Foundation of Ellensburg Christian School
Founded in 1991, Ellensburg Christian School provides Christian education and supports parents in their task of teaching students to know God and His world and to glorify Him through obedient service.
An Excerpt from “The First 20 Years”
Charles Norelius, former Board of Education President
God’s grace and blessings are very evident as one looks back on the beginning of the Ellensburg Christian School, the changes that have taken place, and the school as it is today. In some ways, starting and growing a school is like starting and growing a family. A newly formed family has to determine its priorities, assess its needs, and learn to work together. As a family grows in size and age, there are modifications to be made to the living space, household rules, communication, and financial responsibilities.
ECS has progressed over the past 20 years from having one teacher in one room of rented space teaching five children, to having a staff consisting of a Principal, Secretary, Bookkeeper, nine full-time and three part-time teachers, 111 students in grades K-8, a building of its own to house the school, and about six additional acres of land for future expansion. There have been struggles, hard decisions, and personal sacrifices over these twenty years, but there have also been God’s under-girding grace and provisions. This story helps us to remember many of those situations.
In early 1989, the Lord birthed the seed of a school in the hearts of several families, and they began to pray regarding the start of the school. An ad was placed in the Ellensburg Daily Record in November 1989. The ad invited anyone interested in Christian education to come to the conference room at a local restaurant. About forty people met and discussed the concept of a new Christian school and an association was formed to further the structure of the organization. A few months later, an advertised public meeting was held in Hal Holmes with an attendance of approximately seventy people. Officers were elected and the school was officially named the “Ellensburg Christian School.”
Over the next year prayer continued. Committees were formed and planning continued. In God’s timing the school opened its doors in the fall of 1991.
God's Faithfulness
God has been faithful to Ellensburg Christian School over the past 28 years. He planted the seed for such a school in the hearts of a few families, and called those who have worked in our school, as well as those who have provided support. While there have been some trying times with finances, adequate space, and personal differences, the important things have remained constant over this time:
The school has remained faithful to its mission of teaching a Biblical worldview.
The faculty has been excellent, composed of teachers who are well qualified, and dedicated to their work and their students.
The academic quality of the school has remained excellent, with standard testing showing that on-average, students test about two years ahead of their current grade. Also on average, the longer the student has been in the school the stronger he or she tests compared to his or her current grade.
Students continue to be taught a biblical worldview and challenged to be good thinkers and writers who are able to defend their faith.
Students also learn to be servants to others helping others both in class and out by participating in opportunities such as childcare for the MOPs program, Project Serve, and reading and singing for the elderly at retirement homes.
Our school family is a caring group made up of individual families who share a common goal of providing children with a Christian education, and of teachers and staff who have dedicated themselves to this task, and who, together, also care for each other's welfare.