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New post for principal

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White Rock Christian Academy principal Dave Loewen has accepted an offer to become superintendent of Surrey Christian School.

Dave Loewen wasn’t looking to leave his post at the helm of White Rock Christian Academy when he decided to throw his hat in the ring for the superintendent’s position at Surrey Christian School.

In the five years he’s been at WRCA, he’s become “pretty emotionally attached” to the tight-knit community of students, parents and staff.

But something about the Surrey Christian posting caught his attention and he decided to answer the call.

“I thought I’d throw my name in the hat and see if it was something I’d be a fit for,” Loewen said this week. “I just got sort of excited about the opportunity. Just a new challenge to do something like that – to be involved in sort of the next strategic steps of a school like that.”

Surrey Christian School was created in its current form by the merger last year of Fraser Valley Christian High School and the Christian School Association of Surrey. Its history dates back to 1955, when a group of parents started the John Knox Christian School in Burnaby.

Today, located near 92 Avenue and 160 Street, it is a three-campus institution (primary, middle and secondary) with more than 900 pre-kindergarten to Grade 12 students – more than double the population that attends WRCA.

As superintendent, a big part of Loewen’s new role will be in guiding the school into the future, as the merged organizations and boards move forward together.

“The job is a lot about that stuff; the new reality of what does that mean now… and where do we go from here.”

Loewen is familiar with the mandate.

At White Rock Christian, he has been involved in the years-long quest to find a suitable site on which to build a new campus. During that time, Loewen has seen the school’s enrollment nearly double, to the point the majority of students are learning in 13 portables located on land to the north of the school leased from the City of Surrey.

While he won’t be part of the search after his move at the end of this school year, Loewen is optimistic the goal is getting closer to fruition.

“It’s been longer than everyone would have hoped for,” he said. “The upside is, the picture gets clearer and clearer every six months. The board’s working really hard on that.”

It will be part of a “pretty cool opportunity” for whoever takes over the WRCA helm, he added.

“There’s big steps coming up. The next person gets to be involved in shaping a new school.”

Loewen described WRCA as “a neat little school that just does amazing things.”

“You become part of a community, and White Rock Christian is very much that – it’s very much just a strong community of people that have a common vision. The hardest part of the challenge was to know I’d be leaving that and having to start all over.”



Tracy Holmes

About the Author: Tracy Holmes

Tracy Holmes has been a reporter with Peace Arch News since 1997.
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