Indiana News

CHRISTY AVERY [email protected]

NEW ALBANY – “VALOR.”

That’s the word spelled out on the staircase at Christian Academy Indiana’s new middle school, paired with words that represent its characteristics: V for vision; A for attitude; L for love; O for ownership; and R for respect.

Those traits, said eighth-grader Sophia, are what make her proud to be a student at Christian Academy.

For eighth-grader Sophia, Christian Academy’s new middle school is an example of how the district has grown since she began in preschool. She said the school’s motto, “valor,” inspires her to deepen her faith and be kind to others without judgement.

“I really like the idea, because it reminds me to grow in my faith with God, and it reminds me that even though I’m young, that doesn’t mean that I can’t,” she said.

Sophia is one of around 1,000 students settling into Christian Academy Indiana’s new 44,000-square-foot middle school facility, which opened last week.

A $9 million undertaking, the school includes 26 new classrooms, a media center, education resource rooms, three new science labs, two art rooms and a choir room, along with an expansion of 2,800 square feet to the school’s cafeteria.

“We are truly blessed to be able to add a new building for our 5th to 8th grades,” said Christian Academy Superintendent Darin Long in a Monday release. “Not only does this benefit our middle grades, but it will also allow our high school to expand in both classroom space and course offerings, along with new learning pathways.”

The new addition gives the district’s middle school students a dedicated space, where before they were part of Christian Academy’s upper school, which combined middle and high school. The building was originally meant for students in sixth through eighth grades, but the school opted to expand it to include fifth grade students to ease the transition into middle school.

Principal Taylor Jarman, who joined Christian Academy at the start of the 2025-26 school year, said the district was looking at long-term planning over the past couple of years and saw its number of families growing. When thinking about how to expand their facilities to accommodate, separating the middle and high schools was the natural next step.

“Getting everyone here underneath one roof all together has been awesome,” he said. “Getting to see more families come in and be a part of Christian Academy.”

Christian Academy Indiana’s new 44,000-square-foot middle school opened March 2. The facility, which holds students in grades 5-8, creates a larger space for students with added resources including a choir room, science labs, a media space, an expanded cafeteria and 26 new classrooms.

Koetter Construction was the general contractor for the project, and Bayus Design Works served as lead architect.

The school is structured in “hubs” for each grade level, where students are surrounded by their peers in a dedicated wing. While fifth grade was previously a part of Christian Academy Elementary School, Jarman said merging it with sixth through eighth helps hit the four key grades where students begin asking foundational questions in their education.

Staff members wrestled with how to create a unique middle school culture separated from that of the upper school, and found their answer in the concept of valor, which Jarman said encourages students to think about who they want to be as young men and women.

“That is where a student can show up and say, ‘I feel belonging here. I feel like people care about me,’” he said. “We have great teachers that do that every day, but are we setting up our building to feel that way? I think it’s something really, really special.”

Along with the added amenities for students, the new facility also includes collaborative learning spaces for teachers to facilitate group work and presentations in a relaxed environment outside of the traditional classroom. More meeting rooms were added, as well as a bigger office for the school’s counselor to meet with students.

Having a separate middle school will also allow the high school, which has dealt with space constraints, room to expand their offerings for students, Jarman said.

For fifth-grader Eli, the most exciting part of the new middle school is being able to be closer to his sister, who is part of Christian Academy Elementary’s fourth-grade class. Included in the renovation was a connecting tunnel running between the elementary and middle schools, allowing students and staff to access each area without even having to go outside.

Eli also loves the middle school’s new library, where he can check out books like his current read, “The Hunger Games.”

Included in the new middle school was an expansion of 2,800 square feet to the existing cafeteria at the “upper” school, which included middle and high school levels before the separation. Hanging in the cafeteria are flags from dozens of countries around the world, representative of Christian Academy’s diverse student population.

“There’s just so much to read here, and it’s pretty comfortable,” he said.

During construction, students in the middle grades attended classes at Graceland Church for a semester in the interim.

On his first day back at Christian Academy, Eli said, he was nervous — specifically about the transition to using a locker, a classic big-kid status symbol. In the week since, however, he’s figured out the twists and turns to enter his combination.

“I thought it was going to be like the elementary building that we have over there, but it was very different,” he said. “The lockers really scared me. I didn’t think that I would be able to get it. It wasn’t really natural for me, because I really struggled at first.”

Sophia said she was excited upon hearing of the new addition last year because she remembers how much she looked forward to middle school as a fifth-grader. Her own sister was a fifth grader when the new building was announced, and Sophia said she thought it was a great opportunity for younger students like her sister to engage with and learn from older kids.

