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| Aerial view of the original campus in the late 1940’s. |
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| Camp cabins in 1950 |
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| The first 23 Mission campers leaving downtown Savannah on July 7, 1947. |
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| Original concept drawings for the proposed Mission Youth Camp
and Christian high school. The lake to the right in both proposals is where the E.D.E.N. observation deck is located.
You can see the (still existing) round-roofed tabernacle in the upper left of the lower drawing. |
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| Concept drawings for the Tabernacle, now the old Upper School Fine Arts Building |
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| The first students, along with the first graduate (center), Anne Tyson ‘52 |
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| The Class of 1954 on the stage in the Tabernacle< |
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| The old dugout pool was replaced in the same location with a concrete pool |
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| The first football team in 1954 |
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| The infamous 45-passenger “Purple People Eater” |
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| This 1953 classroom building is now enclosed as part of our Lower School |
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| Snow blanketing the campus in the 1960's |
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| The Cafeteria under construction in 1965 |
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| The old “new” upper school in 1972. |
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| Aerial view of campus in 1999 |
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When we at Savannah Christian Preparatory School refer to Developing the whole person to the glory of God, and use words like vision, faith, and courage, we are serious. These concepts define a legacy deeply embedded in our more than 50-year history, and solidly integrated into our planned future.
Our school began as an outgrowth of Union Mission, an assistance organization formed in downtown Savannah by the late Rev. George Akins in 1937. In 1945, as part of a post-war plan to provide work for men returning home from war, the Mission purchased the 50-acre Grayson farm at the long, dusty end of Telfair Road, about 5 miles outside of Savannah. Rev. Akins envisioned a place where less fortunate men could help themselves and others. Over time, the men raised and sold vegetables, pigs, goats, horses and ponies to not only feed and support themselves, but to buy more land for as little as $50 per acre. Eventually, they raised more than $40,000 and bought 400 acres, 232 acres of which still comprise our present Chatham Parkway campus.
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| Rev. George and Mrs. Harold Deane Akins |
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Rev. Akins and his wife, Mrs. Harold Deane Akins, soon envisioned an even broader ministry to children involved in the Mission’s downtown Bible Clubs. After the Mission constructed a few cabins for overnight accomodations, 23 girls packed into the back of a pick-up truck for the drive out to the farm for the very first Mission Youth Camp on July 7, 1947.
More cabins were added, along with a kitchen and dining hall, showers and restrooms, a dugout pool, and an open air tabernacle (built for $9,000 in 1949). Eventually, more than 2,500 children and parents were using the camp each summer.
As a favor for the children, Chatham County dug out two lakes on the Mission property. Although skeptics claimed the lakes would never be full, within two weeks a passing hurricane brought nine inches of rain and filled them with about ten feet of water. After the lakes were stocked and bird pens constructed, the area soon became known as a sportman’s paradise offering fishing and hunting for Bob White quail, pheasant, and mallard ducks. The Mission generated income by providing hunters with hunting dogs and guides.
Eventually the Akins began to seek ways to influence children year round instead of just a few weeks each summer. By 1950, Mission leaders were considering establishing a Bible school and accredited high school with a focus on Bible study and training for full-time Christian service to help young people secure a Christian foundation and develop Christian character with intellect.
Rev. Akins remarked publicly, “Many men are now thinking and praying about this project and under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, we believe it can be established, maintained and used for the ongoing of His Kingdom.” They also believed that a Christian high school would “help lift the morals of our city and county” and that thousands of parents would eventually send their children to such a school.
In January of 1951, several visionary Savannahians asked God to confirm their idea of establishing the school. The group specifically prayed for $10,000 in donations as confirmation by the end of the month.
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| (L-R) Francis and Newell Turner, the first donors to the new school. The central drive through the middle of the Chatham Parkway campus was once named “Turner Drive” in their honor.
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Rev. Akins first visited Dr. and Mrs. Newell Turner on New Year’s Day. After Rev. Akins shared his vision with them, the Turner’s admitted that they had been “praying for more than ten years that God would raise up someone to start a Christian school in this area.” Although Rev. Akins only asked for $1,000, they committed $2,500.
Although donations trickled in, only $8,500 had been committed by the morning of the last day of the month. So, at 3 p.m. on January 31, 1951, Union Rescue Mission workers began praying earnestly.
“No matter how strong our convictions,” Mrs. Akins recalls, “we knew that it would take a great deal of financial help to realize them.”
Within a couple of hours – without knowledge of the amount needed and without being asked – one of Savannah’s leading businessmen, Mr. Waldo Bradley, pledged $1,500 to help start the school, answering their prayers and confirming the vision they believed God had given them.
On March 6, 1951, the Mission Board voted to start a Christian high school beginning with the September school term. In faith, the Mission set tuition - including room and board - at $35 per month, and officially opened the Evangelical Bible Institute (EBI) on September 17, 1951, with this mission: “The Bible first, then teaching students how to live and how to make a living.”
Eight students were enrolled the first day, nine students attended classes the first year, and the fledgling Christian school graduated its first senior – Anne Tyson – in the spring of 1952.
By the next fall, 32 students were enrolled. Over the next decade, enrollment grew to 200 (including boarding students, and middle and lower grades). Added facilities included new classroom buildings, a concrete swimming pool, new dorms, and the 500-seat cafeteria (built in 1965 for $100,000); and tuition (including tuition, bus, and lunch fees) increased to $42 per month. Boarding rates in 1966 were $85 per month, registration fees were $20, and lower school students’ book rent was $10 per year.
