By Anna Guido
Enquirer contributor

NEWTOWN - The opportunity of a lifetime awaits Dody Staker at Miami Valley Christian Academy.

ABOUT THE SCHOOL

• Address: 6830 School St., Newtown (in the former Newton Elementary School, built in 1926). • Enrollment: 273. • Class student-teacher ratio: Not to exceed 23-1. • Tuition for K-10: $3,900 to $5,500 (preschool is less). • Information: (513) 272-6822 or visit Web site.

A founding teacher and now principal, Staker is helping to build, plan and design the school - without compromising her values. On Thursday, Staker - along with co-principal Michael Hall and headmaster Gary Sallquist - will break ground for a high school as some members of the original class reach ninth grade this fall.

"Parents are really looking for an alternative to public education,'' Staker said. "They want biblical morals and values at an early age so their children will be grounded and rooted in Christian beliefs.''

The school's enrollment numbers back up Staker. Miami Valley opened in 1996 with 11 kindergartners and first-graders. This year, the school has 273 students in grades K-8, representing 70 Greater Cincinnati churches and 19 school districts.

About 30 freshmen and sophomores are already registered to attend the new high school this fall. The school's growth does not surprise administrators, who stress biblical integration of basic Scripture in every class.

"The Christian values that many families want are not being taught in public schools," said Staker, who taught in the West Clermont Local School District in the 1970s before she became a stay-at-home mom.

While Scripture does not address everything in life, Sallquist said, it covers issues such as honesty, integrity, dependability and responsibility. "Simply put, we try to teach our kids right from wrong," he said.

In the past three years, the number of Christian schools nationwide has grown an average of 5 percent to 10 percent, according to the Association of Christian Schools International, which counts more than 5,000 schools worldwide among its members.

Miami Valley Christian's enrollment is expected to top 350 next year. Staker will be principal of grades K-6. Hall, who retired a year ago from Anderson High School after 18 years as principal, will head grades 7-10.

Grades 11 and 12 will be added in the following two years.

High on the priority list of high school must-haves will be teaching students how to keep learning, Hall said. "How to self educate - how to be self directed - we have to give them the tools to be lifelong learners."

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