The story of Crenshaw Christian Academy is a testament to what can be accomplished when a group of people act upon a shared vision. In 1968, concerned parents in Crenshaw County founded Crenshaw Christian Academy as they had a vision to establish a school with a traditional, Christian education for their children.
The founders – John Milton Wise, Clemont Carpenter, Jack Jackson, Jim Jackson, Phillip Moore, James Morgan, Tommy Russell, Tom Shows, and Buddy Smyth – were assisted in their efforts by local parents, as well as prospective students and faculty, to build the school from the ground up and create an educational institution that has stood the test of time. In September of 2018, Crenshaw Christian Academy celebrated 50 years of serving Crenshaw and surrounding counties.
In 1968, when the vision for the new school was put into action, students attended class at the Ivy Creek Community House for two years while the new campus was being built. The students were not only from Crenshaw County. For several years, two buses traveled from Greenville daily to allow at least 60 students from there to attend as well.
The construction of the new campus was truly the first school project. Parents helped to paint the interior and completed countless other projects that could not have been accomplished without volunteers. This legacy of volunteers has lived on and is still an important part of CCA.
By 1970, the school had formed teams for football, baseball, basketball, track and field, tennis, and golf, all of which and were competed in the AISA athletics.
An early legend is of a class that practiced basketball together on a dirt court; that class later won 2 state championships back-to-back. Early football teams practiced in a “hay field,” before the new football field was “sculpted out of a pasture.”
Parents worked diligently to build the gym. All the parents delegated $500 each for the new gym, and the first graduation was held there in 1971. An elementary building and an early childhood center were built in the 1990’s.
In September 1968, the school was opened for 1st through 6th grades, with a maximum of 25 students for each grade. A tuition fee of $25 per month for the first child was established with a sliding scale going into effect for additional children in the same family. Six teachers were employed, which included the headmaster. Presently, we have over 30 employees and serve over 150 students.