our 35th anniversary in 2014, this short video was created to honor the first-generation of leadership, including R.H. “Bear” Berends, Doug Bouman, Barbara J. Newman, Phil Stegink, Bev Van Noord, Judi Warner, and Greg Yoder.

Upon Doctor Gamble’s retirement in 2016, SBACS hired Doctor Wesley Scott as the third and current Executive Director.

In 2017, MACSA hired its current Executive Director, William Stevens, who came from a life-long career of leadership positions in Christian schools in the region.

Launched in 2019, the All Belong brand articulates the heart of our forty-year mission—that persons of all abilities belong within community.