| Tualatin Valley Academy | |
|---|---|
| Address | |
| 21975 SW Baseline Road Hillsboro, Oregon, Washington County, 97123 United States |
|
| Information | |
| Type | Private |
| Religious affiliation(s) | Seventh-day Adventist Church |
| Opened | 1916 |
| Principal | Dennis Kingma |
| Grades | Pre-10[1][2] |
| Number of students | 200[1] |
| Athletics conference | OSAA The Valley 10 League 1A-1 |
| Mascot | Eagles |
| Accreditation(s) | NAAS |
| Website | www.tvja.org |
Tualatin Valley Academy (TVA) is a kindergarten through tenth grade private school in Hillsboro, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1916 as Tualatin Valley Junior Academy, the school is affiliated with the Seventh-day Adventist Church. The athletic teams, known as the Eagles, compete in the Oregon School Activities Association’s The Valley 10 League at the 1A level. TVA previously was affiliated with the Ring of Fire handbell choir from its inception in 1997 until 2004.
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The academy was founded in Washington County in 1916 as Tualatin Valley Junior Academy (TVJA).[3] The school relocated in the fall of 1957 to a 10 acres (4.0 ha) site on Southwest Baseline Road near Cornelius Pass Road.[3] TVA is still located there in what is now the city of Hillsboro.[3] During late December 1989 to January 1990, 14 students from the school spent their Christmas vacation assisting in the construction of a church in Mexico.[4] In 1997, teacher Jason Wells formed the Ring of Fire handbell choir at the school.[5] Ring of Fire performed at the inaugurations of President George W. Bush in both 2001 and 2005.[5] The choir was opened up to non-students in 2004 when Wells left the academy.[5]
In October 2001, revelations of sexual abuse by two male teachers at the school surfaced.[6][7][8] Abuse by one teacher, who was also an administrator, began in 1996 and involved three female students.[6][7][8] The second teacher abused one girl, who had first been a victim of the first teacher.[6][7][8] Both men pled guilty to sexual abuse and were sentenced six years and six months in detention respectively.[6][7][8] TVA joined with neighbors in 2003 to fight against allowing Wal-Mart to build a store one block from the school.[9] The city did not approve plans for the store and it was not built. Also in 2003, the academy received accreditation from the Northwest Association of Accredited Schools for their middle school program.[1] In 2009, the school's name was changed to Tualatin Valley Academy.[10] That year some student's artwork was sold at Cornell University's ornithology lab as a project to raise funds for the academy's science and arts programs.[11]
The school has been accredited through Northwest Association of Accredited Schools since 2003.[1] It is affiliated with the Seventh-day Adventist Church and has students from preschool through the tenth grade, with about 20 staff members.[12][13] As of 2008 the private Christian school had 51 students in its preschool program, 219 in kindergarten through eighth grade, and 28 students total in grades nine and ten for a total enrollment of 298 students.[12] The middle school portion of the school is accredited by the Northwest Association of Accredited Schools.[1] Additionally accreditation is through the North American Division Commission on Accreditation and from the North Pacific Union Conference Board of Education.[10]
TVA receives funding from tuition, seven local Seventh-day Adventist churches, and the Oregon Conference of Seventh-day Adventists.[10] Tuition varies from around $4,000 per year to around $5,500 per year at the higher grade levels.[10] The academy is also a member of the Oregon Federation of Independent Schools.[10] Dennis Kingma serves as the school’s principal.[14]
Athletic teams for the school are known as the Eagles.[14] Team compete in the OSAA’s The Valley 10 League at the 1A-1 level, while James Chamberlain serves as the school’s athletic director.[14] TVA fields boys soccer during the fall and both boys and girls basketball in the winter.[14] The school does not offer any sports during the spring sports period.[14] Student Aimee Furber became the youngest person to summit Africa’s Mount Kilimanjaro in 1998.[15]
The Ring of Fire handbell choir was founded at the school in 1997.[16] Named after the Pacific Ring of Fire, the group performed at both inaugurations of U.S. President George W. Bush.[5][17][18] Membership was limited to youths ages 14 to 17 and members could never miss a practice session.[5] They also had to re-apply every year to remain in the group.[5] There were a total of 61 bells used by the 13-member group.[5]
Ring of Fire has performed around the United States and in Europe.[5] Performances have included concerts with the Boston Pops,[19] at Portland Trail Blazers games,[20] at events in New York City and Washington, D.C. to memorialize the 9/11 terrorist attacks,[21] in Omaha, Nebraska,[22] in Iowa,[23] Geneva, Illinois,[24] and throughout Oregon.[25] Ring of Fire has also been on televised concerts, including those broadcast internationally.[26]
The group performed between 75 to 100 concerts annually while rehearsing around five hours each week.[27] The instrumental group played only bells, which totaled 61.[27] These bells weighed as little as ten ounces, and up to 15 pounds while covering a total of five octaves.[27] Each member was required to learn each of the bells.[27] Ring of Fire produced DVDs and CDs.[27][28] In 2004, the group’s founder left the school and enrollment was opened up to non-TVA students as the group is no longer sponsored by the school.[5]