ELKINS — A new private Christian school is set to open in Randolph County this fall, when the Shining Light Christian Academy begins its inaugural school year at the First Baptist Church of Elkins. 

The new school is designed for students kindergarten through the fifth grade, and will feature a completely accredited and certified teaching staff. The school’s mission is to integrate faith and learning in a safe and nurturing environment.

“We have started taking applications for students wanting to attend our school in the fall,” First Baptist Church Senior Pastor Brett Rinehart told The Inter-Mountain. “The school is going to be in our church and we have more than enough room to house the number of students we are going to accept.”

Nicole Newlon will be the school’s administrator, and Debbie Schmidlen has been chosen as the assistant administrator.

“We are very excited about our school opening this fall and we are currently putting in a lot of work to get ready,” Newlon said.

“We’ve been working on this since January of 2024 when I brought it to the attention of our pastor. Pastor Brett then took it to some people in the church and it received a lot of interest. We then set up an Exploratory Committee and have met once a month until this past August, when we started meeting twice a month. Now that applications are open, things are coming together and all the pieces are falling into place for us to start school this fall.”

Newlon has been an elementary school teacher since 2015, and has an elementary education degree and a master’s degree in early childhood special education.

Schmidlen spent 35 years in the Randolph County Schools system before retiring as superintendent of the school system last year. Schmidlen also previously served as a principal and teacher. 

“I’ve been a member of the First Baptist Church for over 25 years and when they brought up the idea of opening a Christian school, I was really excited,” Schmidlen told The Inter-Mountain. “I think it’s a great opportunity for our church and for the families that make that choice to put their children in a Christian school…

“I was always an advocate for public education and for me this is something completely separate. This is what I’m doing to help serve in our church.”

Newlon said she first envisioned the new school because she wanted her 3-year-old daughter to have a place to go once she started kindergarten.

Her daughter currently attends the Shining Light Learning Center, a facility for preschool children at the church. 

“I wanted a solid Christian education for my daughter,” Newlon said. “She’s three now, so for 2 1/2 years I was searching for what I could do to make that happen, and this is what I came up with. So I feel like it was meant to be.”

Newlon said the school has a goal for accepting students during the first year.

“We are aiming to get 65 students for our first school year,” said Newlon. “We will keep registration open for however long it takes to get up to that point, and whenever we are done with enrollments, we will interview the families and students before we contact them to let them know if they are able to attend.

“We hope to grow more in the future and I think there is a big want and need for exemplary education in Elkins, and for an environment that is safe. A lot of families have expressed concern about that in the public schools.”

Newlon said that officials are still researching what curriculum the school will follow.

“We haven’t really decided on a curriculum yet; we’ve been researching some,” Newlon said. “We are looking for reading and math curriculums that are going to teach West Virginia content skills. And we are looking into curriculums that are faith-based for social studies and science.”

Registration forms for Shining Light Christian Academy can be found on the school’s Facebook page.

“Our school is something we see a need for in the community and we want to help out with that,” Rinehart said. “One thing that is going to set us apart is that we are going to have all certified teachers. We want to give the kids the best education possible, along with a Christian education.”