Talk to most anyone at Suffolk Christian Academy, and they’ll tell you not only about the school’s faith-based mindset, but also about how much of a family the school is.

With anywhere between 240 to 250 pre-K through 12th-grade students set to start the new school year with Wednesday’s first day of classes at SCA, those are important qualities for an ambitious school that’s adding new programs and tweaking others.

“The biggest thing for me is that we have small classrooms,” said 10th-grade student Sydney Basnight, 16. “So we’re really small compared to public school, where they’re really big. Everybody doesn’t know everybody in a public school, and we know literally everybody here. That’s definitely my favorite thing.”

Zoey Schell did not expect to be back at SCA this year. However, the rising 10th-grader’s move didn’t materialize, and she got to surprise her good friend, Basnight, during a recent open house night. She, too, likes the smaller class size of the school.

“I didn’t realize I was coming back to SCA until halfway through the summer,” said Schell, 15, who will go into her second year at the school. “I thought I was going to leave and move, so I’m super excited to be back, and I got to surprise my friend with coming back. She didn’t know until (Thursday). It was great. I was excited. I was going to miss coming here.”

And there’s plenty new to look forward to at the school.

The school is increasing its focus on STEAM-based teaching — science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics. Headmaster Tamra VanDorn said it had a STEAM program already in the middle school, but the program is expanding to include pre-K through middle school this year.

Every child from preschool through fifth grade will focus on STEAM on a weekly basis, while middle schoolers — sixth through eighth graders — have STEAM as an elective option.

“It’s interesting to the students, and it’s needed for our future, the careers that are out there,” VanDorn said.

The school has also changed the structure of its fifth- and sixth-grade programs. Before, fifth-graders exclusively belonged to elementary school and sixth-graders to the middle school. VanDorn said those two grades will be called intermediate school and will have multiple teachers, but not as many as they would have in high school.

Fifth-graders will still have other activities with elementary school students, such as resource classes, recess, twice-per-week physical education classes, as well as lunch and chapel. Sixth-graders will still go to Upper School chapel and lunch, and they’ll get to go to the retreat and have lockers.

“It’s just trying to help them transition better so that we can help them with their social development,” VanDorn said, “and also with that executive function being able to handle multiple tasks.”

She also said there would be more of an emphasis on Spanish language learning, as students will be going into other classrooms to help other students with the language, and during Hispanic History Month, there will also be school-wide activities.

SCA is also starting a Drama Club this year to expand the school’s fine arts program.

“We want to make sure that we are keeping our program well-rounded,” VanDorn said. “There was an effort to appeal to our students who, maybe play athletics, but also enjoy the fine arts and also to give more substantial opportunities to those students if that’s their focus.”

Madison Gray, 16, is looking forward to playing volleyball and basketball for SCA this year, as well as getting closer to other students at the school in her second year there. Describing herself as “not a social butterfly,” the smaller class sizes at the school have helped her.
“You can have deep group discussions, which I like, because then you actually get into learning and you feel like you’re learning more,” Gray said.

The school has also added a new admissions staff coordinator — who also serves as a guidance counselor – as well as a staff development coordinator and a new athletic director.

SCA will also go into its second year with buses to bring students to school, with pickup and drop off points at Nansemond River Baptist Church at 2896 Bridge Road, Benn’s Church at 14571 Benns Church Blvd. in Smithfield and Westminster Reformed Presbyterian Church at 3488 Godwin Blvd.

Last year, VanDorn said the school had to turn away students because it did not have room. By doing some restructuring and adding classes, the school is now able to accommodate more growth.

“We did do some other restructuring internally to allow for more space in the classrooms,” VanDorn said.

She said she is appreciative of the support the school has received from Southside Baptist Church, which hosts the school, and is excited for the coming year.

“What makes us different is we educate to expand the kingdom of God,” VanDorn said. “We want to be a place for Christian families to come and help their children to develop their faith and to help them be able to go out into their community and serve the people of their community.”

It’s that approach that Jeff Bunch appreciates.

Bunch, whose son Ethan graduated in June and daughter Elizabeth is in 11th grade, said the school has been a perfect fit for his kids. He said his son, who has autism, was accepted by both students and teachers at the school. He said SCA is building people with Christian character to go out into the world.

“This is a little ray of sunshine in Suffolk,” Bunch said.