MVCA History
A little bit of our history
The school opened in 1993 in the Ronan Community Fellowship by parents and community members that were deeply committed to providing a Christ centered educational opportunity for students in the valley. Led by Mark Gilliland, there were many staff members and families that sacrificially gave to make this dream a reality and God miraculously provided time and time again. K-12 enrollment surged as families were directed to just pay as they were able which provided an unstable financial basis for the school to operate. Due to the rather fluid financial situation, MVCA relied heavily upon parents, pastors, and other volunteers to serve as teachers. The teachers were paid at the end of each week based on any payments that came in. Other local churches graciously allowed MVCA to use their facilities during this time including the Ronan First Baptist Church, the Ronan Christian Missionary Alliance, the Ronan Christian Church and the parish hall of the Ronan Catholic Church.
Eventually the leadership established realistic tuition amounts that made MVCA viable and sustainable. The first graduate was celebrated in 1995. A focus on Classical and Christian education was introduced in the early years and MVCA became known for the dramatic productions the school shared over the years. Todd Hicks was a lead teacher who was instrumental in helping parents see the value of the Classical Christian curriculum and he led the continuing growth of the drama productions.
In 2002, John Walker became the MVCA headmaster replacing Mark Gilliland and the school moved to the Polson Christian Church giving the opportunity for K-12 to operate in one facility. Todd Hicks became the MVCA headmaster in 2006 and the school continued in the Polson Christian Church. The school moved to the New Life Christian Center in 2007 and the process began to build a facility on newly purchased property two miles east of Polson at our current location.
In the fall of 2008, MVCA moved into its new facility in Polson and Marcia Kitson became the Headmaster. Parents and community members who helped build the structure still talk about writing scriptures on the beams and foundation of the school. In 2009, Jason Edwards was the headmaster and the school continued to focus on providing a Christ centered education and could now host soccer games on its very own field. The Polson First Baptist Church opened its facilities to MVCA so PE classes could have gym space, opportunities for volleyball and basketball as well as programs and graduation.
In 2012, Christian Bumgarner took the leadership of MVCA and as the school approached it’s twentieth anniversary, the board and leadership began exploring the benefits of dual accreditation through the Association of Christian Schools International and AdvancEd. Improving student instruction, allowing students to seamlessly transfer to other schools and providing accountability were just three areas the leadership deemed worthy of this effort. The process for accreditation began and “Mr. B” worked to direct the school through a successful accreditation that was completed in 2017. During the accreditation process, MVCA selected new school colors, an Eagle as mascot, and a new school logo.
In 2018, Andrew Russell was brought from the Sea of Japan to lead MVCA into the next phase of growth and development. Building on the success of MVCA’s accreditation, God provided a highly qualified staff, quality Christ centered curriculum and a richly diverse school family to drive continual improvement and mission success. MVCA solidified a larger athletics program with Soccer, Volleyball, Basketball, and Ultimate Frisbee programs.
Due to the growing enrollment and the generosity of the local community, MVCA was able to expand the campus size in 2020 by purchasing an additional five-acre lot west of the current property with plans to build a new High School and Community Center in the coming years. Additionally, MVCA added another 3000 sq foot addition to the current building in January of 2022. The addition serves a full and part-time pre-school and Kinder classroom freeing up space in the existing building for the growing enrollment. January of 2022 MVCA also added Michael Bond as a Vice Principal. Starting the summer of 2022, Mr. Bond took over as Principal and Mr. Russell shifted to Head of School.
Today MVCA continues to look forward to serving the local community to provide a Christ centered quality education to develop lifelong servant leaders. As MVCA approaches thirty years, the school simply desires to bring honor to God through the education provided with an emphasis to partner with parents in
challenging students toward lives of character, integrity, service and influence.
Who Are We
Where To Find Us
38907 WWJD Lane
Polson, MT 59860
front.office@mvcapolson.org
Lower School: (406) 883-6858
heather.smith@mvcapolson.org
Upper School: (406) 883-0706
michael.bond@mvcapolson.org
What We Do
MVCA does not and shall not discriminate on the basis of race, color, age, national origin (ancestry), disability, marital status, or military status, in any of its activities or operations. These activities include, but are not limited to, hiring and firing or staff, selection of volunteers and vendors, and provision of services.