The 147 seniors in the Prestonwood Christian Academy (PCA) class of 2023 have garnered more than $13.1 million in scholarship offers. PCA honored the seniors at a special ceremony this morning, including three students who have received full academic scholarships. 

Ben Smith received the Honors College Scholarship from Texas A&M Commerce. He participated in an interview process that rated him on educational skills, ability to think critically and creatively, and ensuring he would be a good fit with the University. “Ben has used ingenuity to create a small business with a few of his friends that focuses on character creation for video games,” said Amber Beckles, PCA Plano Guidance and College/Career Counseling Lead. “His entrepreneurial spirit will be a great asset to Texas A&M Commerce. I know that Ben will use the talents and gifts he has been given to glorify God and impact the culture for Christ.”

Isaiah Lawshe was awarded the Williston Jones Diversity Leadership Scholarship at Coe College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Historically the scholarship is awarded to the top five percent of the applicant pool for Coe College. “Isaiah has dedicated himself to both his academics and swimming throughout his high school career,” said Beckles. “His commitment and strong work ethic have brought him to this very moment. Isaiah’s heart for the Lord and desire to serve others is evident in all that he does. I look forward with excitement to seeing how God uses him at Coe College in the fall.”

Brody Douglass will attend Harvard University on a Navy ROTC Scholarship. He went through an extensive application process with Harvard in addition to the completion of a rigorous scholarship process for Navy ROTC. “Brody has been determined and extremely diligent all throughout his high school career,” said Beckles. “He has developed a strong passion for learning and education. I have no doubt that Brody will leave a lasting impact on the community at Harvard and in NROTC. I believe that he will continue to follow in the footsteps of the legacy that was set before him, keeping Christ at the center of it all.”

The strong scholarship offering follows the school’s announcement of its historic number of National Merit Scholar Finalists. Four seniors, Benjamin Anderson, Brody Douglass, Ian Graham and Matthew Huang placed in the top 1% of more than 1.5 million students across the nation. 

The Prestonwood Christian Academy School System is made up of six schools serving students across the Dallas Metroplex and virtually throughout the world. More than 2,000 students are enrolled at four campuses: PCA Plano (Pre-K3 through 12^th Grade), PCA North in Prosper (Pre-K3 through 12^th Grade), PCA Hybrid (a three-day in classroom/two-day at home program) and PCA Online. St. Timothy Christian Academy in Plano serves students with learning differences, and The King’s Academy provides a Christian education to students in South Dallas. The PCA School System has been recognized as having one of the strongest Christian education programs in the country providing intentional biblical worldview training and integration. PCA places great value on the growth of students’ spiritual health in addition to their scholastic endeavors and co-curricular activities. Tantamount to its Spiritual Development plan is PCA’s rigorous Liberal Arts academic program. From the first graduating class in 2002 through the class of 2022, graduates have been offered more than $169 million in scholarship for academics, arts and athletics from universities and other institutions of higher learning. PCA is now accepting applications for the 2023-24 school year. Go to prestonwoodchristian.org/admissions for more information.

Prestonwood Christian Academy (PCA) School System announced that Mr. Rob Kelton has been appointed as Director of Specialized Learning. Kelton comes to PCA from Parish Episcopal School.

“Prestonwood Christian Academy is committed to equipping all students for college and beyond,” said Dr. Mike Goddard, PCA School System Superintendent. “PCA strives to establish students for life through a very intentional Kingdom education focus that equips them academically and spiritually. I am excited to add Mr. Rob Kelton to the excellent team at PCA. He is passionate about investing in the lives of students, especially those whom God has gifted with different learning abilities, and he fully embraces our vision of developing courageous Christian influencers who will impact the culture for Christ for generations to come.” 

Mr. Kelton brings nearly 30 years of experience to Prestonwood Christian Academy, most recently as Director of Learning Lab at Parish Episcopal School of Dallas. During his tenure at Parish, he developed the Learning Lab from 30 students, where now, they serve more than 120 students with mild to moderate learning disabilities and dyslexia. He also established a dyslexia program for students to receive remediation as class. Before his time at Parish Episcopal School, he was on staff at the Shelton School for 23 years, where he served as a teacher in the classroom for 13 years and was promoted to Testing Coordinator, administering cognitive, perceptual, attention, and academic tests for 10 years. 

Mr. Kelton earned his B.A. in Leadership at Bellevue University in Bellevue, NE, and holds a Primary Montessori Certification. He served on the Board of Directors of the International Dyslexia Association (IDA).

