Ian Howarth and other teachers at the Harvest Christian Academy are able to allow more one-on-one interaction with students. Eighth-grade student Carrie Rasmussen, right, and her sister, Jessie, a ninth-grade student, check their work with Howarth Tuesday. (Baker City Herald/S. John Collins)

Principal Ben Potter credits a change in philosophy with boosting

enrollment at Harvest Christian Academy, which reached a high of 88

students as the new school year began Aug. 24.

In his third year as principal, math teacher, counselor,

diagnostician and other duties as assigned, the 32-year-old Potter

speaks with pride about the school’s aim to provide a safe environment

for its students while letting them progress at their own pace and at

their own level using Alpha and Omega curriculum.

“We took a hard look at our vision for the school two years ago,” Potter said. “We asked ‘who are we catering to – do we want to be a reform school/alternative school or are we trying to provide a safe environment in a discipleship school?’ “

As a result of the re-evaluation of the program, the staff decided to become more selective about its student population and more aggressive in disciplining those who struggle with following the rules.

“Our primary focus is making it a safe environment,” Potter said. “Word got around and people really responded to that.”

A brochure describing the school’s goals and mission states that as a ministry of Harvest Church, the academy “is committed both to academic excellence and to raising up confident Christian leaders who will make a lasting impact upon our community.”

Students are required to follow a dress code and are issued “corrective action notices” for minor rule violations such as chewing gum, not complying with the dress code or arriving late for school.

A student who receives three notices next will receive a conduct referral, and his or her parents will be brought in to meet with Potter and Pastor Monte Loyd, the school’s senior administrator.

“We’re proactive working with the parents making sure we’re all on the same page,” Potter said. “Usually what it comes down to is if the parents aren’t on board with our vision of the school, we request that they withdraw their student.

“It’s a hard process, but we feel strongly about protecting the atmosphere in the school,” he said.

Over the past three years, enrollment at the school at 3720 Birch St. has jumped from 35 students in 2006-07 to 68 students in each of the next two years before reaching this year’s total of 88, which includes 20 at the high school level.

The school also serves preschoolers in two classes. There are four students enrolled in the 3-year-old classroom taught by Jenny Fink; and Tovah Potter has nine students in her classroom for 4-year-olds.

Tovah is Ben’s sister-in-law. He recruited her and his brother, David, from Anderson, Calif., last year. David teaches 11 students in the first-grade class.

Ben’s mother-in-law, Billie McClure, is the school’s kindergarten teacher. She has 10 students in her class this year.

Pearl Christman teaches the eight second-graders and third- fourth- and fifth-grade students are taught by Lisa Phillips. There are four third-graders, five fourth-graders and three fifth-graders enrolled.

Ben’s wife, Joyclynn Potter, teaches middle school students in Grades 6-8. Those classes include five sixth-graders, three seventh-graders and six eighth-graders. Joyclynn also teaches French.

High school classes are taught by Ian Howarth. He’s Ben’s brother-in-law, Joyclynn’s brother and Billie’s son.

“It’s really a family atmosphere here at our school,” Ben Potter says. He and Joyclynn have a 4-year-old, a 5-year-old, a 7-year-old and a 15-year-old foster daughter enrolled in classes where they are likely to be taught by a family member during the day and find their siblings and cousins among their schoolmates.

Potter sees the independent study system employed at the school as a benefit to students who, as a result, get one-on-one attention from their teachers throughout the day as needed. Students must master each level of their core courses before moving on to the next level of language arts, math, social studies, science and Bible studies, Potter says. Only his math classes are taught in groups.

A computer-based version of the Alpha and Omega curriculum also is available.

“We develop a learning method that works best for each kid,” Potter said.

As a private school, Harvest Christian Academy is not bound by the requirements of the federal No Child Left Behind Act, but neither does it receive federal or state money.

The school’s $174,000 annual operating budget is funded by tuition and a variety of fundraising projects.

Tuition is $1,300 per year for preschool and kindergarten students and $1,850 for those in Grades 1-12. There are discounts for multiple children from one family attending the school.

There is a $120 curriculum fee for preschool-kindergarten and a $250 fee for Grades 1-12, plus an annual enrollment fee of $50 for the younger children and $75 for the older ones. There also is a $30 diagnostic fee if needed and a $30 testing fee. Those who participate in sports pay $50 per sport.

A limited number of scholarships are available with money raised during projects such as the school’s annual benefit dinner, which includes a raffle and auction of items donated by community members and families enrolled at the school. Last year the event raised about $7,500, Potter said.

Students raised another $1,100 delivering telephone books and about $1,500 selling candles.

The school also provides recordkeeping services for the Home School Network. Those students pay $350 tuition and a $225 fee for the Accelerated Christian Education curriculum, another independent study, mastery based program. There are about 20 students from throughout the region enrolled in that program, Potter said.

Harvest Christian Academy, which was begun in 1983 as the Baker Valley Christian School before moving to its present site in 1998, is working to gain accreditation through the National Association of Private Schools.

“This week they should let us know if we have more to do or if we’ve been accepted,” Potter said.

Students have not had problems in the past continuing their education or enlisting in the military after graduating from the school, but accreditation will clear the way for them to qualify for scholarships and to streamline their college entry process.

“In a worst-case scenario, (colleges) want the kid to put together a portfolio of their work (before students are accepted),” he said.

Maintaining a qualified staff is a challenge given the fact that teachers earn about one-third of what is paid to teachers in public schools.

“We have a great pool of teachers who believe in Christian education,” Potter says. “They’re not here to make money, they’re here because they believe in what they are doing.”

As a Christian school, the first 15 minutes of each day are devoted to prayer and prayer requests. An hour of chapel time also is built into each week and includes participation from not only the Harvest Church pastor, but those from the Baker City Church of the Nazarene, Baker City Christian Church, the Seventh-day Adventist Church, Calvary Baptist Church and Calvary Chapel.

The school also is not bound to teach humanist or evolutionist points of view often found in public school curriculum, Potter said. And part of the church’s mission includes helping students learn “to tactfully oppose surrounding ungodly belief systems.”

“We’re free to teach from a Christian prospective,” he said. “If a student is having a bad day we can sit and pray with them.”

Potter acknowledges that his students don’t have as many opportunities to study electives or compete in as many sports as their public school counterparts, but he believes the small class sizes and the safe environment at Harvest Christian Academy make it a good alternative for families.

“It’s something I feel God has really placed in my heart,” he said of his own dedication to his job. “It’s urgent that we’re equipping kids for some of the harshness of the world.”