Sunnydale Adventist Academy (SAA), a co-educational parochial boarding secondary school, operated by the Iowa-Missouri Conference of Seventh-day Adventists. The school opened to students in 1946. Sunnydale provides a comprehensive educational program that includes spiritual, academic, and social development. Formerly known as Sunnydale Academy (SA)
| Sunnydale Adventist Academy | |
|---|---|
| Location | |
| Centralia, Missouri, USA | |
| Information | |
| Type | 9-12 Boarding High School |
| Established | 1946 |
| Principal | Gary Russell |
| Faculty | 22 |
| Number of students | 114 |
| School Color(s) | Maroon and white |
| Athletics | Basketball (men and women), Volleyball (women), Gymnastics |
| Mascot | Spartans |
| Website | http://www.sunnydale.org |
Contents |
To provide academic excellence in a Christ-centered environment that encourages the love of God, serving others, and self-respect.
On August 14, 1944, the Missouri Conference constituency appointed an Educational Commission empowered to locate and establish an academy for the Missouri Conference. This commission consisted of the local conference committee and one member from each of the nine districts within the state of Missouri. At their November 4, 1945 meeting, the Commission voted to locate the academy on the A. B. Chance farm near Centralia, Missouri with the understanding that the union and the General Conference approve the location. The Central Union Conference contributed $40,000 to the project. The General Conference contributed $30,000.[1] The farm was described as a "very fine farm, fully equipped and ready to begin work on..." [2]
A board had been chosen. It planned first to build a girls dorm. H. C. Hartman was chosen to be the principal and business manager. His wife took charge of the music department. The board invited C. M. Babcock to be the Bible teacher. Babcock was a minister with "long experience, true and tried..." Herschel Turner, a successful Missouri farmer, agreed to manage the farm which was envisioned as a major industry on campus. Miss Hilda Fern Remley agreed to be the girls dean; Delmer Holbrook to be the boys' dean. Both were from Union College in Lincoln, Nebraska. The board planned for the school to open September, 1946. They planned for funds to be available from the Missouri church members.[2]
The Missouri Conference of Seventh-day Adventists set a fund-raising goal of $60,000, an average of $20 per member. They hoped to raise this amount in the few weeks remaining in 1945. Leaders of the churches were asked to visit every Adventist home in Missouri in an effort to meet the goal. Construction could not begin until 75% of the funds had been raised.[3]
The ground-breaking ceremony for the girls' dorm took place on February 18, 1946. This was the first building to be erected at the academy. After the program, Principal Hartman took the controls of a caterpillar tractor and Missouri Conference President Hutches guided the plow. Farm manager Herschel Turner drove a team of Missouri mules with veteran minister and Bible teacher C. M. Babcock holding another plow. The two teams ploughed some furrows, breaking the ground in preparation for laying the foundation of the new building.[4]