MASON CITY — Kalina Davis, who graduated from North Iowa Christian School on Sunday, is the first student at the school to attend all the way from kindergarten through 12th grade.

Kalina, 18, of Mason City, was half of the graduating class this year. The other graduating senior was Nyah Meinders of Clear Lake.

The total number of students at the school was 53 this past year.

Because the school is so small, “I got to know everyone there,” Kalina said. “I got a lot of attention from the teachers.”

When Kalina reached school age, her parents, Scott and Stacey Davis, “started praying about where to send her,” Stacey said. “The more were prayed the more we thought God was leading us to send her to the Christian school.”

When Kalina started kindergarten, North Iowa Christian School, which was founded in the 1980s, was still located in Clear Lake.

The school moved to Mason City in 2003.

The following year the school, which had been for grades K-8, was expanded to K-9.

The school became a K-10 facility in 2005, expanded to K-11 in 2006 and finally became a K-12 school in 2007.

Kalina was involved in the school’s annual dinner theater production for the past six years.

Due to the size of the school, “everyone has big parts,” she said.

Students at North Iowa Christian School have the option of taking some classes at the Mason City public schools.

Kalina took choir for two years at Mason City High School.

She will attend Trinity International University in Deerfield, Ill., this fall, where she will major in communications with a focus on contemporary media.

Six years ago the school had just 22 students. The school is growing so much that this year high school classes were moved to the Church of Christ, located near the main school building on North Kentucky Avenue.

“I think people are starting to see the value of having an education that is Christ-centered,” Stacey said.

Steve VandenBerg, president of the board of directors for the North Iowa Christian School, said the school has experienced eight straight years of growth.

School officials are investigating finding a bigger location.

The school has a 10-year classroom average of scoring in the top 10 percentile on standardized tests, according to VandenBerg.

In addition, “it’s a warm, family-friendly atmosphere,” he said.

Lots of schools now have anti-bullying signs posted, but at North Iowa Christian School, even though the students aren’t perfect, everyone gets along so well that “we don’t even have to spend time thinking about that," he said.

Photograph courtesy of Globe Gazette
Transcription by Sharon R. Becker, October of 2015