About GHCA

Welcome!

Greater Houlton Christian Academy (GHCA), known locally as "The Academy," offers a co-ed, college-preparatory day school program for Pre-Kindergarten through twelfth grade. We offer a fully-accredited, academically-solid education that is in harmony with Biblical values. Our small class sizes, caring faculty, and family atmosphere provide children and youth in southern and central Aroostook County with the foundation they need for success at the next level.

 

Mission Statement

Greater Houlton Christian Academy exists to educate the mind for knowledge and to enlighten the spirit for wisdom in order to empower the next generation of godly leaders who will impact the world for Jesus Christ.

 

Vision Statement

Functioning as a center of Christian educational influence, GHCA will be an exemplary school community that will nurture, challenge and empower students to develop their unique gifts and abilities to their highest potential for the glory of God. Led by a committed and caring faculty, the students will be taught to think critically and biblically, and to achieve appropriate levels of academic and extracurricular excellence in order to become godly leaders for Jesus Christ and His kingdom in the greater Houlton area and around the world. Each student is given opportunity for a well-rounded education in a safe, loving, and disciplined environment. GHCA is committed to providing this affordable quality education for all families seeking a Christian school education.

 

Core Values

Glorify God:         We seek to glorify God in all activities and relationships and in the use of the resources God has given us.
Partnership:         We view education as a partnership between parents, churches, and the Academy
Love:         We seek to model the love of Jesus Christ through compassion, discipline, and grace.
Respect:         Each person is created in God's image and therefore will be treated with respect and encouraged to treat others with respect.
Honesty:         Our relationships and academic performance will be based on honesty and fairness.
Excellence:         Continuous improvement and the pursuit of excellence will underlie all that we do.

The Academy is a nondenominational Christian school which is based on a traditional, evangelical understanding of Scripture. This means that we have a high regard for the Bible as God’s infallible Word, believing it to be authoritative for determining what we believe and how we should live. We believe that God is the Creator of the universe and that He created humanity in His own image, giving human life special sanctity, dignity, and value. We understand that that salvation is possible only through Jesus Christ, Who died in our place to pay for our sins, and that ultimately each of us will give an account to God for how we lived our lives. This biblical worldview is the foundation of our entire school program and shapes the instruction that we offer our students. 


Christian Philosophy of Education

The educational philosophy of the Greater Houlton Christian Academy is based on a God-centered view that all truth is God's truth, and that the Bible is the inspired and the only infallible authoritative Word of God that contains this truth. God created all things in six days and sustains all things. Therefore, the universe and man are dynamically related to God and have the purpose of glorifying Him. Because man is a sinner by nature and choice, he cannot, however, glorify or know God. He can do this only by choosing God's free gift of salvation through His Son, Jesus Christ, thereby committing his life to the Lordship of Jesus Christ.

The Academy will provide the student as well as the parent the necessary awareness of God and responses to His Word, so that when the Holy Spirit brings conviction of sin, he will readily and with understanding accept Christ as His Savior. Christian education can then carry out its purpose.

This philosophy also channels our energies to promote high academic standards while helping the students to achieve skills in creative and critical thinking using the best integrated curriculum available. The objective of our instructional program is to enable the student to pursue the post-secondary education of his choosing, whether in college, university or in vocational training areas.

Our aim socially is to provide a Christian perspective on the total world view from which will come a balanced personality and a proper understanding and acceptance of a person's role in life at home, at work, at play and at worship—all grounded in the Christian concept of love.

The Academy permits the parents to carry out their responsibility to God for the education of their children. This responsibility is the prerogative not of the state, but of the parents. Therefore, GHCA assists the family in this responsibility and requires support from the home.

Our responsibility for the student encompasses the spiritual, mental, intellectual, physical, social, and emotional areas. These areas are inseparable and through them runs the insistent thread of the spiritual. Therefore, it must be our aim to shun the tendency to teach the Bible compartmentally or on the intellectual level alone—the scarlet thread must be woven throughout the total curriculum.

It is apparent, then, that the types of activities we employ or permit in the classroom or school program will either facilitate or militate against our basic philosophy. The spiritual must permeate all areas—else we become textbook-oriented rather than student oriented.

Carried out, this philosophy dictates that we cooperate closely with parents in every phase of the student's development, always offering assistance in understanding the purposes of GHCA. This cooperation enables us to better accomplish our goals for our students. It is our philosophy that also makes us uniquely different and preserves our Christian distinctiveness.

