Christian Academy hoping to expand in Niagara County
A vision of multiple campuses
NORTH TONAWANDA — A Christian school that opened in Lockport 16 years ago left its hometown for new digs this year.
But the Christian Academy of Western New York, now teaching children in the former Lowry Middle School on Payne Avenue, has plans to go back home, too.
Classes began Sept. 9 on the second floor of the former public school, the first floor of which houses the North Tonawanda Youth Center and the Gersh Academy.
The Christian Academy, formerly known as Victory Christian Academy, had been leasing space on Main Street in Lockport since 1993.
Now, the institution is working toward a goal of having multiple campuses in Niagara County.
“We think, as we grow, we’ll stay here,” said Patricia Poeller, the school’s administrator.
This year, there are 168 students enrolled in prekindergarten through 12th grade. That’s up from 150 students last year. Because of the move, students who live in Buffalo, Kenmore and the cities of Tonawanda and North Tonawanda now attend the school.
About 30 percent of the school’s students are from these new districts, said Poeller, who originally is from the City of Tonawanda and previously worked as teacher in the Williamsville School District.
The student body includes 15 international students who come from across the globe: Spain, South Korea, Nigeria, Germany and Chechnya. They live with area host families,
more of which are always needed, school officials said.
An agreement to buy 16.5 acres of property on Davison Road in Lockport from the county — including the former county infirmary, two residences and a chapel — was approved by the County Legislature in 2007 though parties haven’t yet closed on a deal.
“We have big plans for that site,” said Poeller, who has six grandchildren currently enrolled in the school and had three children graduate from it.
School officials said they hope an agreement with the county can be finalized.
Should it come through, the property acquisition would allow the school to offer another location for families who are in search of an option to public schools, said Paula Banks Dahlke, the school’s development coordinator and vice president of its board.
Affordable Christian education is something that’s needed in the State of New York, Banks Dahlke said, and the move to North Tonawanda has created additional visibility for the institution.
“We feel like we’re on the crest of something big,” she said.
The school provides a Biblical- Worldview education through a Christian-based curriculum developed at Bob Jones University in Greenville, S. C.
Students attend chapel services once a week, where a member of the area clergy is invited to speak. The students take state Regents tests and earn Regents diplomas. They wear school-issued uniforms, including polo shirts, four days a week; on the day of chapel, they dress in more formal attire.
The move to the former Lowry Middle School gives the school access to facilities that were available but more difficult to enjoy at its previous Lockport location.
The Payne Avenue building has an auditorium and a gymnasium. When located in Lockport, students had to be members of the YMCA across the street, whose gym the school utilized. There was no auditorium, library or art room, said Poeller, who handles administrative tasks, while Cynthia Lichtenberger works as the academy’s principal.
The Christian Academy offers several sports, including girls volleyball, boys flag football, cheerleading, boys and girls basketball, cross country and tennis.
The Eagles, whose colors are green and white, compete against other Christian academies, including Christian Central in Buffalo and Amherst Christian Academy.
Fifth-graders Michaela Wells and Kayla Smith, each 10, were eager to tout their school to a reporter who visited the school last week.
Wells, of Sanborn, and Smith, of Lockport, said they have enjoyed their experience at the school and like their teachers.
“We learn a lot,” Wells said.
A graduate of the Christian Academy, Patricia Cirillo finds herself back at the school. Cirillo, who graduated from the school in 1997, is in her fifth year as a math teacher.
Cirillo said she and the school’s other teachers try to create an atmosphere where students feel safe to be themselves, and feel loved.
“It’s very much a team effort,” she said. “We’re all together on one page.”
The Gersh Academy is college- level school for special-needs students that operates in the evening. It’s founder, Kevin Gersh, bought the property from the North Tonawanda School District in 2007.
Banks Dahlke, who is hosting three foreign exchange students who attend the school, also sent three children to the school, the youngest of whom just graduated from college.
Banks Dahlke said she and her husband, Charles, who helped coach some of the school’s sports teams and drove a bus for the school when their own children attended, can’t help but stay involved.
“It’s the kind of thing,” Banks Dahlke said, “where somebody gives to you, and you give back.”
Tuition at the academy costs $3,500 per year for kindergarten through eighth grade and $4,000 for grades nine through
12. Scholarships are available. For more information on the school, call 433-1652 or visit www.cawny.com .
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