Mooresville Weekly

First-year school proves popular on Facebook
Academy in the running for a $500,000 award from Kohl’s Cares
August 27, 2010 Justin Vick
With just 100 students, the newly opened Liberty Preparatory Christian Academy is closing in on a $500,000 prize awarded to the 20 schools that get the most votes on Facebook.

As of Wednesday, Aug. 25, Liberty Preparatory Christian Academy received 21,466 votes, earning it the 28th highest tally in the nation. The academy was 20,130 votes shy of edging out the 20th ranked school.

Kohl’s Department Store is donating $10 million in celebration of the 10th anniversary of its Kohl’s Cares community service campaign. Once a Facebook user clicks the “like” button on the Kohl’s page, he or she gets 20 votes and the option of casting up to five per school. Voting ends Friday, Sept. 3.

The theme of the contest – “What would your school do with half a million dollars?”

Amie Weir, head administrator at Liberty Preparatory Christian Academy, said the money would go toward land and facilities to help the school increase enrollment. Currently, the 100-student academy rents facilities at Harbor Church, 433 Williamson Road.

“We opened two days ago, and we have already outgrown the facility we’re renting,” Weir told Mooresville Weekly on Tuesday, Aug. 24. “We’ve had to turn students away because we ran out of space.”

Liberty Prep’s enrollment spans kindergarten through eighth grade. Kindergarten consists of 23 students, split into two classes. Each of the other grades range from nine to 12 students. The school had to limit the size of some of the grades because the church didn’t have rooms large enough to hold more students.

So how did such a small school generate so many votes?

“It’s just word of mouth, honestly,” Weir said, noting the staff-driven effort quickly spread to parents, volunteers and church and business contacts. “Word spreads quickly through Facebook.”

Liberty Preparatory Christian Academy also traded votes with sister schools under the umbrella of the National Association of University Model Schools, a Christian group that promotes a hybrid of public, private and home schools.

The academy teaches students on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays and gives parents lessons they can teach at home on Wednesdays and Fridays.

“As a parent, it’s nice knowing we had two days of school, and tomorrow, we’re going to be at home with our kids again,” Weir said Tuesday, noting her two daughters will share what they’ve learned with her so far. One started kindergarten, the other third grade.

As head administrator of the first-year school, Weir said she believes she had more butterflies going into the first day than her daughters, but she was pleased with Monday’s start.

“The kids were just so excited and happy,” Weir said. “My two daughters couldn’t stop talking about how much fun they had going there.”

Kohl’s Cares’
Facebook contest

Here’s how many votes Mooresville schools have gotten leading up to Wednesday, Aug. 25. Voting continues until Friday, Sept. 3, with the top 20 schools in the nation earning a $500,000 prize.

• Liberty Preparatory Christian Academy 21,466
• Mooresville High 455
• Pine Lake Preparatory 320
• Mooresville Middle 220
• Lake Norman High 195
• Mooresville Intermediate 172
• Shepherd Elementary 130
• East Mooresville Intermediate 117
• Rocky River Elementary 116
• Park View Elementary 113
• Brawley Middle 108
• Lakeshore Elementary 107
• Lakeshore Middle 81
• Mooresville Christian Academy 74
• Woodland Heights Elementary 66
• South Elementary 61
• Mount Mourne IB Candidate 57
• Lake Norman Elementary 46
• Coddle Creek Elementary 44
• NF Woods Advanced Technical Arts 20