By Brian Blackwell, Marketing Director
PINEVILLE – “When we adopted CCA last July we were stepping into a ministry strictly by faith,” said Doyle Hoychick, pastor of Trinity Baptist. “We had no understanding of what it took to run a school, what impact the school would have on us as a congregation and what impact we could have on the school and Christian education.
“That led to the one-year lease, but as a church we have been truly blessed with CCA as a part of our ministry,” Hoychick continued. “The school board, administration and the teachers have been gracious to us and conscious of our other ministries. Knowing this was of God, we took the step for the parents, teachers, staff and community to know CCA has a home at Trinity Baptist Church.”
The news of the 10-year lease between church and school is just the latest in a series of positive developments for CCA, which has been at Trinity Baptist since July 2012, a few months after the school relocated from Journey Church. CCA leaders learned in May 2012 that the school did not fit the long-term plans of Journey Church, its original home since 2006.
The school’s board of trustees – which includes Hoychick and members of Trinity Baptist – recently approved a tuition discount for children of area ministerial staff. The 50-percent tuition discount applies to the children of all full-time or bivocational pastors, chaplains and other full-time ministerial staff of all denominations.
Additionally, the board also approved its participation in the state voucher program for the second year. Forty-two students attended Cenla Christian Academy last year in the program, in which the state allowed students who were in what Louisiana determined was an underperforming school the opportunity to apply for a voucher. This voucher is used for the cost of tuition and some fees.
Cenla Christian Academy has a current enrollment of 85 students in grades seven through twelve. A member of the Mississippi Association of Independent Schools, the school competes in five sports and holds classes in a multipurpose building. The school also hopes to add two additional grades for the 2013-14 school year as well as complete a 6,000 square foot multipurpose building to accommodate the expansion. CCA’s boys basketball team just won the District Championship and South Regional Championship.