Glenwood School Expansion

December 14, 2023

Dear New City Family,
 
We are excited to see kindergarten, first and second grade students growing every day in academic achievement and in the Gospel through our Glenwood School that is made possible through the partnership with Chattanooga Christian School.  I want to let you know about an important development in this shared ministry to children and families in our community and our city.  
 
We expected that we would have our full program of kindergarten through fifth grade by the fall of 2026, however, the Lord is moving things along more quickly than we had anticipated.  It seems we will likely have K-5th by the fall of 2024!  The leadership of Chattanooga Christian school, in agreement with Olivet Baptist Church, is combining The King School and The Glenwood School to meet at New City.  The King school will continue as a preschool.
 
We were approached by the leadership of CCS in November with the understanding that we were to wait until they completed discussions with teachers, administrators, parents, and the leadership of Olivet Baptist Church before making the plan public.   We updated our deacons in their December 2nd meeting, and just last Saturday, the Session formally approved moving forward, contingent on a signed letter of intent that includes agreeable details to be worked out. This is not a change in our plan to have a K-5th grade school on our campus, but just a change in the timing of that plan.   
 
We trust that the Lord will help our little school grow in its impact in our community and will eventually have 18 to 20 students per class.  Also, we continue to trust Him to help us grow our outreach to our public school students at Orchard Knob Elementary through our GLAD program.  Some additional building improvements to be funded by CCS have been recognized as necessary as our ministry to children and families grows.  We are still engaged in talks with CCS about those improvements that we know will benefit the school as well as our Sunday School program and our after school program.  We will certainly keep you up-to-date on the details as we trust the Lord every step of the way.
 
Please be in prayer with us in all these matters.  We will have a meeting in January to share any new updates with the congregation.  And feel free to reach out to me with any questions you have in the meantime.  
 
On behalf of the Session,

Pastor Kevin Smith