FAIRFIELD TOWNSHIP — When Cincinnati Christian School's Fairfield Campus dismisses at the end of the day, it is no longer chaotic. And during the day, it is much quieter than last spring.

Cincinnati Christian School students rehearse their production of Winnie the Pooh in the auditorium recently. (Gary Landers photo) | ZOOM |

        That's after the school was able to obtain the 31-acre Courts of Praise Christian Center and its furnishings for $4.2 million. About 350 students in the school's middle and high school programs moved to the Morris Road site, known as the Indian Springs Campus, in Fairfield Township, leaving the 250 students in grades K-5 in rented space at Tri-County Assembly of God Church on Dixie Highway.

        Once the details of a purchase agreement are final and paperwork completed, a closing date will be set, probably in October, said Headmaster Darrell Frazier. Until then, the school will lease space from Courts of Praise. After the closing, Courts of Praise will lease space from Cincinnati Christian Schools.

        Kindergarten teacher Martie Eernisse said she misses the high school students who read with her students, but is glad all the elementary grades are in one building. The extra space allowed for the formation of a talented and gifted program for elementary students, the addition of Spanish lessons and more time in the gymnasium and cafeteria.

        “It's given us (elementary teachers) a unity, being back together in one building,” Ms. Eernisse said. “We have more storage space and the cafeteria is more open, now that it's not being used as a study hall.”

        The move comes two years after the school's governing board purchased a 20-acre site on the west side of Dixie Highway between Mack and Seward roads. The property will be deeded to Courts of Praise as a down payment for the Morris Road facility, Mr. Frazier said.

        “This is a real partnership between two Christian organizations,” said parent Terry Diefenbacher, who sits on the governing board. “The obvious benefit is the building is there and ready. It was designed for education. The asking price is far below what we would have had to pay to build a new facility.”

        By acquiring the Courts of Praise, the school gets a new facility with an NBA-size gymnasium, a partition dividing it into two smaller gyms. A committee headed by parent and scientist Andy Fix worked eight months to design a free-standing 5,000-square foot science center with state-of-the-art laboratories in two double-wide modular units on the grounds of the Indian Springs campus. It will be installed soon.

        Plans are in the works to develop tennis courts along with football, soccer and baseball fields at the Indian Springs campus. Under the direction of new athletic director Ronnie Grandison, a former New York Knicks basketball player, the school will establish a football program in 2003 and is developing a master facilities plan.

        Purchase of the site ended a year-long study of facilities headed by Mr. Frazier, who became headmaster 13 months ago and asked the board to reconsider its plan to build on the smaller Dixie Highway site. Under study were several options, including a merger with another Christian school, that has since been dropped.

        The decision to purchase the Courts of Praise was finalized after a two-week July blitz in which $1 million was donated or pledged by the students' families and by organizations, including a $100,000 donation received at the last minute that made the project a go.

        “We give praise and honor to God for bringing about this miracle. It defied all reasoning,” Mr. Frazier said.

        “It only came about through prayer and intervention from God. We came together and had a job to do. A lot of families came to the place, sacrificed, (and pledged) above and beyond tuition.”
       

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