School History
School History
Over a span of four months in 2008, Reggie Garner and Tim Fish, two friends and builders, met to discuss the idea of having a distinctively Christian School in the Leiper’s Fork area. While the Lord continued to lay this need on their hearts, in April of 2008 they decided to approach a fellow friend and educator, Robbie Mason, about the possibility of making this vision a reality. In the months that followed, these three men met regularly to seek the Lord in prayer and to discuss how they could step forward in faith and begin putting the plan for the school in motion. With each step of the process, they were met with seemingly impossible obstacles to overcome, yet God faithfully continued to provide a way through each one.
In November of 2008, Reggie Garner approached Steve Berger, pastor of Grace Chapel in Leiper’s Fork, about the possibility of the church partnering with the school and providing the much-needed space for the school to meet. Because of Reggie and Steve’s friendship and passion for reaching others for Christ, Steve graciously agreed to let Grace Christian Academy meet on their beautiful campus. As details were being finalized for the school, a major obstacle presented itself. Williamson County had to approve Grace Chapel as a campus for the school. During that time of review by Williamson County, several issues surfaced which included septic, traffic and fire safety. In December of 2008, it appeared evident that the school would not be able to move forward because of the major expense of upgrading to a new septic system. Planning meetings came to a halt as it appeared that the Lord was closing the doors for this school.
But the Lord had different plans! In January an engineer had a brilliant idea of changing the septic system which would allow the provision of service for the school, a new sanctuary and any other needs that would surface in the future. On March 17th of 2009 the growing group of men, who were now planning for the school, was able to announce that Grace Christian Academy would be opening as long as Williamson County approved the new septic system plan. As a result, this group of men held the first public meeting for the school to inform the community of the school's vision and to discover how much interest there would be for the school. The meeting was well attended and energy was building around the vision of having a Christ-centered and academically excellent school. Four months later the school opened its doors with an enrollment of 68 students K-6th grade.
In 2019, Grace Christian Academy acquired a nearby property, which we now call the Upper Campus. The property included a standalone home and 58 acres, affectionately known as “the Mansion.” For four years, the Mansion served as our high school building.
As our school continued to grow, we were blessed in 2023 to construct a new high school building. The new facility includes classrooms for grades 9–12, gymnasium spaces, a weight room, student center, cafeteria, a wing for grades 7–8, and a baseball stadium. Today, the Mansion serves as our Intermediate School, primarily housing our 5th and 6th grade students.
Grace Christian Academy has now grown to more than 1,000 students, and we are excited about what lies ahead.
Our capital campaign, “Building for Generations,” is currently underway. Through this initiative, we plan to bring grades Pre-K through 4th grade to the Upper Campus by November 2028, creating an expanded and unified campus designed to serve generations of Grace Christian Academy students and families.