Reunited: Christian school, daycare under one roof again

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They are reunited, and it feels so good.

Sandy Creek Christian Academy junior high and high school students spent the past year and a half attending classes in a new location at 5707 N. Sandy Creek Drive in Seymour.

But the Little Angels Daycare infants and preschoolers and the school’s elementary students were still at the downtown Seymour location, which is a part of The Tabernacle church building at 301 Indianapolis Ave.

Earlier this month, the staff members and more than 170 children could say for the first time that they were all under one roof.

“I feel like I’m in a dream,” said Misty Arrowood, the junior high and high school administrator.

At the old building, she said students and staff dealt with various issues, including water damage in the basement and having to put decorations on the wall to cover it up.

That’s no longer necessary.

“Now, it’s like I don’t want to put anything on my walls because they are beautiful,” she said, smiling.

For 32 years, the school, formerly known as Seymour Christian Academy, has provided Christian education to area children.

Eight years ago, however, officials wondered about the school’s future because only 33 students were projected for the next school year. They considered closing the doors.

Aaron Arrowood, who had been a youth pastor since 2000 and had just become the school’s headmaster, wasn’t about to let that happen.

“He said, ‘I see the difference that it makes in our kids,’ and so he said, ‘Please don’t (close the school). Give me a chance.’ He’s like, ‘Don’t pay me. I want to make it work,'” Misty said.

The next school year began with 56 students and has grown ever since. This year, there are 115 students in kindergarten through 12th grade and 62 children at Little Angels Daycare.

That growth resulted in school officials looking into a new location because they were landlocked in downtown Seymour. Classes also were cramped.

After looking at a few options, the Sandy Creek Drive building, which formerly housed a carpenters union, was available at just the right price.

“All of that was God because it all happened at that moment,” Misty said.

She said the students walking prayer circles around the new building also helped.

“They would come and leave on their break and drive over here and pray,” she said.

Once the property was purchased, remodeling began. The students also had a hand in that, including cleaning up, tearing down and removing items from the building.

After classrooms were completed on the first floor, junior high and high school students moved in.

When the second level was completed, they moved to the second floor, while the daycare, preschool and kindergarten through second grade moved into the lower level.

Read the full story in Thursday’s Tribune and online at tribtown.com.

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