Two Christian schools launch in Queen City

As one private Christian school doubled its enrollment this month in its second year of operation, an even newer one made history with its launch this month.

Springfield Lutheran High School held a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Aug. 13 to commemorate the kickoff for its inaugural year and first day of classes. It’s the first Lutheran high school to open in the Springfield area, said Stephanie Grandestaff, executive director. She said the next closest one is Calvary Lutheran High School in Jefferson City.

“Families in our area, southwest Missouri, have been praying for a Lutheran high school for decades,” Grandestaff said, adding Springfield Lutheran School, which serves preschool through eighth grade, has operated in the Queen City since 1984. “So there just hasn’t been an actual next step until now.”

The new high school’s debut inside the education center of Trinity Lutheran Church, 1415 S. Holland Ave., follows last year’s opening of a Baptist school, Crossway Christian Academy.   The academy, which is in the 27,000-square-foot children’s wing of Crossway Baptist Church, operates at 2900 N. Barnes Ave. It held its first day of classes for the 2025-26 academic year on Aug. 18.

Crossway Christian Academy officials say enrollment exceeds 50 students for the school, which expanded this year by adding junior kindergarten and fourth grade from its inaugural year of teaching grades K-3.  

At Springfield Lutheran High School, enrollment began with five ninth-grade students. The school, which employs eight teachers among its 11-person staff, has capacity to welcome up to 25 students for its first year. Officials hope to expand the student count to 100 for grades 9-12 within the next few years.

“The schools that we’ve talked to from around the state, starting with between five and nine students is a very typical school launch,” Grandestaff said, adding she recognizes many families likely had plans in place for where their children would enroll before the high school’s opening plans were finalized.

The high school’s location has a unique meaning for Grandestaff. Springfield Lutheran School, where she was a student in the 1990s, started its middle school at Trinity Lutheran Church.

“We have a lease agreement with the church, and they are just so generous to be hosting us on campus,” Grandestaff said, declining to disclose terms of the lease or startup costs. “Launching a new high school of course requires a significant investment. ... In the beginning, especially as enrollment is building, you are very much dependent on the support of the community who believes in Christian education and seeing us launch.”

Business sponsors include 888 Log Guys; Lorenz Plumbing, Heating and Air Conditioning Inc.; and Taylor Marble Co., she said.

Through its lease with the church, the school is occupying a couple of classrooms, an office, common spaces and a gymnasium. It also has its own entrance and can access the church sanctuary for chapel services. School officials hope to find a larger home as enrollment grows. 

“It’s beautifully set up for a school,” she said, noting its proximity to Phelps Grove Park allows for student use of green space, tennis courts and walking trails.

While Grandestaff said Springfield Lutheran School, located at 2852 S. Dayton Ave., will serve as a feeder facility for the high school, the two are separate entities.

“We are close partners in ministry because together we now offer an excellent Christian education pathway for families from preschool all the way through high school,” she said.

The high school is registered as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit and recently was accredited by National Lutheran School Accreditation. The organization is the accreditation body for Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod  schools across the nation and abroad. SLHS is now one of 58 Missouri Lutheran schools currently accredited by the organization, according to the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod.

Additionally, SLHS received accreditation through the Missouri Nonpublic School Accrediting Association and National Federation of Nonpublic School State Accrediting Associations. It also recently received its registered affiliation with the Missouri State High School Activities Association.

Grandestaff said tuition is $9,800 per year, which includes books, technology access and an enrollment deposit. A $2,000 discount is offered for those already enrolled – dubbed “founding families” – in exchange for performing service hours at the school. The discount is offered on a prorated basis for any families that join the school midyear, she said. Needs-based tuition assistance also is available.

Aside from her leadership role at the high school, Grandestaff continues to serve as the librarian at Springfield Lutheran School. It’s her fifth year in the position, she said, adding her professional background also includes health care and nonprofit marketing. Past employers include Cox College and Ascend Dental Design.

Crossway growth
Jim Flora, head of school at Crossway Christian Academy, has nearly 25 years of experience working in education. He most recently was principal at Stockton High School before starting in 2024 for the inaugural year at Crossway. The school’s first-year enrollment was 26 students, comprising grades K-3. While it added two grades for this school year, Flora said the plan moving forward is to add a single grade each year.  

“We’ll eventually be a junior kindergarten through 12th grade school,” he said. “The plan for the school would be to have about 40 kids per class. We’re not anywhere close to that yet. Our biggest class right now for this next year will be our kindergarten class. We have 13 in that. So, we’ve got quite a bit of room to grow.”

Crossway Baptist Church started work toward adding the academy around three years ago, Flora said, adding it collaborated closely with nonprofit organization the Herzog Foundation. That led to construction of the children’s wing, which was completed last year. He estimated the school fills roughly 40% of the building.

“This has had years of planning, a huge financial investment from the church,” he said, declining to disclose startup costs. “They have basically supported us and given us everything that we need, got our salaries that are competitive as we start up and as we grow.”

Flora said the school will eventually outgrow its current space, but that shouldn’t happen  within the next five years.

“We’ll see how our enrollment goes from here,” he said.

While enrollment at Crossway Christian Academy is not finalized, Flora said he expects this year’s total to be between 54-57 students. Roughly 50% of the students also are Crossway church members.

“We have a lot of students who don’t go to church here,” he said. “We had a great year one, and we had almost all of our students come back after year one. So that’s a kind of testament to what we did.”

Flora said he and nine teachers make up the academy’s staff.

“Secretary-wise, we share some of the church staff and also janitorial right now because we’re small and we’re growing,” he said. “Eventually, we’ll be hiring our own people for that. Right now, we’re leaning on the church for that.”

Tuition is $4,964 along with an additional $700 curriculum fee, which pays for textbooks and other supplies. Noting the church covers electricity and insurance for the school, Flora said this year’s tuition will come close to covering the academy’s other bills.

“The church is kind of propping us up,” he said. “We’re getting close to being self-sufficient, but it’s still going to take some more time. We’re really thankful that the church is supporting us in that way.”

The school is seeking accreditation through the Association of Christian Schools International.

“We are in what’s called candidacy right now,” Flora said. “We’re hoping to be fully accredited in the spring of (2026), which is really kind of a fast track.”