Grove City Christian Academy

Pre-School and Pre-Kindergarten at GCCA is a time of new beginnings for our new academy friends.  Although learning the alphabet and its sounds as well as counting and memorizing scripture are a part of every day together, large doses of play and fun activities are a key component of Mrs. Smith's lesson plans.  Mrs. Smith has been guiding our academy's youngest students for more than a decade and continues to provide exciting thematic units that students recall for a life time.  Mrs. Smith is married to Boyd Smith and has three grown children. 

Kindergarten:  Mrs. Dawn Morgan

Kindergarten is the very important bridge between the preschool years and 1st grade, and Mrs. Dawn Morgan gives prayerful, patient and loving instruction along every step across.  A graduate of Liberty Baptist College, Mrs. Morgan has opened the door to reading for kindergarteners at GCCA since 1995. Mrs. Morgan is always ready with a smile and a calm word of encouragement as she helps to build a solid foundation in phonics, reading, math, Bible, cursive writing, and more. Her kindergarteners are more than ready for the challenge of first grade when they say good-bye!  Mrs. Morgan is married to Brad Morgan and has two grown children. They live in Grove City. 

First Grade:  Mrs. Debbie Williamson

First-graders jump right in to learning with Mrs. Debbie Williamson, who happily jumps right along with them! Mrs. Williamson earned both her BA and MA in education and a BA in Bible from Philadelphia Biblical University.  She joined GCCA in 2005 after years of being a full-time counselor/house parent at George Junior Republic in Grove City.  Her love of sports and music keeps her class moving as her students become fluent in reading and learn grammar, spelling, addition, subtraction, Bible, science, and history.  First-graders learn that with Mrs. Williamson, a full day at school is a day full of discovery of God's creation!  Mrs. Williamson and her husband Billy have three children and live in Grove City. 

Second Grade:  Mrs. Alison Thompson

Mrs. Alison Thompson ran cross-country when she studied elementary education at Geneva College, so when she teaches about the Olympics in ancient Greece to the second-grade class, she sets the perfect pace for learning!  Mrs. Thompson began teaching second grade at GCCA in 2005. Her joyful smiles and enthusiasm keep the team of second graders striving to achieve their best as they glorify God in learning manuscript writing, spelling, math, Bible, ancient history, science, reading, and grammar. Mrs. Thompson loves to teach the animal unit in science, as her class learns how God created each animal distinctly and with a specific purpose.  Mrs. Thompson's husband, Chris, also is a teacher and a runner. They reside in New Castle, PA with their dog Maggie. 

Third Grade:  Mrs. Nancy Spears

This year's third graders will begin their new year with our former 5th grade teacher, Mrs. Nancy Spears.  Mrs. Spears received a B.A. in Elementary Education and a Masters of Education from Westminster College in New Wilmington, PA.   Mrs. Spear's love and expertise in reading instruction will be evident as she teaches students about God's hand in history in the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, and the Reformation period.  While reading a variety of great literature, students will also participate in exciting activities that compliment these great stories.   Mrs. Spears also serves as the head teacher at our campus in the Grove City First Baptist Church.  Nancy and her husband Todd have four children and live in Grove City, PA. 

Fourth Grade:  Mrs. Lisa Schulter

If the smell of paint is in the air, it must be Auction time, which means Mrs. Lisa Schulter, our artistic fourth grade teacher, is working on her annual contribution: a themed, beautifully hand-painted piece of furniture!  Mrs. Schulter came to GCCA in 2005 after serving as an aministrator at another Christian school.  A secondary education graduate of Slippery Rock University, she spent several years teaching fourth grade at a Christian school in Maryland before returning to the area to marry her husband, Tim.  As the fourth graders learn about colonial American history and Pennsylvania history, they can count on Mrs. Schulter (a member of Phi Alpha Theta history honorary) to lead them on adventures to local historical sites such as the Old Stone House. 

Fifth & Sixth Grade:  Miss Megan Maley

GCCA fifth & sixth graders study 20th century American history in-depth with a history major as their guide: Miss Megan Maley.  A 2007 graduate of Grove City College, Miss Maley majored in history and minored in religion. She has great enthusiasm for integrating faith and life, as evidenced by her time with the Witherspoon Fellowship, where she studied faith and public life.  Miss Maley also spent a whole semester volunteering at GCCA so that she could further solidify her understanding of integrating faith and education.  She loves teaching geography and bringing song into the classroom.  At home she enjoys classical music, art, penning letters, scrapbooking, and aerobics. 

Seventh/Eighth Grades:  Miss Rachel Davis

In the seventh and eighth grade, students embark on their own odyssey into the Great Books of Western literature with the help of their experienced leader, Miss Rachel Davis. The Omnibus curriculum emphasizes reading, writing, and evaluating history and literature through a Biblical worldview.  An Elementary Education graduate of Grove City College and former high school and middle school faculty member at GCCA, Miss Davis believes that her teaching only is meaningful if it helps her students to live according to God's truth by loving and serving Him.  With fifteen years of teaching experience with the classical pedagogy, Miss Davis brings a wealth of knowledge and seasoned enthusiasm to our students in the dialectic stage.

Physical Education:  Mrs. Jodi Glessner

From the fundamentals of basketball to the techniques of Frisbee golf, Mrs. Glessner keeps one thing before her students, play hard!  Mrs. Glessner has served as our P.E. teacher for grades 1^st-8^th since 2005.  She is also an active participant in our Booster Club, organizing and leading our Funnel Cake booth during the summer months at various community events.  Mrs. Glessner’s two daughters are full-time students at GCCA. 

Elementary Art:  Miss Caitlin Jenkins

An alum herself of Grove City Christian Academy, Miss Caitlin Jenkins returns to teach one of her favorite subjects – art – to grades one through four. With a curriculum based heavily on Mona Brookes’ book Drawing With Children and tying in with each class’s history studies, she aims to develop her students’ ability to really see the shapes and colors with which they are surrounded, and to appreciate the visual wonder of God’s creation. Miss Jenkins began teaching in the summer of 2009 with her own drawing class for children in the Grove City area. She will graduate from Grove City College with an English major and a Studio Art minor in May of 2010.