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Our History & Beliefs

From the very start, Chapel Hill Academy was dedicated to raising up generations of future leaders who would know and love the Lord.

God’s faithfulness and provision towards these ends is evident throughout Chapel Hill Academy’s narrative.

1960s

In 1969, in response to the public school movement of taking prayer out of the schools, as well as the introduction of human sexuality taught without biblical values, concerned Christian parents found themselves being moved by God to start a Christian school in the Minnetonka area. Prayer, planning, and perseverance led to the Minnesota Corporate Charter of Chapel Hill Academy, Inc., dated March 13, 1970.

1970s

Chapel Hill Academy hired its first headmaster, Mr. Ed Pilch, and the school opened in September 1970. God confirmed His leading with close to 90 students enrolling the first day of school in Kindergarten through 9th grade. Starting with the third year of operation, a grade of senior high was added each year. The graduating class from the 12th grade occurred in June 1975.

A Bible-integrated curriculum, produced by Accelerated Christian Education (ACE), was adopted school-wide in 1972. This self-paced system utilized instructional materials that were individually prescribed according to the functioning performance of each child.

Space for this Christian school was first leased from Trinity Episcopal Church in Excelsior and then King of Glory Lutheran Church of Eden Prairie. Through a matching fund gift in 1975 and the issuance of corporate notes in 1976 and 1977, an educational wing and gymnasium were made possible at the King of Glory Lutheran Church site.

1980s

The need for additional space to house our growing student population caused the Board of Directors to seriously consider moving our school to a new location. In the spring of 1982, the Corporation approved a recommendation by the Board to move the school to a new location in Deephaven. A lease was arranged with the Minnetonka School District to utilize the former Deephaven Intermediate School. During that same time, the Board gave approval to the process of changing our classroom organizational structure to a traditional pattern of one teacher at each grade level.

After seven years in Deephaven, the Minnetonka School District was also growing . A search for facilities led us back to our former site at the King of Glory Lutheran Church in Eden Prairie.

Moving back to Eden Prairie in 1989, the Board was committed to providing a Kindergarten through 8th grade Christian school in the western Minneapolis suburbs of Eden Prairie, Chanhassen, Chaska, Minnetonka, Edina, Shakopee, Carver and Victoria. Our dedicated parents and teachers overlooked crowded classrooms, a carpeted gymnasium and many other challenges for the privilege of a Christ-centered education for their children.

1990s

The Lord blessed us with steady growth, and we were soon looking for additional space for our expanding student population. Additionally, the Board of Directors moved to double the number of classrooms per grade level, Kindergarten through 8th grade. This two-track structure was phased in, one grade level each year, beginning with the 1996-1997 school year. During this time, New Testament Church in Eden Prairie (now called City Hill), supported our Christian school efforts and helped to ease our crowded building by allowing our middle school grades to use their facility. Temporary or modular classrooms were also purchased to accommodate our expanding student population.

In the providence of God, a school site became available just two miles from our Eden Prairie location. In the fall of 1997, we leased space for our 7th and 8th grades at the former St. Hubert’s Catholic Church and School in Chanhassen, while our Board of Directors completed the details for the purchase of the entire facility. It was with great joy and rejoicing that our entire Christian school family moved to our first Corporation-owned facility under one roof in Chanhassen in the fall of 1998!

2000s

The next few years saw several additions and remodeling projects to this facility, thanks to the generous donations of many families and friends of Chapel Hill Academy. The Richard L. Case education wing was completed in 2001 and named for one of our Godly administrators who had served our school family for 22 years. Our beautiful gymnasium was added in 2003 and has allowed us to strengthen our Physical Education and Athletics programs.

2010s

In 2010 the entire CHA family of current and former administrators and staff, current families and students plus alumni families and students gathered in a joyful celebration of God’s faithfulness for nearly 5 decades in a ministry whose influence reaches across time and continents and makes a difference for Eternity.

As interest in Christian schools has grown, our reach has expanded to include the Minneapolis suburbs of Chanhassen, Chaska, Carver, Minnetonka, Eden Prairie, Edina, Shakopee, Victoria and Waconia.

