With a less than 1% tuition increase, Timothy Christian Schools is truly the school that provides more for less.

I have an email folder titled Project IMPACT that contains nearly 8,000 email communications. As I finish my 10th year at Timothy, it is remarkable to reflect on what we have built together. I’m certain most of you will remember the original Project IMPACT, which was the new middle school and the Ward Athletic Center. Together we successfully raised more than $16MM for this project! Then came Project IMPACT Phase II, which included the elementary school renovation along with furniture and technology upgrades in the high school. It also included the new parking lot — a welcomed addition with five consecutive years of enrollment growth bringing more vehicles onto our campus.

Although most of you are aware of the work that was done in Phase II, you likely don’t remember being pressed for a donation. Our lead donors felt that our community needed to “catch their breath” after carrying the $16MM original Project IMPACT across the finish line. In other words, our lead donors took charge and handled the nearly $5MM goal for Phase II on their own. Amazing! Our lead donors are fully committed to the mission and vision of Timothy Christian Schools. Believe it or not, they are leading the way for the next project at our school — Project IMPACT Phase 3. I’m hoping and praying that the generosity of our lead donors will inspire our community to come alongside them and achieve a successful outcome.

I’m praying that the generosity of our lead donors will inspire our community.

Phase 3 is a nearly $10MM project that will primarily involve a significant and innovative renovation of our high school building during the next two summers. And guess what? Our lead donors have already committed over $7MM to put wind at our back. Soon we will all be challenged with the opportunity to raise the balance of $3MM through a school-wide capital campaign — thus maintaining the coveted status of keeping our school debt-free. Fundraising materials (containing images, details, and renderings) will come to your mailbox in February and March of 2020 as we mobilize the Timothy community to rally behind this effort. (Please reach out if you would like to learn more about the project sooner and make a gift.) Apart from the science wing addition (2012), our last real building project in the high school was the cafeteria (1989). In other words, the building is overdue for a big renovation. If we can successfully hit our fundraising goal for Phase 3 and add those numbers to all of the other donations made to our school in the last decade, we would be approaching the galaxy of $50MM! Praise God!

Moreover, the assets of the Timothy Christian Schools Foundation are over $4.5MM and we are offering more tuition assistance than ever before. We recently announced our tuition rates for 2020-2021 which reflect a 1% increase — the lowest increase on record. This will further strengthen our position among Chicagoland private schools as the school that truly provides more for less.

Our students are achieving new milestones and success at a feverish pace. Most recently, our high school earned the National Blue Ribbon Award by the United States Department of Education, an accomplishment that was awarded to only fifty non-public schools in the entire country. We are on the move in our academics, arts, and athletics…and seemingly everything in between. You might say that we’re on a “winning streak.” It is our conviction that excellence inspires people and that excellence honors God.

There is a lot of "math" in this article…and it really shouldn't add up. How can we engage in yet another capital campaign, and remain debt-free, and provide the highest level of excellence in our programming, and continue to launch new and exciting initiatives, and offer more for less with an historically low tuition increase? It is impossible to discover the answer with a calculator. Rather the answer is found in the Bible. God is able to do more than we can even ask or imagine! [Ephesians 3:20,21] Everything we do at Timothy can be summed up with the opening to our mission statement: “For the glory of God…” 

This article carries a lot of good news. Yet I hope you agree with me that the best news is that we continue to uphold Biblical truth at Timothy Christian Schools, and that we are more committed than ever before to developing life-long learners and servant leaders who fully live out their purpose in the world for Christ. That is what really matters and that is the only thing we do at Timothy Christian Schools that will truly last. And we believe that the best way to accomplish this is an old-fashioned and common sense approach that has been lost in too many schools — one student at a time. 

Looking forward to the adventures ahead as we follow God’s leading at Timothy Christian Schools.