What’s up with those T-Shirts?

If you are the parent of a PCA elementary student you may be wondering why your child came home today with a “Building on…” t-shirt. We had a short assembly today to update the kids on the building campaign and to ask them to pray for our school. The panther mascot was there to greet them and Mr. Randall explained that soon they will begin to see a crane and equipment at the new high school building. The kids were so excited to learn how they can help make the new high school a reality through their prayers.
In the next couple of days, the Middle School and High School students will receive their t-shirts. A couple of weeks from now we will be asking parents and friends of PCA to join us in a 100 days of prayer campaign for our new HS building. We hope your will join us as we Build on Prayer!
“By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should be careful how he builds. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ.” 1Corinthians 3:10

Remember the old women who lived in a shoe?

PCA has been blessed with the same problem; we have so many children but we do know what to do. We need to build the new high school to make space for the students. God has blessed our school with an increase in enrollment and even more who want to attend when we have additional space. The demolition has been completed on the interior of the building, the electrical demolition is underway and the roof will soon be raised. The key to keeping the construction moving forward is funding.
The original estimate for the cost of just construction of the first phase of the new high school building was $3.8 million. The new estimate for full completion and integration of the new high school is now $4.6 million. The increase reflects the additional site costs to blend the high school campus with our existing campus, furniture and fixtures, exciting technology to use throughout the high school as well as finalization of cost in conjunction with the finalization of plans. We need to raise that money quickly to keep the construction going and open the new building as soon as possible. $4.6 million seems like an impossible number. It may be for one person, but not for the entire PCA family. If divided equally, the cost of the new high school building would only be about $7,000 per family, paid over the next three years. While we realize some families will not be able to give $7,000, we know that others are willing to give more. If each family commits to donating what they are able to support PCA, the dream of the high school building will soon become a reality.

We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give. Winston Churchill

"Some people give time, some money, some their skills and connections, some literally give their life's blood. But everyone has something to give." Barbara Bush

What do the business neighbors think?

During the process of purchasing the property and making plans for the new PCA High School, the school administration has been in close contact with the businesses who are “neighbors” to PCA. While the school was seeking rezoning from the Town of Pantego to use the former Stripling & Cox building as a High School, 128 businesses from Pantego wrote letters to the Town Council supporting the rezoning to permit our high school. After the approval, the school administrators cautiously approached the beauty salon owners who will be next door to the new high school about the plans to renovate the building. The concerns would have been obvious- a salon with mostly senior clients right next door to a high school- it doesn’t sound like a great mix. The salon owners had a less than predictable response. They are actually delighted that our high school will be their next door neighbors. They stated that our students are polite to their clients, open doors for their clients and are generally positive to be around. Wow, what an amazing testimony to the character of our students! As we move forward with the building program for our new high school it is important to keep in mind that we are not building just a building; we are building character in our students.