Private school celebrates 10 years of expansion

As Texas public schools fight against shrinking budgets, there's a local private school that remains focused on expanding.

North Texas Christian Academy in McKinney celebrated its upcoming 10th year on Thursday at a ceremony marked by nostalgia of its beginning and hope for its future.

"People come and look at our school and know we're doing some good things," said Toni Young, head of the school since 2004. "We are just adding things every year that enhances the experience for kids, that just make it better."

And the school seems to be adding students at the same rate. What opened with a handful of pre-K and kindergarten students has grown to include students through eighth grade. About 100 students are enrolled this year at NTCA.

The school's roots were planted in 1997, when several families from Westside Church of Christ desired a Christian preschool for their children. Their yearning escalated as the preschoolers grew older, so they transferred their mission to High Pointe Christian Academy, which opened at High Pointe Church of Christ where the school is today.

Michelle McDougald, the school's first teacher and most recent curriculum director, led a 16-student class through the 2002-2003 school year. The school took on NTCA as its name in spring 2005 as it established a more regional base.

"At first it started as just something we wanted to do for our little group of kids," said McDougald, a member of the first NTCA board who just finished her final year at the school. "It grew into much more of a mission and an outreach to the community."

Students began piling in from surrounding cities like Allen, Celina, Frisco, Prosper and Gunther. The school has added a higher grade level each year, and plans for further expansion in the next two years, Young said.

"We are going to have to move to our own building," she said. "We don't have plans yet as to exactly where or when that will be, but we are outgrowing this space. We use every inch of this building."

The school maintains its "nurturing environment," Young said, with classes still at 10 to 12 students each, and a 17-member staff to teach them. She said the Spanish, Music, Art, Religious Study, Technology and Science (SMARTS) curriculum sets NTCA apart from other private schools.

The music was evident Thursday when NTCA students and teachers joined McKinney Chamber of Commerce members in singing a celebratory song, led by Willie Williams, a 35-year ordained minister from Dallas who this year will spend time at the school.

The chorus - "I respect you, you respect me, a beautiful world this is going to be" - was an example of the values weaved within NTCA academia, a dual approach McDougald said isn't as prevalent elsewhere.

"I don't think everyone realizes the benefit their kids get from being in a smaller class with teachers who have a passion for teaching not only academics, but about morals and values," she said. "You don't have that opportunity in public school, and I think most kids really need that."

McDougald, whose family moved to Oklahoma three weeks ago, attended the celebration as a cherished reminder of NTCA's foundation. Alongside her were the school's first students, parents and board members.

A larger student body, more teachers and an overall new look greeted them. Their school has grown up.

"Seeing all the things the students have gotten to do is exciting," McDougald said. "We've really been blessed over the last 10 years."

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