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Cornerstone Community School was incorporated in December of 1997. Cornerstone's current Board came together in 1998 when the Board of the Light and Life Community School joined the Board of Cornerstone Schools of Washington, D.C., Inc. The two Boards had been working separately toward the same goal: the creation of an academically rigorous, Christian elementary school that reflected the diversity of the local community. The Light and Life Board had secured a location for such a school, but lacked financial resources to open. The Cornerstone School's Board had secured financial resources, but lacked a facility. Thus, with our shared vision and our well-matched assets and needs, our boards joined to make one much stronger and more capable Board.
Through our separate experiences and building on our individual areas of expertise, the new Board opened Cornerstone Community School in the fall of 1998. Cornerstone opened with 23 students, in grades one through three, separated into two classrooms. Cornerstone has grown over the past seven years and now serves 86 students in kindergarten through the seventh grade.
Cornerstone’s vision has always been a vision of multiple campuses operating in each of the four quadrants of the city. Working with former D.C. Councilmember, Kevin Chavous, calls were placed in 2004 to local Pastors to see if they had any interest in opening a private, Christian elementary school for inner-city children.
Shortly after those calls were made, Cornerstone’s Board met Dr. Marcus E. Turner, the Senior Pastor of the Beulah Baptist Church located in the Deanwood Heights neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Pastor Turner had just completed the construction of an annex next to his church—a plan that had been conceived by his predecessor years earlier. The intention was to have this new facility house a school. Without knowing who would take up residence in this new annex, Pastor Turner and his congregation prayed diligently for “God to fill it.”
With Cornerstone’s desire to expand and Pastor Turner’s desire to open a school on his church grounds, the foundation was set for Cornerstone Beulah Christian Academy to materialize. The school opened in the Fall of 2005, serving close to 50 students in grades Pre-K through 3rd grade.
The Board of Cornerstone Schools of Washington, D.C., Inc. oversees and operates these two campuses. And, at both campuses, our goal is to add a grade each year until we are serving students through the 8th grade.
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