Vouchers, word of mouth and location all contribute
In her 15 years as principal of the North Georgia Christian Academy (NGCA), Mary Pierce has seen the school go from 90 students to 365.
Nearly half of the school’s growth has taken place since 2019.
“I love knowing that you can teach kids academically and you can prepare them for any career out there, and you can mold individuals into a character and life that is more than the classroom,” she said.
NGCA is a private school providing a “traditional” education from a Christian perspective. It serves Christian families.
“I believe in Christian education,” Pierce said. “A lot of people believe that religion should not be in education. But I don’t believe you can ever really separate the core of a values system,” she said.
Most of its 365 students are from Gilmer County, but many come from elsewhere. Of the remainder, 100 are from Pickens County and the rest are from Fannin, Union and Cherokee. Some students travel from an hour away to attend.
They’re willing to go the distance because NGCA is affordable, Pierce said.
“We abide by all state standards,” she said. “We’re fully accredited by the Georgia Accrediting Commission. Our teachers are state certified and some of them have advanced degrees.”
Most of the school’s growth has occurred in elementary school, she said. NGCA tends to lose students at the high school level. The school is too small to have some of the sports programs and clubs that Gilmer County Schools can provide.
“We will probably never be able to offer a football team,” Pierce said.
However, in recent years, NGCA has greatly increased its retention rates for higher grade levels.
“I think some extracurriculars, maybe sports, are not as big as they used to be,” she said.
The swift growth of NGCA over the past six years happened for several reasons, Pierce said.
In 2019, the school moved to its new building off Maddox Drive in Ellijay. This location helped make it more visible.
“The building is definitely way more visible than we used to be,” she said.
Compared to other private schools, NGCA is comparatively cheap, at $6,600 a year for high school students and less for younger students.
“If you look at the surrounding [private] schools, tuition is double what our tuition is,” Pierce said.
Georgia tax credit vouchers make private schooling even cheaper.
The law allows parents to designate a portion of their state income tax to private education.
This number is capped at $120 million across the whole state.
“Every private school in the state of Georgia can participate in this program,” Pierce said.
Finally, word of mouth about the school spread from families who attended.
“People always say, ‘I was referred here by my family or friends, or somebody that was connected to the school,” she said.
Often, the referrals will praise NGCA’s “wonderful” teachers.
Of the three, Pierce credits word of mouth as the most important factor in the school’s expansion.
NGCA’s small class sizes and care for students help ensure each family and student feels valued, she said.
“I know every student’s name,” she said. “I call them by name every morning when they walk in the school building.”
No school does everything perfectly, Pierce said. And each family has particular needs, desires and values. This fact makes public school the right choice for some and private school the right choice for others.
“I feel like parents should have the right to send their kids where they feel like their individual child would be most successful,” Pierce said.