PRESQUE ISLE, Maine — After a decade in operation the Cornerstone Christian Academy has decided not to begin another school year due to falling enrollment.
Days before classes were set to begin at Cornerstone Christian Academy on Monday Aug. 28, parents were told that the private religious school will be not be open for this school year.
Dwayne Conley, chairman of Cornerstone’s board, said in a press release that since May the school has seen a “steady attrition of students resulting in decreased tuition revenue.”
Tuition was “the primary source of funding for the school,” and officials tried to find a solution that could keep the facility open, Conley said in the media release.
“As difficult as this decision was, we could not ignore the stress on our finances,” he said. “Staff members have discipled our students in a meaningful way, building a foundation of faith that will serve them for a lifetime.”
Conley said that the school held a meeting with staff and families of students last Thursday and Friday to answer their questions. Students enrolled at the school are in the process of transferring to their local public schools, unless their parents pursue another option, such as homeschooling.
“After student transfer details have been completed, discussions regarding the future of the school will continue,” the school’s press release stated.
A group of area families started the non-denominational Cornerstone Christian Academy in 2005 in an effort to provide a faith-based alternative to local public schools, according to the school’s website.
The school opened in 2006 in rented space at the Family Christian Center in Presque Isle, with 20 elementary school students and one 11 grader. Four volunteer teachers followed a “video-based Christian curriculum” in the first year, according to the school’s website.
The school gradually increased its enrollment, hired teachers and in 2012, began classes at its current location in a renovated and expanded office building on U.S. Route 1 at the southern end of Presque Isle.
As of the 2016-2017 school year, the academy counted 66 students with 9 teachers, and offered a slate of pre-K to grade 12 classes and programming, according to its website. Middle and high school students were able to participate in sports at their local districts if they wanted.
The school was run through private tuition, although the “vast majority” of families received financial aid, according to the website.
