Keswick Christian School
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| Location | 10101 54th Ave N St. Petersburg, FL 33708 |
| School Type | Private |
| Religious Affiliation | Christian, Protestant |
| Established | 1953 |
| Founder | Ruth Munce |
| Location | St. Petersburg, Florida, USA |
| Grades | 2K-12 |
| School Mascot | Crusader |
| School Colors | Green & White |
| Website | http://www.keswickchristian.org/ |
Founded originally as Grace Livingston Hill Memorial School in 1953, Keswick Christian School is a private, Pre-K-12, Christian school with an interdenominational student body, mostly of Protestant background, and an enrollment presently around 650 students. The campus spans 30 acres, is set among towering oak trees reminiscent of its once rural surroundings, and is located on the outlying area of St. Petersburg, Florida, only about half of a mile outside Seminole, Florida. The school is accredited by the Association of Christian Schools International and the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.
[edit] Founding
Following a temporary location started with help from Roy Gustafson and her other friends at "the Baptist Church on 22nd Avenue South" in St. Petersburg in 1952, Ruth Munce founded Grace Livingston Hill Memorial School in 1953, naming it after her mother, an author of more than 100 Christian-themed romance novels.[1] Munce felt called by God to establish this private educational facility because no other Christian school existed in Pinellas County, so she purchased a 13-acre site, an old chicken farm off Seminole Boulevard on the outskirts of St. Petersburg, Florida. Munce's philosophy that "God would be the sum of the equation, the Bible a textbook" was put into motion. Classes were held in the chicken house and log cabin-style farmhouse. [1] Munce taught Bible and English courses and remained principal of the school for 15 years, bringing enrollment to as many as 200 students a year.[2] In 1968, at age 70, she undertook an eight-year stint teaching at Nairobi Bible Institute in Kenya.[2]
[edit] Name Change and Expansion
Headquatered on the same site as the school were Keswick radio stations, WKES-FM and WGNB-AM, and the Southern Keswick Bible Conference. Bill Caldwell operated these facilities, and to him, Munce turned over the school in 1961. The following year, the school name was changed to Keswick Christian School to reflect its new ownership. By 1970, the school's enrollment rose to 480 students, giving the Board of Directors ample reason to expand the school to offer a senior high, which was completed in 1975 with the first senior class graduating in 1978. Also around this time, the school became a mission of Moody Bible Institute in Chicago, an affiliation that lasted until 1996. [2]. Upon its split from the school, Moody Bible Institute sold its conference center property, established in 1962 on Lake Kersey, including a 48-room lodge, a 550-seat chapel and three homes, to Keswick for $600,000. The radio station remained the property of Moody. A fundraising campaign ensued to fund the purchase.[3]
[edit] References
- ^ Miller, Betty Jean (1988-05-30). Unhappy with Public Education, She Founded a Christian School. St. Petersburg Times. Retrieved April 5, 2007 from Lexis Nexis Academic.
- ^ a b Basse, Craig (2001-04-25). Keswick School Founder Dies at 103. St. Petersburg Times. Retrieved April 4, 2007.
- ^ Norton, Wilma (1995-12-15). Keswick, Moody Parting Ways. St. Petersburg Times. Retrieved April 6, 2007 from Lexis Nexis Academic.
