Life Christian Academy expanding in Sulphur
Published 6:00 pm Tuesday, March 10, 2020
Life Christian Academy, a private, pre-k-through-eighth grade Christian school in Sulphur, will soon be home to one of the newest high schools in the area. Last week the school held a land dedication ceremony for its new 15-acre property located a half-mile south of Interstate 10 on Beglis Parkway.
In addition to the high school expansion, the 70,000-square-foot facility will feature 41 state-of-the-art classrooms, baseball and football fields and a basketball gym.
Stefanee Tolbert, co-founder and principal, said while it was not her original plan to build LCA into a site that will eventually have the capacity for 700 students, she knows it was “God’s plan because His plan is way bigger.”
“It started with just a vision to home-school our family,” she said of the school’s beginnings in 2008. By 2011 the home-school group grew to 26 students that she and her mother Carolyn Nelson, co-founder and curriculum coordinator, taught.
“It just very quickly turned into even more students and different sites that we’ve transferred to trying to find a place that would hold us,” she said.
At its current location off of Maplewood Drive, Tolbert said they are “definitely out of room.” This year alone the school had more than 200 students they were unable to offer spots to due to limited space. The new campus will allow for nearly a doubled student enrollment and will help LCA reach its ultimate goal.
“We’re doing this in order to grow and reach more families. We’re working to raise up an army of world-changers who are equipped spiritually and academically.”
Like the school’s land dedication that featured a live band, fireworks and a Ferris Wheel, Tolbert said, the school’s emphasis on academics is also “out the box” compared to traditional schools.
“We have a very hands-on approach to education. Every single day having something out of the ordinary is the expectation for our team members.”
Teaching that includes room transformations, outdoor classes and the elimination of furniture lends itself to students who are more willing to tackle tough topics, she said.
“Really the point is to get rigorous content in without it feeling so difficult. Sometimes they even don’t realize it’s harder.”
The new campus will allow LCA to expand its rigor to feature a special emphasis on science, technology, engineering, arts and math, she said.
“It’s what we already do, really. But for us, facility-wise, matching that is important.”
For its future high school students, Tolbert said, the hands-on approach to STEAM will be especially important as students begin to look beyond graduation.
“It’s really broadening their mindset of what they can do and really not sticking to that traditional model. There’s a whole world out there to explore. We want to make sure that they’re equipped for whatever they’re passionate about. Those five categories really sum up a whole lot of opportunities.”
A non-denominational Christian school, Tolbert said, naturally, faith is at the heart of their curriculum. “It’s not about religion. It’s about relationship. Knowing God, how to seek Him, spend time in His word — those are going to be the things that sustain them.”
The new facility will give LCA the opportunity to expand its faith-building practices to include more of the whole family, she said, through the addition of regular parent chapels and Bible studies for parents. “It’s so much more than a school. It’s really just that whole family concept.”
For more information on Life Christian Academy visit, www.lcasulphur.com.
