WILDWOOD – Waiting lists can be a sign of growth and success, but they can also reveal a need. This was the experience of Living Water Academy (LWA), a ministry of Fellowship of Wildwood (FOW).
“At the end of last school year,” Ryan Bowman, lead pastor, said, “we had a waiting list of new students at historic levels. The only way to admit these new students was to add classes. Thankfully a local school district had two classroom buildings for sale. These new buildings provided us with twelve new classrooms and the ability to increase our capacity for the students on the waiting list.”
“These new buildings opened in February 2023,” Cynthia Jenkins, head of school, said. “They provided a wonderful opportunity to offer two classes per grade level and to move the Middle School and High School into their own space.”
“We began with ninth grade this year,” she continued, “with nine students, four full-time and five a la carte. These are home school students picking up additional classes. We will offer ninth and tenth grades next year, with ninth through twelfth by 2025. We already have 23 students enrolled for next year, and we are still enrolling.”
Stephanie Little, parent and women’s ministry & connections director for FOW, is pleased with what she sees at the school. “My son, Cohen, is a ninth grader, and this is his first school experience,” she said. “He has been home schooled till now and the support and encouragement from his teachers has been wonderful. I love the academic spirit in the school and the friendship that he is building with his classmates.”
Tom Keller, executive director of LWA, reported that the accreditation process from the Association of Christian Schools International (ACSI) is complete and that the school has been recommended for accreditation and that the designation should be official in June.
“The work of the faculty and staff has been wonderful,” Keller said, “Cindy (Jenkins) has been phenomenal. She is a master teacher with an M.S. in curriculum and instruction. She has led the teachers in curriculum mapping. She has the knowledge but also the God-given talent of leadership.”
Little noticed this direction at the beginning of the year. “The parents were well-informed for the brand-new year. I was comfortable with starting him in ninth grade because it was a well-thought-out year.”
Jenkins described the LWA goal, “We want to prepare students,” she said, “with a rigorous academic curriculum, with Bible at the core of all our subjects. We want them to be prepared for their next steps in life whether that is college, military, or vocational school.”
Keller has been with the school since 2011, and he attributes the growth to having the Bible integrated into all subjects. “We see the culture changing,” he said, “and more and more parents want their children taught a biblical worldview. They want their students to learn to look at the world around them through the lens of Scripture.”
Bowman expressed the benefits in having the school as a ministry of the church. “The mission of the church is to make disciples, and we see Christian education as part of our discipleship ministry. The students of LWA bring life to the church and community. The presence of a thriving academic environment on the church campus five days a week fills the building with energy and exuberance throughout the school year.
“We can see firsthand as children are growing in their education as well as their understanding of the Lord and His Word.”