“I am thrilled to join the PCA School System where I can partner with students, parents, teachers and administrators to build a successful team approach to empower each student to reach their highest potential,” said Mr. Kelton, who began his position on July 5, 2022. “I’m excited to join this amazing Learning Lab team as we work to set a foundation of success for students’ time at PCA and beyond.”

Kelton and his wife, Aimee, currently attend Prestonwood Baptist Church. Before PBC, Mr. Kelton served as a hallway captain for the Children’s Ministry and a 6^th grade small group leader at Northwest Bible Church.

Prestonwood Christian Academy School System is made up of six schools serving students across the Dallas Metroplex and virtually throughout the world. More than 2,500 students are enrolled at the system’s campuses: PCA Plano (Pre-K3 through 12th Grade), PCA North in Prosper (Pre-K3 through 12th Grade), PCA Hybrid (K-2nd and 5th-6th Grades) and PCA Online. St. Timothy Christian Academy in Plano serves students with severe learning differences and The King’s Academy provides a Christian education to students in South Dallas. The PCA School System has been recognized as having one of the strongest Christian education programs in the country providing intentional biblical worldview training and integration. PCA places great value on the growth of students’ spiritual health in addition to their scholastic endeavors and co-curricular activities. Tantamount to its Spiritual Development plan is PCA’s rigorous Liberal Arts academic program. From the first graduating class in 2002 through the Class of 2022, seniors have been offered more than $165 million in scholarships for academics, arts and athletics from universities and other institutions of higher learning. PCA celebrated its 25th school year in 2021-22.

Prestonwood Christian Academy (PCA) Plano celebrated the opening of a new working studio for Upper School students in film, broadcasting and photography to explore the art of storytelling through media communications. In the new studio, PCA students will become creators of meaningful messages instead of passive receivers of them.

PCA leaders ceremoniously cut a ribbon celebrating the newly renovated space. “When you have an opportunity like this studio opening, that provides students and staff to be on the forefront of communication, you are able to equip the next generation to be world class impactors,” said Prestonwood Christian Academy School System Superintendent, Dr. Michael Goddard. “We are so thankful for parents and sponsors who invest in the next generation where it matters most, like this media studio. Our students will be the next generation of influencers with a Biblical Worldview being their priority.”

The studio provides kinesthetic learning opportunity for Communication Arts programming available to more than 400 Upper School students. The studio includes acoustical tiles that also serve as backdrops for filming, four lighting areas which include backlights and color-changing LEDs, a green screen track, podcast station, TriCaster lighting console, and new paint and carpeting.

“As the Communication Arts Program continues to grow and expand offerings for students, it has been not only a dream but a real need for Prestonwood Christian Academy to build a studio for students in Film, Broadcasting and Photography,” said Mrs. Meg Parker-Wilson, Director of Communication Arts for the System. “We are humbled by and grateful for the donors who caught the vision for present and future Lions whose passions lie within these disciplines. Our mission is to inspire our students to be creators of meaningful messages not just passive receivers of them and now they can do this in ways they never could before!”

PCA’s Communication Arts curriculum is a difference factor which exists to train students to be intentional storytellers who think critically about their message, creatively engage their audience, and effectively use communication to transform the culture for Christ.

“Each of us has a unique story inspired by the greatest of all storytellers—God,” said Mrs. Parker-Wilson. “Based on this truth, curriculum and faculty aim to inspire and train students how to use various mediums of communication to transform the culture even beyond their primary education experience.”

“We want to thank our donors, the Harley and Strawbridge families, for helping us raise the funding needed to provide this state-of-the-art studio space,” said Dr. Goddard. “The PCA family always responds generously to make plans a reality in order to avoid incurring any long-term debt.”

Prestonwood Christian Academy is made up of six schools serving students across the Dallas Metroplex and virtually throughout the world. More than 2,000 students are enrolled at four campuses: PCA Plano (Pre-K3 through 12^th Grade), PCA North in Prosper (Pre-K3 through 11^th Grade with first graduating class of 2023), PCA Hybrid (a three-day in classroom/two-day at home program) and PCA Online. St. Timothy Christian Academy in Plano serves students with learning differences and The King’s Academy provides a Christian education to students in South Dallas. The PCA School System has been recognized as having one of the strongest Christian education programs in the country providing intentional biblical worldview training and integration. PCA places great value on the growth of students’ spiritual health in addition to their scholastic endeavors and co-curricular activities. Tantamount to its Spiritual Development plan is PCA’s rigorous Liberal Arts academic program. From the first graduating class in 2002 through the class of 2021, graduates have been offered more than $154.6 million in scholarship for academics, arts and athletics from universities and other institutions of higher learning. PCA is now enrolling for the 2022-23 school year. Go to prestonwoodchristian.org/admissions for more information.

