In 1984, a small group of church members from County Road Baptist Church was led together by God because they shared the earnest conviction that their children should have a Christian education. They wanted their children taught to see all of life in the light of God's Word, including academic subjects, music, the arts, athletics and social activities. It was their desire that their children would be educated to do all things as unto the Lord, heartily.
County Road Baptist School opened its doors in September 1984 in the church facilities with kindergarten through twelfth grades. The first of many steps of faith in the history of the school had proven that God's hand was upon the work.
In the summer of 1993, the school came under new leadership with Mark B. Jago and led to change its name to County Road Christian School so that it would be recognized as a school that was becoming more available to families of other denominational backgrounds sharing the same statement of faith. The school continued to grow slowly to about forty students under the sponsorship and direction of County Road Baptist Church of New Limerick, Maine.
With an even greater vision for what God could do in the greater Houlton area for Christian education, history was made on August 15, 1995 as County Road Baptist Church voted to allow the school to break away from the control and administration of the church to become an independent, non-denominational, Christian school.
On Monday night, August 21, 1995, the Parent/Teacher Fellowship of County Road Christian School voted unanimously to receive ownership, operation, oversight and responsibility of the newly organized school with the direction of a new Board of Directors. The decision to form the Greater Houlton Christian Academy came with God's leading believing the expansion would open more doors of opportunity for Christian school education in Aroostook County for families of various evangelical denominational backgrounds. In October 1995, the Greater Houlton Christian Academy was incorporated as an independent, non-profit Christian School Association of parents and members. County Road Christian School then became the parent school of Greater Houlton Christian Academy. After much work, the by-laws were written and the Academy Association began looking for its own facility in Houlton. Principal Mr. Mark B. Jago was given the new leadership title of Headmaster.
In February 1996, the Lambert School building on School Street in downtown Houlton was offered to the Association for just $1.00. Believing that nothing is too hard for God, as in Jeremiah 32:17, the Association purchased the property and took a loan to renovate the building. The resulting beautiful facility was the product of thousands of hours of volunteer work, excellent contracted labor and many love gifts from interested and caring friends. It became a warm, comfortable, charming school building - the result of "love going to work."
The doors to the new building were opened in September 1996 and the enrollment jumped to eighty students in kindergarten through twelfth grades. In September 2002, a 4 year old kindergarten was started thus completing a pre-school through grade 12 educational program with a current enrollment of close to 190 students. In June of 2003, Head of School Mark B. Jago began leading the faculty toward readiness for accreditation.
God's faithfulness has been apparent in providing personnel as well as property. We praise the Lord for being able to pay off completely the school's mortgage debt in December of 2005 through a capital campaign program to accelerate our payment payoff placing the school in a position of being mortgage free. It is the continued purpose of the Academy to honor Jesus Christ, believing that an education in which Christ is central will influence the entire course of a student's life.
We invite you to share in our miracle by becoming an active part of the Greater Houlton Christian Academy Family. Our history continues to be written to this day, and you can become part of that history! For example, in the spring of 2008, the administration and Board completed development of a Five-Year Strategic Plan (2008-2013) which maps the vision of the school in the areas of academic excellence and financial stability. The Board continues to be open to expansion of its facility as God leads. Visit our website often to watch history in the making here at GHCA.