Greater Houlton Christian Academy, a non-profit corporation, is sponsored by the Greater Houlton Christian Academy Association. The Association elects a representative Board of Directors of up to nine members, which is entrusted with the general care, operation and function of the Academy. The board’s duties include overseeing the general financial operation of the school (including budgeting, strategic planning, and major fundraising), recruiting and selecting the head of school, developing policy, and serving as the link between Academy administration, staff and the Association while guarding the founders’ vision and the school’s current mission.

The head of school is appointed by the board as the Chief Executive Officer of the Academy and carries out the policies established by the board while overseeing the daily operation of the school. This includes evaluation of all educational practices, providing leadership in curriculum development, staff development and forwarding recommendations to the Board of Directors in these and other areas.

 

Association Membership

All school parents who are in agreement with the Statement of Faith and Christian Philosophy of Education are Association members along with school employees. Former school parents, alumni, and friends may also be Association members if they are in agreement with the Statement of Faith and Christian Philosophy of Education, have been approved by the board, and if they make a contribution each year to the school. Greater Houlton Christian Academy, Inc. holds an association meeting each year.

Because parents play a pivotal role in the development of their children's responsible attitudes towards school, appropriate behavior, and respectful interactions with others, they are encouraged to take an active part in the school experience. The Academy depends on parental involvement in such activities as work nights, fundraisers, and parent-teacher conferences. Realizing that some have time constraints, we simply ask parents to do their very best to participate. This participation makes this parent-sponsored school work successfully.

 

Board of Directors

Board members are elected for up to three-year terms at the annual meeting of the Association in late spring. Presently, five members comprise the board with the head of school acting as an ex-officio member of the board. The Association delegates leadership of the school to the board, which establishes policies for the operation of the school. The head of school, as chief executive officer, exercises oversight for all the operations and activities of the school's ministry. At the annual meeting, the board submits the school budget to the Association for information and approval. Greater Houlton Christian Academy is a board-directed, parent-sponsored school with a high measure of parental involvement at all levels of school activity.

In September 1984, County Road Baptist School opened its doors in the church facilities of County Road Baptist Church in New Limerick. This was the result of the vision of a small group of church members who desired to see children educated from the perspective of God’s Word. In 1993, the school came under new leadership with Mark B. Jago (now our Head of School Emeritus) and changed its name to County Road Christian School to make the school more available to families of other Bible-believing churches. In October 1995, County Road Christian School became Greater Houlton Christian Academy (to become known locally as “The Academy”) and was incorporated as an independent, non-profit Christian School association of parents and members.

The Lambert School building on School Street in downtown Houlton was purchased in 1996 for only $1.00. The association took out a substantial loan to renovate the building, which was paid off completely in 2005. Thousands of hours of volunteer work, contracted labor and many love gifts from interested and caring friends transformed the building into the Academy’s new home.

GHCA experienced great growth at its new location, adding students and programs. A dream was fulfilled in 2010 when the school achieved a ten-year accreditation with both the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC) and the Association of Christian Schools International (ACSI). In that same year the school became fully approved by the State of Maine Department of Education. The future vision for the Academy is expressed in a Five-Year Strategic Plan (2011-2015) which maps the vision of the school in the areas of academic excellence and financial stability. 

Our twentieth class graduated in June, 2012. They join about 100 alumni who have passed through our halls and now making a difference in the world. 

 

 

2022-2023 Board of Directors

Joel Philbrook, Chairman

Damian Watson, Vice Chairman

Wendy Bradstreet, Treasurer

Adam Simoes, Secretary

Tim Dionne

Joel Duff

Derrick Mincey

James Watson

Board of Directors

Board members are elected for up to three-year terms at the annual meeting of the Association in late spring. Presently, seven members comprise the board with the head of school acting as an ex-officio member of the board. The Association delegates leadership of the school to the board, which establishes policies for the operation of the school. The head of school, as chief executive officer, exercises oversight for all the operations and activities of the school's ministry. At the annual meeting, the board submits the school budget to the Association for information and approval. Greater Houlton Christian Academy is a board-directed, parent-sponsored school with a high measure of parental involvement at all levels of school activity.

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DIRECTIONS

OUR ADDRESS:
27 School St
Houlton, ME. 04730
OFFICE HOURS:                      CONTACT INFORMATION:
Mon. to Fri. 8am to 3pm            Phone:  207.532.0736
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.                         Fax:      207.532.9553
   

Accreditation