Airdrie Koinonia Christian School

Airdrie Koinonia Christian School or AKCS is a private K-12 school located in Airdrie, Alberta.

The school is a member of Koinonia Christian Schools.^[1] It was founded in 1987 by Brian Hazeltine. It teaches core Christian values and exists to provide children with an education which will enable them to know, love, and effectively serve Jesus Christ in the world.^[2]

The school began with an enrollment of 54 from kindergarten to grade seven and grew steadily to a peak of 300 in 2006. Upper grades were added gradually as the demand for a high school increased. Hazeltine stepped down as principal in June 2007, and the leadership of the school was taken up by Earl Driedger, who started at AKCS in 1996 as a grade five teacher and had been Vice-Principal since 2002(?).

School

The school has developed a reputation for academic excellence, and has been ranked among the top schools in Alberta.^[3] (In 2012 the Fraser Institute ranked the AKCS Elementary School in the top 25% of the province at 157 of 665 schools.^[4]) The school originally occupied the basement of Living Springs Christian Fellowship (then known as Fellowship Bible Chapel), but in 1996 moved into a series of portable buildings behind Faith Community Baptist Church. In 2012 the school broke ground on a new campus located on the northern edge of the city and will occupy this new facility in Fall of 2014.^[5] The new school is equipped with classrooms, home ec. and computer labs, a gymnasium, and chapel, and will eventually accommodate 450 students. .

Students and Staff

The school holds all staff and students to a high moral standard. It seeks to work in partnership with families, and therefore all students must come from Christian families who accept the school's statement of faith. Parents of students are expected to be involved in their local churches and practice their Christian faith at home. One exception to the admission policy is made for secondary students who themselves are believers but come from an unbelieving family.

Secondary students must also sign a pledge which indicates their commitment to the Christian faith and lifestyle including "Setting a Godly example in Church & youth group attendance, dress, videos, movies, TV, music, books, speech, hobbies, dating, alcohol, tobacco, and drugs." The students are also required to dress in a way that is "Generally acceptable to the majority of Christian believers".^[6]

The school promotes the spiritual growth of students by providing Bible as a core subject in every grade, by providing morning devotional and prayer times, a weekly chapel, and various service opportunities. Every other year AKCS students join with other Koinonia Schools for a missions trip to Mexico.^[7]

Athletics

The school supports volleyball, basketball, badminton, cross country running and track and field teams at both the senior and junior high level. The school also offers an extended P.E. program where secondary students are taken to various physical activities and sports such as paintballing, skiing, and curling.

Jason Perry is currently the Athletic Director.

New school

In September 2010 AKCS purchased land in the Gateway Industrial Business Park of Airdrie. In December 2010 they finalized the sale of the first Airdrie property they had purchased on the lower SW corner. Combined with that the school needed to apply to have the land rezoned which was finally approved in June 2011^[8][9]

Alumni

• Blake Burwash - Teacher ^[10]
• Grant Burwash - Nationally ranked triathlete^[11]
• Jessica Ridley - Canadian Country Music singer/songwriter, winner of "The Big Time" reality TV show 2012^[12]

Former Staff Members

• Brian Hazeltine - Professor at Cornerstone University, Grand Rapids, Michigan ^[13]

References

Coordinates: 51°16′15″N 113°59′24″W / 51.270854°N 113.990117°W / 51.270854; -113.990117