Grace Baptist Academy Headmaster Matt Pollock said after having the campus slammed by a Category 3 tornado and then having a delayed rebuilding process, "Many people may be thinking Poor Grace."
He said that could not be further from the truth with some recent good news items coming Grace's way.
Mr. Pollock said, instead of losing students as might be expected with having to move into temporary quarters, "We've had explosive growth." He said the school is getting near capacity at its adopted home of Morris Hill Baptist Church.
He said Grace had dropped below 400 students when the tornado hit just before midnight on Easter Sunday, April 12, 2020, ruining 15 buildings with the loss of over 148,000 square feet of space.
During the school's sojourn, it has actually grown by 34 percent while adding over 130 new students. Enrollment has climbed to around 530.
The headmaster said, "Many great families are moving into our area from all over - California, Oregon, Colorado, the Midwest. They are looking for a school with their core values and with a biblically integrated program. They love our teachers, our staff and our programs."
He added, "We haven't seen this kind of growth in many, many years."
The other big news is that word was just received from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) that it has validated much of Grace's damages claim and a significant portion of the amount sought should be headed its way.
Mr. Pollock said at the time of the storm Grace was woefully under-insured. The insurance settlement fell far short of the rebuild need.
He said school officials then learned that the law was amended in 2018 to allow non-profit institutions to have some benefits to go toward uninsured storm damage. Officials filed with FEMA and have been going through that rigorous process.
Mr. Pollock said work got underway on the rebuild of the campus and the Grace Baptist Church in the fall of 2020 using the insurance proceeds. However, he said the FEMA process proved to be very lengthy so the school opted to halt construction through much of 2021. FEMA was also hampered by all the constraints caused by the COVID pandemic.
With the recent news from FEMA, Grace plans to relaunch the construction. He said the James Tyson construction firm handling the project will need a couple of months to gear back up.
He said the initial building to be completed with include the church building together with a number of classrooms. That is hoped to be ready by the spring of 2023. When that is finished, he said, several grades will likely move back to the main campus from Morris Hill Baptist, while other students will remain there until additional buildings are completed.
Mr. Pollock said new athletic fields are completed featuring artificial turf, but the infrastructure around the fields is still not done. The fields include one for football/soccer, another for baseball and another for softball. He said the infrastructure will be part of the first phase so they can be usable.
Since the storm, Grace has been borrowing other fields, including using the football field of Hunter Middle School and the rec fields at Ridgedale Baptist Church.
Grace Baptist Church has been using the facilities of the First SDA Church. "The church continues to flourish," he said.
Mr. Pollock said Morris Hill Baptist has been "the perfect fit" for the displaced school. He said, "They knew we were in dire straits and what we were up against. They offered their beautiful space that is only two miles from our school. And they haven't given us any deadline to get out."
He said the new campus has been reconfigured and will not look like what was there when the storm hit. He said the architectural firm of Rardin & Carroll has designed interconnected buildings that will be much more efficient than the older buildings. There will also be enhanced security with the design.
Mr. Pollock said, in addition to insurance and FEMA funds, the school has received a number of gifts from individuals and foundations toward the rebuilding. Les Compton is the development director.