| 1982 |
Originally
named Shema Christian School, the school opens its doors in the fall.
One teacher and 5 students (enrolled in grades 1-3) hold classes in Faith
Baptist Church. |
| 1983 |
In January,
a kindergarten teacher is added and three more students enroll. |
| 1984 |
As additional
grades are added, the school moves to a bigger space in Grace Baptist Church. |
| 1989 |
A second location
is needed to house the growing enrollment, so grades 5-8 move into space
in Immanuel Lutheran Church, just a few blocks away. |
| 1993 |
The name of
the school is officially changed to Grand Forks Christian School.
Enrollment continues to increase. |
| 1995 |
Mr. and Mrs.
Burt and Betty Johnson donate 10 acres of land at the south end of Grand
Forks. Hopes are to build a school on the land soon. |
| 1996 |
Enrollment
is at an all time high of 127. Plans are drawn up for a new school
building. |
| 1997 |
A massive
flood devastates the city of Grand Forks in April. Both churches
sustain heavy damage. The school loses everything in its library,
kindergarten room and main office. After a summer of frantic clean-up
and rebuilding, school starts on time in August. The main school
office and grades K-4 are back in Grace Baptist Church. The library,
now located in a small modular building set up outside Grace Baptist Church,
is filled with dozens of boxes containing hundreds of books donated from
all across the country - a momentous cataloging job awaits our part-time
librarian and her army of volunteers! Grades 5-8 are now in a temporary
modular building at Immanuel Lutheran Church. Enrollment drops to
110, but compared to the drop in the public schools, we are retaining a
better percentage of our students. |
| 1998 |
Plans are
made to break ground on the new building in the fall. Enrollment
drops only slightly to 103 for the 98-99 school year, so the school goes
ahead with the Ground Breaking on the new building on September 4, 1998. |
| 1999 |
Progress on
the building is slow and it will not be ready for the 99-00 school year.
Grades 5-8 are moved from the temporary modular building to more permanent
space at Faith Evangelical Free Church in the fall. Enrollment drops
again to 93. |
| 2000 |
Enrollment
drops to 85 and special assessments on the new building and land come in
much higher than expected. With the building fund depleted and donations
dropping off, the school puts further work on the new building on hold. |
| 2001 |
Enrollment
finally begins to increase again to 92. |
| 2002 |
A former elementary
school building (Valley Elementary) goes up for bid in East Grand Forks.
The building, used as a school for grades K-6 until 1997, had been home
to the EGF City Hall and some law offices for several years following the
flood (which had devastated much of East Grand Forks as well). Now,
with the new city hall completed and the other tenants moved out, EGF has
decided to sell the building. After much prayer and research, the
school board decides that relocating to the Valley Elementary building
is considerably more feasible, economically, than continuing construction
on the new building in the south end of Grand Forks. After receiving
permission from the Johnson Estate to sell the land and partially constructed
building at the south end of Grand Forks, the school tenders an offer to
EGF. After the first round of bidding in January, the city does not
award the building to anyone. After the second round of bidding in
May, the city finally awards the building to the school in June.
The school takes possession of the building on July 19 and families and
teachers began the process of returning the building to its original purpose.
Remodeling work goes at a frantic pace. Moving day for the grade
K-4 rooms is August 8th. Moving day for grades 5-8 follows soon after.
The office moves last and school begins on time, August 29, 2002.
Along with the new location, comes a new name. Grand Forks Christian
School is renamed Riverside Christian School. |