Gaston Christian School

Gaston Christian School was founded in 1979, by a group of concerned parents who wanted to establish a non-denominational Christian school that offered a college-preparatory program taught from a Biblical perspective. With support from Dr. M. O. Owens, pastor of Parkwood Baptist Church; and Dr. Richard Allen Bodey, pastor of First ARP Church, the school opened its doors in 1980, in facilities provided by Parkwood Baptist Church with 105 students in grades K-9. The school progressed and a class of 3 students was graduated in May 1984. In 1991, Catawba Heights Baptist Church invited the school to open a satellite campus using their educational facilities. The Catawba Heights campus opened in the fall of 1991, with 100 students in grades K-6. With the growth the school was experiencing and the ongoing needs to expand, classroom space continued to be an issue. In 1994, the Board, driven in part by plans to again develop high school grades, entered into an agreement with the Sisters of Mercy to lease a portion of the old Sacred Heart College campus in Belmont to house the middle and senior high schools. The Belmont Campus opened in the fall of 1994, with grades 7 through 10 and graduated a class of 15 in May 1997. In August of 2006, the school’s two elementary campuses moved from the Catawba Heights Baptist Church and Parkwood Baptist Church Campuses to the school’s new elementary building located on its current campus. Today, there are more than 850 students in the PK3 – grade 12 program on the school’s 62 acre campus. Gaston Christian School is governed by a self-perpetuating Board of Trustees. There are currently 9 standing members and 2 ex-officio members. They assume the roles of policy and strategic planning, with the day-to-day operational issues and functions under the purview of the administration.