Christian Chapel Academy

By ANNE SHIFLEY
news@ColumbiaMissourian.com

With enrollment for pre-kindergarten through eighth grade hovering around 200 for the past few years, Vince Winn, principal of Christian Chapel Academy, and his colleagues joke around about being the best-kept secret in town.

Though the school opened its doors more than 20 years ago, traffic zips by on Providence Road without much notice to the church and the blue Christian Chapel Academy sign.

But Winn is more concerned with upholding the quality of teaching at the school than publicity.

“Our values here are the central tenets of Christianity,” Winn said. “We do that in the context of education.”

Despite Christian Chapel Academy’s religious affiliation, the school appeals to a vast array of faith backgrounds.

“We aren’t a parochial school in the sense that we aren’t teaching a particular doctrine,” Winn said. “You don’t have to be a Christian or involved in a Christian church to be here.”

Hinduism, Islam, Zoroastrianism and atheism have all been represented by the student body in the past.

During the interview process with prospective families, Winn discusses the exposure students will have to Christianity in daily teaching. Students do not have to believe in Christianity, but its teachings are used as the basis for teaching.

Christian Chapel Academy’s extracurricular activities tend to be more focused on the fine arts, Winn said. Students often work with PACE, a nonprofit educational theater group for youth, to perform plays such as this year’s “Orphan Train.”