A lesson in Truth: Local academy provides schooling for children

Carrie Strickland says many families living in poverty don't get a choice on where to send their children to school, but Truth Spring Academy provides one.

"Poverty should not equal a death sentence to a child's education," she said. "We want families living in poverty to know if they are not satisfied with their child's education, they do have an alternative."

The school, in its first year, is located in the North Highland area. Strickland calls it the first private Christian elementary school in Columbus for children living in poverty. Currently, there is only a kindergarten class with 10 children.

"We will add more grades as we go along," she said. "A first grade next year for sure."

Located at 3314 Fifth Ave. in a renovated 1,200-square-foot house built in 1946, the school stands next to Highland Community Church where Carrie's husband, Rob Strickland, has been pastor for 10 years.

"We are already looking for a bigger place, but we will stay in this area. All of our students live within three city blocks from the school," Carrie said.

But students from all areas of the city may attend.

The school is a project of Truth Spring, a Christian nonprofit organization in Columbus. The mission of Truth Spring is to develop and strengthen the North Highland community with Christ-centered projects and strategies.

Truth Spring features a housing initiative that places people into homes acquired and renovated by the organization.

Carrie is chairwoman of the Truth Spring board. Rob directs the school.

She said the idea for the school came at a neighborhood meeting featuring hot dogs and ideas.

"The people talked about the community, its strengths and weaknesses, and what was needed the most to make things better," she said. "One thing everybody mentioned was something was needed for the youth."

The Stricklands said residents were concerned because children, behind in their studies, were getting into trouble at an early age.

"We are going to go after children who do not have a family support system," Rob said. "We target that type of child."

"The mission of the school is to rebuild a foundation of Christ-centered living by offering a quality Christian education that focuses on challenging academics, character development and servant leadership. It wants to reconnect the relationship that has been severed between child and family and school and school and community," Carrie said. "As we focus on these goals, we believe we will begin to see the children living in North Highland begin to fill their God-given desires. Through all of this, Truth Spring desires to restore hope to our community and city by proving that demography does not determine one's destiny."

The Stricklands are Columbus natives. They have been married for 11 years. Rob, 37, attended Hardaway High School and earned an education degree from Columbus State University. Carrie, 35, attended Christian Heritage Academy and earned a degree in exercise science from Auburn University. They have three sons.

Rob worked in the Muscogee County School District for 17 years.

In the school, students sit at wooden tables. Math examples are on the wall, as well as syllables. There are American flags made by students. There are also sayings such as "Always Stay With God."

"We are a Christian school," Rob said. "We teach Bible verses. We teach Jesus is the Lord."

He said the school is accredited by the Association of Christian Schools International.

With the help of Feeding the Valley, meals are served.

Carrie talked about the great need for such a school in the North Highland area. To prove it, she used statistics she found on neighborhoodscout.com.

Carrie said in the United States, 14.3 percent of adults have no high school degree or GED, and in the North Highland area the number is 40 percent.

Carrie said the North Highland neighborhood stands out for an average per capita income lower than 97.8 percent of the neighborhoods in the United States

"We had students take an entrance exam who did not know a letter or a number," Rob said.

The school is taking applications, and full scholarships are available. There is a discount for parents who help out at the school. Those seeking information should visit www.truthspring.org.

This story was originally published January 8, 2016 at 10:31 PM with the headline "A lesson in Truth: Local academy provides schooling for children."