History

HIstory of our school

In 1980, First Baptist Church of Sierra Vista had just completed building a beautiful building for their growing church. It was in those early years that the members were beginning to seek more ways to use their building to share Christ with their community. From that desire in the early 80's, the idea of First Baptist Christian Academy (FBCA) began, with hopes of impacting the community of Sierra Vista for Christ by providing a Pre-School to High School education. In 1982 a committee was established to complete a feasibility study. Once this study was completed and the committee deemed it possible to have a christian school, First Baptist Church proceeded in opening FBCA.

The school officially started in the fall of 1984 with 12 preschoolers. In 1985, the school hired Marylin Hewitt as principal and with the assistance of the church, she would help the school begin to grow, adding a grade or two each year and about 10-20 students each year. In her notes, she mentioned in those early years going door to door with her own kids letting the community know of the opportunities available at FBCA for their children. She also mentioned those sweet times with the staff growing and learning together. She faithfully served as principal for 19 years. She grew the school from 12 students to 350 students!

The Academy has had 4 principals, all leaving a mark on our school. Marilyn Hewitt left First Baptist Christian Academy in the 2003-2004 school year. The school hired Susan McMicheal as the principal for the 2004-2005 school year.  She left First Baptist at the end of the 2011-2012 school year. In 2012 the school board hired a new principal, Jim Carter. The school had 207 students at the end of his last year. After ten years as principal, he retired at the end of the 2020-2021 school year. Currently, Ms. Amanda Eckroth is in her 2nd year leading the academy and shares similar priorities of engaging with the students and staff. In 2021, we added 9th grade. In 2022, we added 10th grade.