Bridge to the Future
Our Community. Our Legacy.
A healthy organization moves forward when two things are present, vision and action. Throughout Regent’s existence, both vision and action have shaped what the school has become.
The school has enjoyed tremendous blessings in its first 23 years, receiving God’s provision just as the needs arose. We are working now to bridge the blessings God has provided us in the past with the facilities needed to accommodate our continued growth while maintaining our standard of excellence. This significant undertaking, estimated at nearly $10 million, is an exciting step of faith to better meet the needs of our Regent community. Enhancing the facilities over the next several years with this new campus plan will continue to connect and grow our sense of community, a characteristic often noted by current families, former Regent parents, and visitors alike.
The dedicated committee continues to work with the architect to lay out the plans and to determine the best chronology for this three-phase campaign. The details of each project will be shared in the coming weeks. Before moving forward, it is always good to look back and recall how the Lord has blessed the school and its beautiful 30-acre campus.
Regent opened in August 2000 in a small section of a 25,000 square foot, leased facility near 51st and Sheridan. That first year 61 students enrolled in Enrichment through third grade. The school added grade levels each year until it graduated its first of what is now 12 groups of seniors, 243 graduates in all. The school purchased the current campus in 2006 and immediately began renovating and building facilities to meet the needs of the expanding programs. In 2011, Regent opened its gymnasium and it became home to not only the basketball and volleyball teams, but also many other events such as pep rallies, special history days, book sales, and more. By 2017, the creek was re-routed to make room for the baseball and football/soccer fields. Then God met the next important need by providing an adjacent building which was quickly renovated and became our new School of Rhetoric building in 2018, providing a new home for high school students and allowing the younger grades to maximize space in the main building.
At each step of the school’s journey and program growth, God met the need to expand the facilities and did so through the faithful and generous support of the school’s founders and the parent community — through four capital campaigns.
Currently, we are at 92% of our maximum student capacity, with several grade levels totally full. Ninety percent of our high school students participate in athletics and 72% are involved in the fine arts programs. Grammar school sports programs are also growing dramatically. Many of our high school sports teams are moving up a class in OSSAA competition due to winning seasons and state championships. The fine arts programs continue to expand and attract more students. The fiscal health of the school continues to be good with full classrooms and a goal of being debt free this school year. Accompanying the blessings of growth comes the need to improve and add to our current facilities.
The school population often enjoys the beautiful football/soccer stadium, but it does not have locker room facilities, permanent restrooms, quality concessions area, or a formal ticket gate. This takes a toll on the volunteers, limits hospitality towards visitors, and requires thousands of dollars in rental fees for the portable toilets. We have more than 25 basketball teams (grammar school through high school) competing for practice time in one gym. Many of the younger players have never practiced in the Regent gym, which adds the burden of transportation and expenses for gym rentals. The growing baseball program has inadequate lighting which dictates how many games can be played and often limits the length of games due to darkness. It also lacks restroom facilities and concession areas. There is also a need to expand our classroom space and provide dedicated areas for the band, choir, and theatre programs. They have shared space for many years.
Many campus needs have been addressed in the past couple of years or will be nearing completion this fall.
- Sound/lighting in the auditorium
- Expanded weight room
- New roof on the main building
- Courtyard and stonework on main building, with new signage designed and slated to be installed this fall
- Main entry and reception remodel
- Improved gardens areas
- Technology updates for teachers
- Stagecraft workspace and storage building
- New band room
- Dugout extension for baseball storage
- Additional locker room in gym
- Additional parking lots (45-50 spots)
Beyond these improvements, Regent still has several needs to accommodate its growing community. We look to 'bridge' the amazing facilities we have with new projects to meet our current needs and afford us more room to grow. This fall, there are plans to launch a three-phase capital campaign to eventually raise close to $10 million to build a couple of new buildings and to eventually renovate the soundstage studio space at the high school. The space has been leased for the past several years, providing Regent with significant tenant income.
The details of the estimated cost and timelines are in their final stages of planning, but the following are the possible projects included within this campaign:
- Classrooms and science labs added in the studio at the high school to accommodate our organic growth as Classes 9-12 reach capacity
- Library which will be a centerpiece of campus overlooking the courtyard
- Stadium Complex with restrooms, locker rooms, concessions, a storm shelter and more
- Second gym with restrooms, locker rooms, concessions, a storm shelter and more
- Resurfacing the floor of the current gym, addition of retractable goals to have 2 full courts (already funded)
- Baseball field lights (already funded) and other enhancements
We are grateful for all the Lord has already provided for us. And we also wait with eager expectation to see how our community will pull together to expand our facilities and continue the Regent legacy. We are excited to see this vision come to life in the months and years ahead and we invite you to be a part of the journey through continuous prayer and by contributing to the Bridge to the Future Campaign Drive.
For questions or to learn more
Contact Jennifer Smith, Regent Director of Development at (918) 663-1002 ext. 339.