Guardian Angel Christian Academy a vision 15 years in the making and will continue, “until the Lord tells us to do otherwise,” Director of Children’s Education Teresa Hunt said.

AFGT opened its doors in 1995 for a day care with one baby, and today, it has grown to include Pre-K through fifth grade classes.

“My husband, (John Hunt), and I had a vision for a daycare,” Hunt said. “Then we really felt like God wanted us to provide a Christian school.”

Hunt said around 2005-2006, the church started Guardian Angel Christian Academy offering a K-5 class and the school has grown each year, adding a grade a year – this year, they added fifth grade.

“Our goal is to add a grade every year through the 12th grade,” she said.

This year, 105 students ranging from the preschool to fifth grade are enrolled.

Hunt said five of the nine students in the fifth grade class were part of the original K-5 class.

Hunt said the school serves as a ministry of the church to provide a faith-based curriculum.“We are not doing this to take away from the local public schools,” she said.

“We have a great local school system, but we felt there was a need in the community for this.”

Hunt said that since GACA is a church school, they are able to begin the day with prayer and have Bible study as part of the curriculum through the A Beka curriculum.

“We have the same academics as public schools,” she said. “We allow anyone to go to school here. We don’t teach doctrine. The majority of our students don’t go to AFGT (to church). We have students from all walks of life.”

Hunt said that another plus is the fact that if a child is misbehaving they can take them out and pray for them.

“We try to love the whole family,” she said. “We love the kids first and teach them second. It’s a two-fold ministry; we’re here to help them. We’ve got to meet more than the academic needs.”

Hunt said that their students are keeping up with other local school academically.

“Our students take the Iowa tests, which are standardized tests for our size,” she said. “None of our average students have had problems transferring out.”

Hunt said the school depends solely on tuition and contributions.

“We solely depend on the Lord,” she said. “God is our source, and we are truly blessed.”