Hilton Head Christian Academy moving to Bluffton

Hilton Head Christian Academy, a fixture on the island for nearly four decades, is moving to the mainland.

The private evangelical institution will relocate to a new campus to be built on 26-acre property in Bluffton near the corner of Bluffton Parkway and Masters Way.

Ford Allen, chairman of the school’s board of directors, said earlier this week that the move off the island “has been something that the board has pondered over and considered since the early 2000s.” Growth, both in campus size and potential enrollment, appear to be the main drivers of the move.

School leaders at the time had an inkling that growth in Bluffton “was going to take off,” he said.

The Bluffton property, donated to the school 15 years ago, “has been sitting there as a dormant asset” while new residential neighborhood and commercial spaces sprouted all around it, Allen said. “The question was always, ‘What do we do with this?’ ”

While many details of the new campus remain fluid, some answers to that question are starting to materialize.

Preliminary plans for the new school — which Allen said would ideally open in 2019 — include construction of a 93,000-square-foot facility to house classrooms and amenities for students from kindergarten through 12th grade.

That is nearly double the size of the current school, built in 1989 on Garden Drive.

The new campus would also offer expanded performing arts and athletic facilities, said Doug Langhals, Hilton Head Christian Academy’s Head of School.

Cost estimates for the Bluffton school are still being developed, but Langhals said funding will likely come from a combination of private fundraising efforts and proceeds from the sale of school-owned property on Hilton Head Island.

Not only will the campus get bigger, so will the student body, he said.

School leaders estimate an enrollment of about 600 to 700 students at the Bluffton campus, up from about 350 currently attending the Hilton Head Island facility.

“There is a demographic component” to the decision to move, Langhals said.

“Over the last couple of years, we hit a tipping point where we now have more kids coming onto the island from Bluffton than we have (students) who actually live on Hilton Head,” he said.

Currently, students are bused from the Bluffton area to the island. When the new campus opens, bus transportation will still be provided, only in the opposite direction.

School leaders say their goal is to make getting an education at the new facility more accessible and affordable.

“We have to figure out a way to make it so as many people as possible can be a part our school’s community,” Langhals said. “We absolutely would love to see our tuitions trending downward.”

Currently, annual tuition — not including any financial aid — ranges from nearly $10,000 for kindergarteners to nearly $14,000 for high schoolers.

One big question that remains is whether the school will maintain the Hilton Head Christian Academy name.

Langhals said, “We are too early in this process” to have made a final decision on the matter, but he acknowledged the value in terms of branding should the school maintain its name.

Allen said, regardless of what the school is ultimately called, “the name will honor Hilton Head Christian Academy’s history and all of the the students and families who are passionate about it.”

Langhals agreed, saying, “No matter what, the thing that isn’t going to change is our identity.”

Despite the fact that many aspects of the move have yet to be fleshed out, “we are at the point where it’s time to lay (the decision) out to our community,” he said.

School leaders say they anticipate some backlash from students, parents and alumni.

Langhals said it will be up to school administrators and board members to assuage concerns “by talking to our constituents — conducting surveys, sitting down for coffee, interacting with small groups.”

“We need to explain, articulate and give some depth to our vision for the school’s future as we map out the next steps,” he said.

Langhals said he would rather have people “fired up and upset than apathetic.”

“If we made this announcement (about moving the school), and people just shrugged their shoulders, I would think, ‘Oh my goodness, we’re done,’ ” he said. “I expect a variety of responses, but I see passionate response as a positive thing.”

This story was originally published January 27, 2017 at 12:01 AM with the headline "Hilton Head Christian Academy moving to Bluffton."