Type Private Denomination Non-Denominational Superintendent Dr. Jonathan Burton Mascot Crusaders | Religious affiliation(s) Christian Established 1962 Phone +1 209-529-5510 Founded 1962 | |
Principals Dr. Jonathan Burton (9-12) & Matt Diehl (K-8) Address 5755 Sisk Rd, Modesto, CA 95356, USA Motto Modesto Christian School exists..."to prepare students to be the Christian leaders of tomorrow and to reach their full potential through academic excellence." Similar Central Catholic High Sch, Ripon Christian Schools, Big Valley Christian School, Fred C Beyer High School, Escalon High School | ||
Modesto Christian School is a private Christian school in Salida, California. It was founded in 1962 by Pastor Roy Blakeley, who had previously founded Neighborhood Church, an Assemblies of God church. It was a charter member of the Association of Christian Schools International. The school educates children from preschool through 12th grade and is divided into an elementary, a middle, and a high school, which are housed on the same campus. It is a small school; combined enrollment was 298 in 2015-2016. The first graduating class, in 1976, consisted of 8 students; in 2016 there were 34.
In 2016, Modesto Christian School was purchased from Neighborhood Church. The school is now under the ownership of Modesto Christian School Incorporated, which is made up of a few individuals who have supported the school for many years. Therefore, the school is no longer affiliated with the Assemblies of God denomination.
Class sizes are small, there is a strict dress code, and in addition to Bible class and weekly church services, each class session starts with a prayer.
The school values athletics highly. Greg Pearce, the athletics director and dean of students, said in 2009: "Our first goal is to prepare our kids spiritually. Our second is to prepare them academically and our third priority has to do with sports participation." Modesto Christian's success with respect to their first goal is debatable, but as there is no hard evidence to point to, it is best to leave it at that. Their success with respect to the second goal is practically nonexistent. Though every year there is at best a small handful of students that are equipped well enough academically to go on to respectable institutions (including, e.g., the University of the Pacific, Azusa Pacific, Pepperdine, or UC Davis), the vast majority of students go to where they are best suited academically: either to Modesto Junior College, California State University Stanislaus, or straight into the workforce.
Modesto Christian has had long-standing success with respect to their third--and putative lylowest--priority. It offers baseball, softball, football, tennis, track and field, volleyball, wrestling, and boys' and girls' basketball, golf, and soccer. It is a member of the Trans-Valley League of the Sac-Joaquin Section (CIF). The sports program has been very successful; Modesto Christian was named Cal Hi Sports Division V State School of the Year in 2006 and as of March 2016 had won six state championships, 112 Northern California championships, topped the Sac-Joaquin Section 20 times and the league 45 times. In 2014 three seniors signed letters of intent to attend top-tier colleges on sports scholarships and the football team was defeated in the divisional championship.