Christian Academy moving to Grovetown

This might be the final school year Evans Christian Academy conducts classes in Augusta.

//

The school, currently based out of Crossbridge Baptist Church on Skinner Mill Road, is buying Berea Baptist Church in Grovetown to relocate.

"We're in the process of getting Berea Baptist Church so we can get back to Columbia County," said Evans Christian Academy Director Freida Lachman.

Before moving to Crossbridge last school year, the school met for 11 years at InFocus Church in Evans.

Lachman did not disclose the terms of the sale. The Columbia County Planning Commission will discuss the purchase during a Thursday meeting, but Lachman believes it just to be a formality.

The academy intends to start conducting classes in the new location next school year.

Open houses will be held at the church at 213 S. Old Belair Road, starting at 3 p.m. Sunday and March 7.

"None of our students have had a chance to see it on the inside," Lachman said. "Parents can see what we're planning and some of our former students will be there to tell us what they're up to now."

Not only does purchasing Berea Baptist get the academy back in Columbia County, it also constitutes the private school's first property purchase.

"That's a gigantic (step for us)," Lachman said. "We're going in faith that this is what God has laid out for us."

However, Berea Baptist is not intended to become the permanent home for Evans Christian Academy.

The school currently has 55 pupils in grades six through 12. As enrollment grows, Lachman said, the academy will move forward with a $1.6 million project to build a new facility on Chamblin Road across from Grovetown High School.

"That's the property we feel is going to be our home," Lachman said.

For information on the school, visit www.evanschristian academy.org or call (706) 364-3565.