A Brief History of Bethesda Christian Academy
Bethesda Childcare Center first opened the doors for ministry in 1964 for infants and toddler care. In the early 1990’s, members of Bethesda Baptist Church felt the need for a Christian school to be located in the southern part of Durham County. A committee was formed to research the interest of families with school-aged children. The first of many tasks facing this committee was spending time in prayer and seeking God’s direction.
Once adequate need was determined, the committee, headed by Pastor John Butler and his wife Kristi, began to make plans for the academy to open in 1994. After much prayer, the committee felt led to delay the opening until the 1995-1996 school year. Bethesda Christian Academy (BCA) began operation in 1995 with a kindergarten class of 17 students. The staff consisted of one kindergarten teacher, an assistant, and Pastor Butler serving as Principal. In the 1996-1997 school year, a first grade class was added. Pastor Butler continued to serve as Principal.
In 1997, Bethesda Baptist Church completed the new education wing of the Church and the Academy had the privilege of moving into space at the beginning of the 1997-1998 school year. This new location provided the Academy with space for a library and computer lab. In addition, Mr. Tony Manning was hired as the full-time Principal of BCA and enrollment increased to 75 students in grades K-2. Originally, the BCA School Board had planned to add one grade per year to our list of offerings. In 1998, the decision was reconsidered, and a third and fourth grade were both added to the Academy. In the years to follow, one additional class was added per year until our curriculum K-8 was complete.
As BCA entered the 2000-2001 school year, we ventured into the world of “middle school”. An athletic director was hired and the middle school sports program began. Ms. Brenda Brown was promoted to the newly created Assistant Principal position to help with the expanding student population. The Band Program, which began the year before, was expanded to include intermediate band. Middle school brought the extra challenges of providing the needed space for students to have the experience of changing classes and the opportunity to socialize. Over the next two years, modular units were added to house the core middle school classes. Teaching schedules were adjusted to allow teachers to specialize in specific subjects. Required state testing for Algebra and Computer was added to the middle school curriculum. Most of the growth challenges were handled on site; however, due to the limited gym and athletic fields, it became necessary for BCA to rent sports facilities. Art, Music, Physical Education, Computer, Spanish and other classes were added to the curriculum. Various elective classes, after school clubs, National Junior Honor Society, Student Government, Bible Club and a variety of middle school sports were added to give students the most positive learning experience possible.
To stress the importance and dedication to the strong academics, the childcare center became renamed to Bethesda Christian Preschool in the late 2000s.
In the 2019-2020 school year, the BCA School Board with the leadership at Bethesda Baptist Church prayerfully sought to start a high school at BCA. Seeing God's hand at work, the high school was officially adopted and a plan set into place to enroll our first high school students in the fall of 2021. During the summer of 2020, Mr. Joey Johnson was hired to lead the development of our high school program. Our high school was designed to be flexible to meet the individual needs of every student at our school. Our high school devised a hybrid classroom system that incorporated core classes in person and some elective classes through accredited online organizations. Our high school also offers dual credit or dual enrollment classes for our 11th and 12th grade students. With many opportunities for each student, the development of a personal relationship with Christ is always the goal.
During the 2021-2022 and 2022-2023 school years, the Church Elders and the School Boards voted to merge the preschool and the academy into one strong academic and spiritual ministry under the direction of Pastor Jonathan Barbee. The vision was created based from the scripture in Ecclesiastes 4:12 "...a threefold cord is not quickly broken." All ministries working in unity will build an incredible foundation for our students from 2 years old through 12th grade.
Since the inception of all ministries, Bethesda has impacted thousands of students.
The Academy was initially accredited during the 2006 school year through the Association of Christian Schools International and Cognia. The academy continues to maintain dual accreditation.
Once adequate need was determined, the committee, headed by Pastor John Butler and his wife Kristi, began to make plans for the academy to open in 1994. After much prayer, the committee felt led to delay the opening until the 1995-1996 school year. Bethesda Christian Academy (BCA) began operation in 1995 with a kindergarten class of 17 students. The staff consisted of one kindergarten teacher, an assistant, and Pastor Butler serving as Principal. In the 1996-1997 school year, a first grade class was added. Pastor Butler continued to serve as Principal.
In 1997, Bethesda Baptist Church completed the new education wing of the Church and the Academy had the privilege of moving into space at the beginning of the 1997-1998 school year. This new location provided the Academy with space for a library and computer lab. In addition, Mr. Tony Manning was hired as the full-time Principal of BCA and enrollment increased to 75 students in grades K-2. Originally, the BCA School Board had planned to add one grade per year to our list of offerings. In 1998, the decision was reconsidered, and a third and fourth grade were both added to the Academy. In the years to follow, one additional class was added per year until our curriculum K-8 was complete.
As BCA entered the 2000-2001 school year, we ventured into the world of “middle school”. An athletic director was hired and the middle school sports program began. Ms. Brenda Brown was promoted to the newly created Assistant Principal position to help with the expanding student population. The Band Program, which began the year before, was expanded to include intermediate band. Middle school brought the extra challenges of providing the needed space for students to have the experience of changing classes and the opportunity to socialize. Over the next two years, modular units were added to house the core middle school classes. Teaching schedules were adjusted to allow teachers to specialize in specific subjects. Required state testing for Algebra and Computer was added to the middle school curriculum. Most of the growth challenges were handled on site; however, due to the limited gym and athletic fields, it became necessary for BCA to rent sports facilities. Art, Music, Physical Education, Computer, Spanish and other classes were added to the curriculum. Various elective classes, after school clubs, National Junior Honor Society, Student Government, Bible Club and a variety of middle school sports were added to give students the most positive learning experience possible.
To stress the importance and dedication to the strong academics, the childcare center became renamed to Bethesda Christian Preschool in the late 2000s.
In the 2019-2020 school year, the BCA School Board with the leadership at Bethesda Baptist Church prayerfully sought to start a high school at BCA. Seeing God's hand at work, the high school was officially adopted and a plan set into place to enroll our first high school students in the fall of 2021. During the summer of 2020, Mr. Joey Johnson was hired to lead the development of our high school program. Our high school was designed to be flexible to meet the individual needs of every student at our school. Our high school devised a hybrid classroom system that incorporated core classes in person and some elective classes through accredited online organizations. Our high school also offers dual credit or dual enrollment classes for our 11th and 12th grade students. With many opportunities for each student, the development of a personal relationship with Christ is always the goal.
During the 2021-2022 and 2022-2023 school years, the Church Elders and the School Boards voted to merge the preschool and the academy into one strong academic and spiritual ministry under the direction of Pastor Jonathan Barbee. The vision was created based from the scripture in Ecclesiastes 4:12 "...a threefold cord is not quickly broken." All ministries working in unity will build an incredible foundation for our students from 2 years old through 12th grade.
Since the inception of all ministries, Bethesda has impacted thousands of students.
The Academy was initially accredited during the 2006 school year through the Association of Christian Schools International and Cognia. The academy continues to maintain dual accreditation.
