Apple Valley Christian Academy

What is Apple Valley Christian School?

Apple Valley Christian School was founded in 1976. The vision was to provide for a Christian school in this rural desert area and develop a long-range plan to support Christian education.

The school began providing elementary education with nineteen students in kindergarten and 1st grade. By 1988, AVC had expanded to include a preschool through 12th grade program.  In 2012, AVCS incorporated as an independent Christian school with a supportive school board.

Today, AVCS serves a student body of over two hundred students and continues to excel as a distinctively Christian, classically-flavored college preparatory school by developing the Christian worldview through an academically rigorous liberal arts curriculum. AVCS strives to produce students who not only have an unshakable foundation in their faith, but who also have a love of learning.

"How can we help students take what we're trying to teach and have it become part of them? With the ultimate goal of how can they take their faith as Christians and understand it well enough, own it inside of them well enough, that no matter what they run into in college or life, they know why they believe what they believe." 

- Mr. Watson, High School educator at AVCS for over thirty years

Why does AVCS need funding?

The school is facing a significant budget shortfall. A new school board and administrator came on board this summer, and three key financial missteps developed as a result of decisions made by the previous administration.

* Pre-paid fees and tuition money from the upcoming school year was borrowed against to pay for bills in the current year. This happened year after year, with more and more being borrowed. AVCS started the 2017-18 school year with over $250k of its budget having been spent in the previous school year. Much of this “borrowing” was not documented properly, which made it difficult for the new administration to see the financial situation clearly.

* Several international students that were enrolled and expected to show up for this school year did not end up attending. This happened due to a glaring flaw in the international student admissions process whereby students that had been accepted and enrolled (and expected to attend) were still free to explore options at other schools.

* Tuition discounts were granted too freely without measuring how that would impact the overall financial health of the school. Teachers and support staff are budgeted for according to how many students are expected, but if not enough students are paying enough tuition then that becomes another source of budgetary constriction.

Why support AVCS?

One reason that the new administration came on board this summer was to breathe new life into the school and to help “correct its course”. Under its guidance, AVCS has thrived, and your support will help ensure that the exciting direction that the school is headed will continue for years to come.

* A demerit system was implemented, and tardies and absences are down almost 80% from this time last year.

* Three academic tracks were introduced (International Student, Traditional and Honors) in order to support and challenge students appropriately and inspire them to greater learning.

* High school students with failing grades are down over 80% from last year.

*High school students with a GPA below 2.5 are down almost 80% from last year.

* In particular, one international high school student who had failing grades in English last year has really benefited from the new system. This second quarter he advanced from an International Student English class to a Traditional one, and is hoping to be ready to take Honors English next year.

* There is more teacher support, one-on-one training, collaboration and training than in previous years, which has contributed to the improved communication and teamwork.

What lessons have been learned? How will past mistakes be avoided?

One of the main goals the new administration had for AVCS was for the school to be a lot leaner, meaner and fiscally efficient. All of the improvements in discipline, academic excellence and teacher training/support have been accomplished on a budget that is $15,000 less per month than last year’s budget. Obviously, the practice of borrowing from future academic school years will cease.

The international student admissions process has been corrected, and additionally, AVCS will begin reducing the international student population down to a 1:10 ratio of international to American students.

Help keep Christian education in Apple Valley! Through strong academic structure and our new discipline process, students are growing and maturing by leaps and bounds and we feel confident that we are equipping them to be Christian leaders and world changers in any setting they encounter in the future.