Enrollment up at Christian Academy

Whitefish Christian Academy’s enrollment has surged this school year in part because of a statewide scholarship program for private schools.

“This year we’ve had unprecedented growth,” the school’s headmaster Todd Kotila said.

Enrollment has increased 40 percent for full-time equivalent students. The school has gone from 60 fte students last school year to the current level of 84 fte students. Breaking down student numbers to full-time equivalent accounts for students, such as preschoolers, who attend only part-time.

The total school population is about 125 students. In its 33rd year, WCA offers instruction from preschool through eighth grade.

“When the economy was down the school population was struggling,” Kotila said. “We’d lose some students and pick some up, but we were struggling to stay even.”

A primary reason for the increased enrollment is a statewide scholarship program began last year that is designed to give children funds to attend private schools. WCA was one of several state private schools that received scholarships through ACE Scholarship, a Colorado nonprofit group that provides tuition scholarships.

The scholarship allowed 12 full-time students to attend WCA who likely wouldn’t have otherwise. ACE provides partial need-based scholarships of $2,000 per year per student. Tuition at WCA is about $5,000 for the academic year.

“That had a big impact on our enrollment,” Kotila said. “It gave the resources to help families that wouldn’t have been able to come here.”

Much of the growth in student numbers came during the summer months. In June last year, the school had 66 fte students and by August had increased to 75 fte. A few students enrolled at WCA after the school year began last fall. New students have come from both Whitefish and beyond — the school added seven new students from Kalispell alone.

“We added students after the end of first quarter,” he said. “Those students were some who had a bad experience in public school and came here.”

Parent Liana Danielson, who lives in Kalispell, has two children who attend the school. After her daughter attended kindergarten in public school, she began to think about what the ideal environment would be like for her daughter’s school and the answer was WCA.

“After six months there it’s the best thing we’ve done for our kids,” she said. “It’s a hidden treasure that most people don’t know about.”

Her daughter is in first grade and her son attends preschool. Danielson credits the teachers and staff for making the school feel like a community.

“The school and teachers are partnering with the parents for the children’s education,” she said. “When you bring up an issue to a teacher they don’t ever act inconvenienced. They want to know what they can do to help the child and they follow up on it. It’s a collaborative relationship with teachers rather than the parent feeling like an outsider.”

Kotila credits high academic standards and the culture of the school as other reasons why families are choosing the private school. WCA does not have ties to any single church or denomination, but follows a set of basic Christian tenets. The school teaches a classical education curriculum resulting in students that score well above grade level on standardized tests, according to the school.

“We’re pushing our kids to their full potential,” Kotila said. “We’re able to control the culture here because of shared values. We have so little tolerance for bad behavior — we don’t have bullying and cheating is very unusual.”

The school’s relatively small size also contributes to that different culture, according to Kotila. The largest classroom has 15 students.

Parent Brad Stevens said the smaller class sizes have made a difference for his fourth-grader, who had fallen behind in public school before transferring to WCA. He was concerned that the high academic standards might be too much for his son, but he found the school willing to help his son get where he needed to be.

“Being a Christian family we do the best to instill good values and our children spend a lot of time at school so we want them to have that,” he said. “After two and a half months he’s caught up in all subjects. It’s been a really good change. It’s a special culture there. The kids want to excel.”

At the middle school level, student numbers remain low particularly for seventh and eighth grade classes. Kotila attributes that to the school’s lack of a high school program.

“From day one there’s an escape hatch because parents know their student will end up in public school,” he said. “Often it’s easier to pull out at around the sixth grade. That doesn’t help us.”

If enrollment continues to increase, a high school program might not be far behind for WCA. Student tuition doesn’t cover the entire budget at the school. About $250,000 is needed annually through fundraisers and donations to keep the school operating.

“If, on the business side, we’re not as worried we can consider a high school,” he said. “When I can have a set date for a high school program then our middle school will grow in population.”

The ACE Scholarship program has the potential to keep adding students to WCA. The scholarships are designed to stay with students over a four-year period and WCA is eligible for scholarships in subsequent years also. After 10 years the school could see an additional 30 to 40 full-time equivalent students as a result of the scholarship program, noted Kotila.

“Our story is one of growth,” he said. “We’re going to keep growing.”