OACS News Service

Kleinburg Christian Academy adopts new name as school seeks to ‘move forward’
Name change one component of larger focus on school as a vibrant place to grow
Monday November 30, 2009 -- Michelle Strutzenberger
The former Calvary Christian School has adopted the new name of Kleinburg Christian Academy (KCA) as the school seeks to ensure it is a continuously growing, relevant community.

“It was thought by school leadership that a new name could be a valuable piece of the strategic plan in moving the school forward and keeping it relevant well into the future,” says principal Garry Zondervan.

“As we examine our new name, Kleinburg Christian Academy, also known as KCA, we believe that we have communicated three important things to our potential new families: we have identified our geographic location, Kleinburg, the nature of our program, Christian, and our aspirations to high quality independent education, Academy.”

While the school community recognizes that changing the name doesn’t change “who we are,” it does alter “how we want to be recognized in the future,” Zondervan adds.

The school has dropped the name Calvary as a term that is no longer well-used or understood in today’s culture. Some relate it to the ancient horse and rider battalions while others tend to link it to the Canadian city of Calgary.

“Since our school has an open enrolment policy, this is a significant roadblock,” says Zondervan, adding it’s important to note the school maintains it's position that all families enrolling at the school must understand and sign to the fact that their children will be receiving a Christ-centred education, with no exceptions or compromise.

KCA is seeking to expand its reach within the larger Christian community as a direct response to three Biblical mandates; the great commandment to love God and neighbour, the great commission to evangelize and teach “all nations,” and the great cultural or creation mandate, which Zondervan describes as a “call to engage and transform culture with our time, gifts and talents in order to bring Christ’s light to a dark world.”

Along with the new name, the school has a new logo which includes symbols to represent the partnership of home, school and church around training and equipping “our children to have a transforming impact in today’s culture.”

The logo is also inscribed with three Latin words — veritas, fides and sapienta — which are translated truth, faith and wisdom respectively, of which the Bible is the only source; “our source for knowing God personally and our inspiration/motivation to serving God passionately with our heart, soul, mind and strength.”

The school recognizes that changing its name is only one piece of the marketing puzzle, Zondervan adds.

“KCA is a great place to grow . . .  academically, spiritually, emotionally, physically, socially and intellectually,” he says.

“This is the bigger piece of the puzzle that requires continued attention and review. This will ensure that our education remains relevant and that each child is given ample opportunities to know God and to serve God.”

The academy’s new name became official Sept. 8, 2009.

A welcome-back barbecue included the distribution of t-shirts with the new name and logo as well as the school’s new tagline “KCA, a great place to grow!”

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