Making a difference for eternity has been Chapel Hill Academy’s greatest legacy

Although our facilities and programs have changed over time, our Parent Corporation and Board of Directors have not wavered in their commitment to honor God and assist families by providing a Christ-centered education which inspires and enables students to pursue spiritual maturity and academic excellence.

The students at CHA have been blessed to be under the direct influence of teachers and staff who are filled with the Holy Spirit, have a heart for Christian school ministry and have a genuine love and concern for reaching each student for the Lord.

Statement of Faith

  • We believe the Bible to be the inspired, the only infallible, authoritative Word of God, inerrant in the original manuscripts.  We believe the inerrancy of Scripture embraces not only religious truth, but also the Bible’s scientific, historical and literary features.
  • We believe that there is one God, eternally existent in three persons:  Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
  • We believe that creation was an act of God and not the result of evolution, theistic or otherwise.  (This has no reference to changes within the species as defined in Genesis 1.)
  • We believe in the deity of our Lord Jesus Christ, in His virgin birth, in His sinless life, in His miracles, in His vicarious and atoning death through His shed blood, in His bodily resurrection, in His ascension to the right hand of the Father and in His personal return in power and glory.
  • We believe that for the salvation of lost, sinful men, regeneration by the Holy Spirit is absolutely essential.
  • We believe in the present ministry of the Holy Spirit by whose indwelling the Christian is enabled to live a Godly life.
  • We believe in the resurrection of both the saved and the lost; they who are saved unto the resurrection of life, and they who are lost to the resurrection of damnation.
  • We believe in the spiritual unity of believers in our Lord Jesus Christ.

Philosophy of Christian Education

The educational philosophy of Chapel Hill Academy is based on a God-centered view of truth and man as presented in the Bible. Since God created and sustains all things through His Son, Jesus Christ, the universe and all life are dynamically related to God and have the purpose of glorifying Him. This is pointedly true of man who was made in God’s image, different in kind from all other creation, with the unique capacity to know and respond to God personally and voluntarily. Because man is a sinner by nature and choice, however, he cannot, in this condition, know or honor God in his life. He can do this only by being born again through receiving Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, and thus be enabled to do God’s will, which is the ultimate purpose of his life.

The entire process of education is seen as a means used by the Holy Spirit to bring the student into closer fellowship with God, to help him become strong and mighty in the Spirit, to assist him in developing a Christian mind, to enable him to think God’s thoughts, to train him in Christ-likeness and to help the student demonstrate Christ-like character qualities so that he can fulfill God’s total purpose for his life personally and vocationally. He is taught the Bible so he may understand God as well as his own true nature and function as God’s image. He is developed and relates to God as a whole person, that is:  spiritually, intellectually, physically, emotionally and socially. He is taught to see all truth as God’s truth and to integrate it with, and interpret it by, God’s word. He is educated as an individual, with his own unique abilities and personality, who learns to live and work with others at home, in the church and in a changing secular society. He interacts with and is taught by parent and teacher models who are themselves born again and have this perspective on life.

The authority for such an education comes both from God’s command that the student be taught to love God and place Him first in their lives and from the fact that parents are responsible for the total education and training of their student. At the parents’ request, the Christian school, along with the church, becomes a partner in giving this education. The Christian school serves the parents in fulfilling their responsibility of educating the student.

Expected Student Outcomes

The Four Cornerstones of Christian Education at Chapel Hill Academy

Support each student to be a …

  1. Growing Believer who is
    • pursing God through a relationship with Jesus
    • studying God’s Word to understand His truth
    • practicing evangelism by sharing the Gospel with others
    • maturing in Christlikeness
  2. Skillful Learner who is 
    • acquiring fundamental academic knowledge and communication skills
    • developing independence and responsibility
    • applying critical thinking skills to analyze concepts or solve problems
    • discovering and exploring personal interests and aptitudes
  3. Respectful Peer who
    • contributes positively in cooperative settings
    • values and appreciates differences in people, experiences, and backgrounds
    • shows care and concern for the well-being of others
    • demonstrates ownership and forgiveness following a conflict or challenge
  4. Responsible Individual who
    • engages in discipleship and initiative for a greater cause
    • understands the importance of making God-honoring decisions and healthy lifestyle choices
    • respects God’s authority and authority in the home, school, community, and nation
    • values godly stewardship of resources and our surroundings