Preschool students work on an ongoing project that has taught them about the planets of our solar system. This class of 3 to 5 year olds is part of a small student body totaling 67 that occupy a large new school building off Scheuber Road.
Preschool students at the Lewis County Adventist School use a computer device to look up facts about the solar system on Feb. 29.
Students in the high school class at the Lewis County Adventist School outside of Chehalis prepare for a physical science test using books and computers that stand on each student's desk.
The little schoolhouse on top of the hill is not so little.
At 28,000 square feet , the new Lewis County Adventist School off of Scheuber Road has large windows providing a view of the surrounding valley, roomy classrooms, a full-size gym and a music room.
Combined with an invigorating color scheme and energy-saving lights that sweep on and off as needed, the new school has the ambiance of a vacation retreat.
“You can see all three mountains on a clear day: Mount Rainier, Mount Adams and St. Helens,” said building committee member Bill Hammond as he led a tour of the facility last month. “It's an absolutely gorgeous site.”
Parents and the public were invited to view the school during a recent open house, at which time an American flag that once flew over the nation's capitol was dedicated and installed for use at the new school.
The school was first founded in 1922 in Centralia before locating to the then “new” school in 1953 on the current site on Scheuber Road west of Chehalis.
“The old school was 54 years old and not in very good repair,” Hammond said.
Faced with a decision of orchestrating a major remodel or building a new facility, the church constituency decided to build.
Under the care of the three Lewis County area Seventh-day Adventist churches (located in Centralia, Chehalis and Winlock), church members managed to raise an impressive $2.6 million toward the $5.5 million total project cost.
The project began in July 2010 and was not without the usual hurdles along the way, including the necessity to install a 35,000-gallon reserve water tank for fire safety purposes, and the discovery of an ancient landslide, creating unstable conditions necessitating the hauling in of 35,000 tons of rock.
But in October 2011, students were welcomed into the new academic year at the new school, with the ringing of a 1940s era bell, installed in the bell tower.
“I just like the color,” said Callan Smith, a first-grade student who was zipping down the hall to fetch some cookies on the day of the open house.
In his class, said Smith, he was “studying magnets.”
It is the increased storage capabilities and updated technology that is a pleasure for teacher Donna Meador. For seven years, Meador has taught a multi-age classroom of kindergarten and first-grade students at the school, teaching in both the old building and the new facility.
“There are lots of differences,” she said. “The old school was kept up well, but this new one has technology capabilities, such as built-in document projectors and the capability to show what is on our computer screen to the whole class.”
The first floor features four classrooms used by students in preschool through eighth grade. Upstairs are four more open and airy classrooms for grades nine through ten. The older students each have computers at their desks.
The school was designed for a capacity of 120 students, thought the current enrollment includes 69 students. Any student of any denomination is welcome to apply to attend school. Costs range from around $300 per month for students ages kindergarten through eighth grade to $415 per month for students in ninth and tenth grades.
In addition, the school recently received certification from the state of Washington for an all-day preschool.
Students receive education in all of the subjects with the addition of a Bible class.
Teachers at the school are both state certified as well as certified through the church, under the auspices of the North Pacific Union Conference, which has additional strict guidelines. Parents who wish to have their students attend will need to provide transcripts and letters of recommendation.
“We don't want to be a dumping grounds,” said Dan Baker, who has served as the principle at the school for 12 years. “Some people think, ‘Okay, (my child) is having trouble at the public school. I can get in here (at the private school).’ That's just not going to be the case. We provide a good, safe environment for learning.”
Parent Jenna Swena appreciates the curriculum for her two children, one in kindergarten and the other in seventh grade.
“I like the Christian education and that they are getting to learn about God, and also the smaller class sizes,” she said.
For more information, visit the Lewis County Adventist School online at http://www.lcas.org/ or call the school at 748-3213.