“I feel like that’s a really cool experience for the fifth graders that they get to experience middle school a little bit earlier than most kids do,” she said. “The week before we got to move into this building, I was nervous because I didn’t know where my teachers were going to be, and I would have a new locker. But it’s actually going really well, and it’s beautiful.”

As if the indoor expansion wasn’t enough, the renovations also include a new campus entrance road to help ease traffic for families coming in from Grant Line Road.

“That has been huge when it comes to traffic flow around our entire campus,” Jarman said.

On their first day at the new school last Monday, Jarman said students were glad to have more space to move around, creating a calmer environment. Students and staff held a first-day meeting, where they delivered morning announcements, prayed and read the Bible together.

“I think we’ve seen that a lot in just how they’re interacting,” he said. “I think a lot of them have really enjoyed coming back, too, because they were by themselves at Graceland for a while. We’re still figuring things out, which is really fun, but I think just getting to see them enjoy the process and the space once we did the move was really nice.”

Sophia, who has been at Christian Academy since preschool, said the new school is a reminder of the growth she’s seen in the district. As someone who struggles with anxiety, she added Christian Academy has helped bring peace into her life.

“I’m so thankful that all of our teachers can pray with us and can talk to us about different things,” she said. “I’m just so thankful that I get to come to this school, because a lot of kids don’t.”

Performances

Thursday, March 5 – Saturday, March 7, at 7 p.m. each evening.

Tickets

Adults – $10 with an additional $1.50 processing fee

Students – $5 with an additional $1.25 processing fee

At the Door – $15

Purchase online at cai.booktix.com.

Congratulations to all of our Scholastic Art Competition winners! 

Honorable Mention

Ava Butler

Olivia Harambasic

Addison Jackson (2)

Laura Toby

Ben Adams

Silver Key

Laura Toby

Athena Bayyoud

Bella Morones (2)

Lucy Wilson

Sofia Beatty

Gold Key

Ben Adams

Laura Toby

Enjoy this presentation of the winning pieces!

CHRISTY AVERY
[email protected]

 November 19, 2025

 NEW ALBANY – Christian Academy Indiana students saw the culmination of weeks of work Wednesday as K-12 students gathered to bless hundreds of shoeboxes that will be delivered to children in need around the world.

Around 1,200 students gathered in the gymnasium to pray and sing over the boxes of essential and recreational items collected to help people during the holiday season.

Anticipation swept across the crowd as students stomped in the bleachers, creating excitement for the final count: 775 boxes. Students filled the gym with cheers and applause.

“To be a part of kids’ lives is a privilege and an honor, and it’s also a challenging thing, but to be able to be a part of collaborating and watching them all come in here and bring their boxes and be so excited about it, it’s a very moving thing to see,” said Elementary Spiritual Life Director Wendy Wagoner.

Wagoner said students started gathering materials for boxes in October. Each box includes personal hygiene items and goods specifically requested by recipients, such as art supplies or stuffed animals. A list of ideas was provided to families by Operation Christmas Child, but Wagoner said staff encouraged students to think intentionally about what someone might need or want.

Wagoner said a challenge is to find ways to help younger students take initiative and ownership over identifying ways they can help others. Because the boxes are by kids, for kids, Wagoner said students gravitated toward the project to learn about the lives of their peers in other countries.

“I lived in Africa for 11 years, so they love to ask me questions about that, and we love to talk about how, even myself, we can’t go,” she said. “We can’t get on a plane because we have a job to do here. But it’s encouraging and cultivating that heart to have a desire to see needs and figure out how to meet them as best they can, to look out for others around them.”

The school has a personal connection to the drive: a parent, who lives in Romania, of a Christian Academy student received a box, and recently came to the school to speak to students about his experience.

“It’s been really encouraging with our students for them to understand all the different steps a shoebox can take to get to the other parts of the world,” Wagoner said.

First-graders and senior students will load the boxes Thursday before traveling to Graceland Church, where boxes will be finalized and packaged. After the boxes are sent, students will have the option to sign up for a 12-week discipleship where they can continue doing similar work.

Director of Bands Aleshia Shouse and a group of students played various worship songs, including “I Thank God” by Maverick City Music. Students sang along, holding hands and swaying to the music. They also assisted in leading a group prayer over each location boxes will go, including Europe, Africa, Asia, the Pacific Region and the Americas. Wagoner prayed the boxes would be agents that “shatter the darkness” and change lives.

