Cape Christian School marks 30 years of teaching with open house

It started in a Cape Girardeau church sanctuary 30 years ago with students working at their own pace. Over the years, Cape Christian School has transformed into a traditional school, currently with 135 students in kindergarten through eighth grade.

The school will showcase its students and classrooms from 7 to 8 p.m. today at the school, located at 1855 Perryville Road.

The school will display classroom science experiments. Some of the students will deliver speeches. Some of the classes will recite Bible verses.

All of the students and the 13 full- and part-time teachers are scheduled to be on hand for the open house. "It will be a great time to come in and look the school over," said principal Bev Smart.

The school is accredited through the North Central Association. "We are offering a solid, above-average education for students in a Christ-centered atmosphere," Smart said.

The parochial school opened in the fall of 1975 in the sanctuary of the Bethel Assembly of God Church on Perryville Road. Initially, it served students through 12th grade.

Since then, classrooms have been constructed and a gymnasium built. The school has hired certified teachers.

The school became solely an elementary school, teaching students through sixth grade. Last school year, a seventh grade was added.

This school year, the school expanded to include an eighth grade.

Although affiliated with the adjacent Bethel Assembly of God Church, Smart said, the school has students from 25 area churches.

She hopes the school will continue to grow. There is enough classroom space to handle 160 or 170 students without any new construction, Smart said.

"We would like to see the student body grow to at least that size," she said.