Explosive growth in the early 1970’s increased enrollment to nearly 1,400 1st-12th grade day students. New classrooms and a gym were added in 1972 for $200,000. Continued growth led to the establishment of satellite campuses in the late 1970’s, including campuses at Isle of Hope, Wilmington Island, White Bluff, and DeRenne Avenue. A Four and Five-year-old Kindergarten was started by Mrs. Ann Womble in 1979, and eventually expanded to include Daycare and Preschool students mostly as a convenience to accommodate the needs of faculty members.
Today, Savannah Christian Preparatory School is an independent, non-denominational, college preparatory Christian school, serving approximately 1,550 PK-12th grade students and 180 Daycare/Preschool children 6 weeks to 3 years old. We seek to glorify God by partnering with families, churches and the local community in educating future generations through Christ-centered training, application and example.
We presently maintain two campuses. Our 232-acre Chatham Parkway campus hosts Daycare/Pre-school, Lower and Upper School facilities that include 14 buildings with classrooms, labs, media centers, 3 gyms, a cafeteria, an outdoor pool, a track, 5 athletic fields, 3 playgrounds, the Eckburg Fine Arts and Athletic Center, and the Ecological Diversity for Educational Networking (E.D.E.N.) outdoor education center. Our 14-acre DeRenne Avenue campus houses the Middle School and Lower School in 5 buildings with classrooms, labs, a media center, cafeteria, 2 gyms, a softball field and lighted football/soccer field.
Savannah Christian is the third largest Christian school in Georgia, and fifth largest independent private school. It serves students within a 50-mile radius of Savannah, including Bryan, Bulloch, Chatham, Effingham, Liberty, Long, and McIntosh counties in Georgia and Beaufort and Jasper counties in South Carolina. We have over 3,400 alumni and more than 200 staff and faculty. Our re-enrollment rate is 93-98% and new enrollment applications exceed availability. We have a strong heritage based on traditional education and discipline that often reminds parents of the schools they attended as children.
Over the past few years, the Board of Trustees and administration have worked with faculty and staff, students, current families, alumni, SCPS friends and experienced consultants to map out strategic plans to address the future of the school. One key component of these plans included the decision to redevelop our existing Chatham Parkway campus for educational and co-curricular excellence, cost-effectiveness and managed growth. We refer to it as the “One Campus Plan” because we plan to close our DeRenne campus and consolidate all of our students and programs on the Chatham Parkway campus. Our current target date for this campus unification is August of 2010.
The anticipated costs of the proposed overall campus redevelopment plans – including design and construction fees and furnishings – total more than $42,000,000.
Unlike many private schools, 100% of our operating budget comes from tuition. With no other funds available for such large capital projects, the Board has sought other funding options, specifically a combination of charitable gifts and borrowed funds.
The Board voted in January 2003 to move ahead with constructing The Eckburg Center, a new entrance road, a new Upper School parking lot, a new Upper School baseball field and a soccer field, and installing city water and sewer on campus.
We officially launched our Generation-to-Generation Capital Campaign in April 2003 with a $3,000,000 goal, and exceeded it with more than $3,415,000 in gifts and pledges, of which nearly 96% have already been paid and 98% are expected to be paid. Key to our success in this campaign was a $500,000 gift from Mr. and Mrs. J. C. Lewis and a $1,000,000 challenge gift from Mr. and Mrs. Richard Eckburg.
In December 2005, Mr. and Mrs. Eckburg committed a new challenge gift of $5,000,000 over five years toward continuing our campus redevelopment, specifically completing a new 82,650 square foot, two-story Upper School facility. In November 2007, we received an additional $2,500,000 pledge from a friend of the school, for a total of $7.5 million in matching gifts!
In general, donations have built the school, and tuition has run it.
Union Mission had long held annual fund drives to fund its mission work, and this tradition has continued as a means of funding the school facilities and equipment necessary to accommodate and educate the students. Although enrollment eventually grew enough for tuition to fully fund administrative operating costs, capital gifts have funded most of our facilities, and annual donations and fundraisers have funded a great deal of classroom, athletic, and arts equipment.
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The purpose of our Legacy Capital Campaign is to obtain $7,500,000 in matching gifts by raising $7,500,000. We currently have more than 125 donors who have pledged approximately $2,000,000.
We are specifically asking every SCPS family, alumnus, and friend to consider making a donation or pledge over a five-year period to help match the remaining $5,500,000.
Primarily, we hope to continue to serve our community and develop the whole person to the glory of God through a Christ-centered, quality, academic institution with the ability to serve nearly 2,000 students daily from infants through twelfth grade on one campus. We want to partner with nurturing families, Christ-centered churches, and community businesses and organizations to help positively shape young lives. Together, we can hold hands, mold minds, and steer spirits as our students journey paths toward intellectual prowess, physical and emotional health, godly maturity and responsible citizenship.
The positive impact we have had on our students, the surrounding community, and hundreds of other communities around the world where our graduates have dispersed, would not have been possible without the physical and financial support of numerous friends over many years. With your support, and the Lord’s continued blessing, we aim to continue to provide a well-balanced, quality Christian education unsurpassed in the coastal Georgia region, and are committed to following through with our carefully considered, long-range strategic plan that will firmly establish SCPS for the next fifty years and beyond.
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