Grace Christian Academy to open as Owensboro’s newest school

OWENSBORO, Ky. (WFIE) - Grace Christian Academy will open its doors come August 26 as the area’s newest school.

“Owensboro is privileged to have a lot of great schools and we’re certainly thankful for that,” Chris Holmes, head of school for Grace Christian Academy said. “One of the things though that will be distinctive for our school is the opportunity to impart Christian values.”

Grace Christian is a private, non-denominational Christian school.

“That’s part of our mission and we want to not only make our school academically rigorous, but also spiritually nourishing for our students,” Holmes said.

Right now, Holmes says the school is only enrolling students going into ninth grade. However, he says they have plans to expand.

“Each year we’ll add a class until we have all four high school classes represented, and we think that’s really the best way for us to begin to make sure that we address all of the needs of the school appropriately,” Holmes said.

Ninth grader Jonathan Dechman says he’s looking forward to being one of the first seven students enrolled at the school.

“It’s exciting that I get to be part of the first class and be able to make history,” Dechman said.

School leaders say students will be doing in-person learning five days every week.

“We’ll be taking temperatures and making sure everyone is within the recommended guidelines there,” Holmes said. “Our students and faculty will both be wearing masks each day.”

Holmes says even though starting a new venture during the pandemic can come with challenges, they’re excited to get the year going.

As of now, administrators say the school will be located inside Yellow Creek Baptist Church. School leaders say in a few years, they plan to build the school on its own campus.

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