Christian Academy Louisville school counselor Ty Barnett delivered a speech titled “The Greatest Gift,” focused around the value of not only material gifts, but faith and love.

Wagoner said staff and students do not know exactly where each box will be sent, but each one includes a scannable QR code to track its location. Boxes were stacked and placed Wednesday on a world map spread across the gym floor, representing where they might end up.

Christian Academy will host more drives for the holiday season, including food and sock drives starting when students return from Thanksgiving break and continuing until Christmas.

“I’m really proud of our kids and their heart for worship and just their desire to make a difference,” Wagoner said. “Obviously in the name of Jesus, of course, but in nature there’s a part of their character and who they’re becoming that’s just a leadership thing that we’re really proud of.”

Christian Academy Students Explore Career Options During ‘Careers on Wheels’ Day

CHRISTY AVERY
[email protected] 

NEW ALBANY — The parking lot of Christian Academy Indiana was filled with the excited shrieks of elementary children Thursday morning as lights, sirens and even a cow arrived to share their work with students.

Several organizations and departments came together as part of Christian Academy’s “Careers on Wheels” day, an interactive career exploration event allowing students to tour career vehicles and speak with professionals about the jobs they see in their communities every day.

Students from kindergarten through second grade had the chance to climb into New Albany Police Department vehicles, high-five the Chick-fil-A cow mascot and learn about everything from life as a plumber to what it’s like to ride in an ambulance.

This year marks the third “Careers on Wheels” day, which K-4th grade counselor Kristi Richards said takes place every other year. She said she appreciates the event as a way to get students thinking about what careers they’d like to do and broaden their perspectives by showing the value of not only college education, but trade and labor-based work.

“Using your own individual, unique gifts and abilities and passions – how does that look? That looks different for everybody,” she said.

To gather a variety of professionals, Richards said she reached out to all K-12 families to see who was interested in participating. Nearly all of the experts who attended the event already had established connections to staff and students at Christian Academy, helping kids bridge the gap.

Parent Relations and Marketing Manager Aimee Games said students often connect the jobs they see with experiences they’ve had or people they know in their community, normalizing those jobs and giving them a deeper understanding.

A local farmer piqued the interest of one little girl dressed as a florist Thursday morning, admiring the tractor he brought and asking questions about his work.

“They’re making family connections,” she said. “They’re saying, ‘My grandmother rode in an ambulance,’ and being able to go in and see makes it not as scary. These kids are firing off and making connections, and I love that.”

Many students came to school dressed for the occasion, wearing firefighter hard hats, white doctor coats or brightly-colored scrubs. Before career days, Richards said students fill out questionnaires encouraging them to identify their areas of interest and showing them potential jobs based on their answers.

After seeing the jobs up-close, they fill out a reflection form looking back on their favorite parts and what they learned.

“They’re able to write down ‘I didn’t know I could do this job,’ so it kind of gives them a little bit of a heads-up,” she said. “With kindergarten, we made some community helper hats and we talked about the different jobs that are out there. It just kind of gets them started thinking and dreaming. Nobody has to know what they want to be when they grow up in kindergarten.”

Christian Academy Indiana Elementary Principal Krystal Morrow said the event reiterates students’ faith by showing them they are worthy no matter what path they choose.

“Especially as a Christian school, realizing we’re all uniquely made,” she said. “Not everyone’s going to be a doctor, and that’s okay. That’s not your purpose.”

While many career days are geared toward middle or high-school students, Morrow said introducing younger children to potential jobs gives them an appreciation for different lifestyles and teaches important life skills early on.

“They’re so impressionable right now, and we want them to have gratitude and thankfulness for the people that are serving them when they go to Chick-Fil-A or get their heating and air fixed,” she said. “That’s a big character piece.”

Around 10 a.m. came the big moment.

Lights and sirens flashed, horns honked and students jumped and cheered as members of the New Albany Fire Department, the New Albany Police Department and New Albany EMS showed off the sounds and sights of the vehicles they work in each day.

Firefighter Paul Grace has participated in career day twice. He said his department’s presence teaches kids fire safety and keeps them aware of what firefighters do in the community.

“Talking to the kids helps show them how to be safe in a fire, and a lot of the kids love the firefighters,” he said, laughing. “It’s always great spending time with the kids.”

As students began to make their way back inside around 10:30 a.m., they made sure to shower Grace and his colleagues with appreciation. “Thank you for showing us the truck!” said one kindergarten boy, giving Grace a big smile.