KANKAKEE — Since first opening its doors in 1973, Grace Christian Academy has undergone one major name change, but “grace” has remained constant, both in title and in philosophy, over the past 50 years.

In 2012, the private Kankakee school’s name was changed from Grace Baptist Academy to Grace Christian Academy to reflect the multiple Christian denominations among students and faculty.

Aaron Most, the school’s principal since 2018, said that “profound implications and responsibilities” are put on any school with “Christian” in its name.

On top of those pressures, Most said he often jokes about how difficult it can be to live up to being a school with “grace” as the first word in its title.

“Could we have named ourselves anything harder?” he asked. “How do we lead a school that is defined by grace?”

Centering school around not only facts and knowledge, but also the pursuit of wisdom, character and integrity, Most said, is all a part of the path to living up to the school’s name.

Assistant Principal Andrea Trivino said that “grace” is not just a name in front of a building; it is also how the administration operates on a daily basis.

“I love that, as hard as it is, the name of the school is Grace,” Trivino said. “That is incredibly difficult, but when you bring everything back to that … how we need to represent and be an example of God’s grace in a healthy way, in a biblical way, it changes everything.”

In recognition of the 2023-24 year marking Grace Christian Academy’s 50th anniversary in the community, some of the school’s past and present leaders sat down with the Daily Journal to discuss its legacy.

<strong>HISTORY</strong>

In 1973, Grace Baptist Church opened Grace Baptist Academy as a school for kindergarten through sixth grade with just fewer than 100 total students. Over the next few years, it expanded to serve junior high and high school students as well.

The church broke ground on a new educational annex, purchased additional land and added classroom space as the school grew. In the early 1980s, enrollment reached 350 to 450 students.

Presently, the school is home to about 250 students in kindergarten through 12th grade.

“When I came here in 1981, there was a tremendous excitement for Christian education,” said Pastor Dwight Ascher. “[John and Betty Marvin] were the great cheerleaders for Christian education. Grace Baptist Academy at the time was unique in the community, and a lot of families were looking for an alternative to public school.”

John and Betty Marvin were founders of Grace Baptist Academy. John Marvin was a pastor at Grace Baptist Church and took on administrative and coaching duties at the school, and Betty Marvin taught music, band and Bible classes.

Having passed away in 2016 and 2020, respectively, John and Betty Marvin served the church and school for 44 years until they retired in 2008.

Ted Marvin, their son, was part of the school’s fourth graduating class in 1981. He later served as an assistant pastor from 1990 to 2011 and helped grow the church’s teen camp ministry.

When Ted Marvin was in fourth grade at what is now King Middle School, his mother, a substitute teacher in the Kankakee school system, got ahold of one of his workbooks and was displeased with its portrayals of prayer and religious practices.

“I remember my parents having a conversation, ‘We’re going to start a school,’” Marvin said.

As a fifth grader during the school’s first year, Marvin recalls getting to vote on what the school’s mascot would be — although he thought the Blue Birds sounded cool, the mascot that stuck was the Crusaders.

Marvin said that 1981 was also a year when the school almost couldn’t continue due to difficult economic times in the Kankakee region.

“That was a difficult time for us,” Marvin said. “Grace wasn’t going to make it without the sacrifice of the parents, faculty and the church.”

<strong>FINANCES &amp; FUTURE</strong>

Ascher started as a teacher at Grace and served as its principal from 2003 until 2009, when he became a pastor for the church.

Ascher said that reaching 50 years never would have happened without the sacrifices of pastors, staff, administrators and families.

Families agreed to pay tuition on top of paying taxes to local public schools, and staff worked for little money compared to what they could be making in public schools.

Currently, tuition is about $5,200 per year. The school doesn’t receive any state assistance, aside from a few thousand Title II funds for professional development.

Julie Betz, the school’s business manager for over 20 years, said there were many times when closing down the school was a consideration due to extreme financial difficulties.

She agreed that reaching 50 years was not always a guarantee.

“It was a lot of planning and hard work, team work, working together to figure out how we can change things, improve things, make them better and still meet the needs of the organization,” Betz said.

When Most first came to Grace as a teacher about 13 years ago, the school had about 160 students and was “a decision away” from closing the high school.

But today, things are looking up.

Grace Christian Academy is now in a “fantastic financial position,” Most said.

“We just want to be as good of stewards as we can with what’s been given to us,” he said.

Within the past five years, the school has started an endowment fund that can hopefully be passed down to future leaders to help continue the organization.

For a long time, the school’s annual dinner auction was what kept the doors open.

“Recently, it has now turned into something where we can strategically use that money to invest back into programs,” Most said.

The school’s annual budget is just under $1 million, not including utilities and insurance costs, which are funded by the church.

“We feel like we’ve turned the corner,” Most said. “That’s not to say we’ll never be in financial straits again, but what we are doing is trying to put in a foundation that helps stabilize the organization.”

<strong>LASTING LEGACY</strong>

Another important milestone for Grace Christian Academy was being granted accreditation through the Association of Christian Schools International, as well as the Illinois State Board of Education, in the 2019-20 school year.

Gaining the accreditation, particularly through the ACSI’s rigorous process, has helped the school to continue evaluating its methods and pushing its standards. State accreditation has expanded opportunities for students in sports and extracurriculars.

Making it to 50 years as a school means not only that multiple generations of families have passed through its doors, but also that the legacies of influential staff and leaders over the years can continue to be seen.

Chad Dalton, senior pastor for Grace Baptist Church since 2021, is one example.

Dalton transferred to Grace as a student halfway through his high school career in 1990. Not only was he able to turn his low GPA around, but he also got an award for spiritual leadership and was motivated to go to Bible college.

“That summer I became a Christian, and I went from being one of the worst students in Kankakee County — I don’t know how you word it without sounding prideful — to one of the nicest …” Dalton said. “I almost didn’t make it through [high school], and what a great blessing to come back in 2013 as an associate pastor.”