Sunbury Christian Academy closes after 47 years

Justin Strawser, The Daily Item, Sunbury, Pa.
·2 min read

Jun. 5—NORTHUMBERLAND — Students will not return to Sunbury Christian Academy (SCA) in the fall after its board decided to close the 47-year-old institution.

In a letter to SCA families and alumni, Elder Chair Dean Parry, Joint Body Chair Don Campbell and Deacon Chair Dennis Morgan announced the closure is due to declining enrollment and difficulty filling teaching positions. The academy was founded in 1974 as a ministry of Sunbury Bible Church (SBC) at 135 Spruce Hollow Road, Northumberland.

"For approximately 10 weeks, SCA has been recruiting for several teaching positions with essentially no response to those recruitment attempts," the board wrote in the letter. "This left us with both the ongoing financial dilemma and the inability to provide the appropriate education programming for the coming school year. With these factors, along with continued inability to grow the student population, the Joint Body made the difficult decision to close the school at the end of the current academic year."

They added, "This news will impact many of us personally and was certainly not made without much consideration and prayer and more than a few tears. We are confident that God has a new plan and direction for Sunbury Bible Church. As we move forward in our ministry, we would ask that each of you be praying for clarity of direction for the ministry."

Sunbury Christian Academy was a private, not-for-profit Christian school located just north of the borough of Northumberland. It's mission was to seek partnership "with parents to develop well-educated Christ-followers who positively impact their world for Christ," according to its website.

SCA facilities included modern, computer networked classrooms, a library, a fully equipped computer lab, a science lab, a complete gymnasium, athletic fields and a cafeteria with a hot lunch program.

Longtime teacher Joe Buczeskie, also the secondary coordinator, shared a few thoughts on Friday following the school's final graduation ceremony. He had been a teacher at the school since 1994.

"It's sad and disappointing," said Buczeskie. "When God closes one door he opens another."