Congratulations to two Prestonwood Christian Academy seniors who placed in the 2021 National Merit competition. Matthew Bower and Benjamin Oommen were named National Merit Commended Scholars based on their results of the fall 2020 PSAT. In addition, Kimberly Beeman, Abram De Armas (Class of 2023) and Monica Spooner have been named College Board National Hispanic Recognition Program Scholars. Maia Brown, Sydney Brown, Rihana Nesru and Jackson Shuler are College Board National African American Recognition Program Scholars.

About 34,000 Commended students throughout the nation are being recognized for their exceptional academic promise. They placed among the top 50,000 scores of more than 1.5 million students who entered the 2022 competition by taking the 2020 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test.

The College Board, which administers the PSAT and SAT among its activities, recognizes academic excellence through its National Recognition Programs. Students selected for this prestigious honor can cite it on their college and scholarship applications. In turn, colleges use the listing of this honor as a way of identifying students from underrepresented groups—i.e., ethnic minorities and/or those who attend school in rural areas or small towns—who have excelled on their PSAT/NMSQT, PSAT 10, or AP Exams and in their classwork.

"We are incredibly proud of these bright students who excel academically and are involved as leaders on our campus,” said Dr. Mike Goddard, Superintendent of PCA School System. “Each of these faith-filled Lions is able to articulate their biblical worldview in a culture of opposing ideas. These nine students represent Prestonwood Christian Academy well, and they showcase how a student can shine at a liberal arts school where faith is intentionally integrated with learning resulting in a distinctive environment and community."

Prestonwood Christian Academy School System is a ministry of Prestonwood Baptist Church and made up of six schools serving more than 2,000 students across the Dallas Metroplex and virtually throughout the world. Schools include PCA Plano (Pre-K3 through 12th Grade), PCA North in Prosper (Pre-K3 through 11th Grade), PCA Hybrid (Kindergarten through 2nd and 5th through 6th) and PCA Online. St. Timothy Christian Academy in Plano serves students with learning differences and The King’s Academy provides a Christian education to students in South Dallas. The PCA School System has been recognized as having one of the strongest Christian education programs in the country providing intentional biblical worldview training and integration. PCA places great value on the growth of students’ spiritual health in addition to their scholastic endeavors and co-curricular activities. Tantamount to its Spiritual Development plan is PCA’s rigorous Liberal Arts academic program. From the first graduating class in 2002 through the class of 2021, graduates have been offered more than $154.6 million in scholarships for academics, arts and athletics from universities and other institutions of higher learning. All PCA schools are enrolling.

“As we reflect on 25 years of impact, let’s be reminded that God has orchestrated every step along the journey,” said Dr. Michael Goddard, superintendent of Prestonwood Christian Academy System of Schools. “From small beginnings to the new expansions, we continue to daily hear stories of Christ’s impact on the lives of our students, teachers, alumni and community. We are grounded in proud traditions and are roaring forward into God’s gift of future opportunities.”

Since its humble beginning in 1997 at Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano, Texas, PCA has expanded into a system of six schools serving more than 2,000 students in preschool through 12th grade: PCA Plano in Plano, Texas, St. Timothy Christian Academy in Plano, Texas, PCA North in Prosper, Texas, The King's Academy in South Dallas, Texas, PCA Hybrid and PCA Online. At each campus, students are offered an education that encourages spiritual growth, character building and academic excellence so they are equipped to live strong, empowered lives for Christ.

“The word ‘Christian’ in our name is not just a label. The mission of the church is the mission of the school: introduce Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord to as many people as possible, using the most effective means,” said Dr. Jack Graham, Pastor of Prestonwood Baptist Church. “Over the last 25 years, with the blessing and favor of God, Prestonwood Christian Academy has grown to become an unstoppable force for education and the gospel.”

Over its two-and-a-half decades of existence, Prestonwood Christian Academy has reached the following milestones:

• Nearly 5,000 students, parents and guardians have made professions of faith in Jesus Christ.
• More than 400 PCA 7th-12th grade students take part in mission trips each year through the “Minimester” program, and more than 800 7th-12th grade students, faculty and staff serve their local communities annually on Service Project Day. 
• Since 2002, PCA graduates have been awarded more than $154 million in college scholarships.
• $38 million in financial aid has been provided for students who otherwise would not be able to attend PCA through the Sponsor-A-Child tuition assistance program.
• PCA has graduated more than 2,000 alumni, 15 of which are on staff in the PCA System of Schools. 

“At Prestonwood Christian Academy, learning will always be more than an education. It's an investment that is establishing students for life,” Dr. Michael Goddard said. “We greatly look forward to the next 25 years.”