Former Rock Hill Schools property acquired by Westminster Catawba Christian School
Rock Hill Schools closed three buildings just over a year ago.
And now one of those buildings will be used by Westminster Catawba Christian School.
WCCS, the private K-12 Christian school in Rock Hill, has acquired the former Rosewood Elementary School site and will turn it into the new site for the WCCS Lower School. The purchase gives WCCS the space and resources to “grow our enrollment so that more students are instructed in the truth of the gospel,” WCCS Head of School Scott Dillon said in a statement.
The purchase was finalized April 12.
This announcement is a big deal for Westminster Catawba: The school will now have its Lower School campus at the Rosewood site — 2240 Rosewood Drive — where it will teach Infants through fifth grade. The new space will allow the school to add up to three sections per grade, per a release from the school. It also will allow larger classrooms with more natural light and more play areas designed for each developmental age.
Previously, Westminster Presbyterian Church was the site of the Lower School.
“WCCS has experienced sustained growth in the Early Childhood (infants through kindergarten) and Elementary (first through fifth grade) programs,” the release stated. It added, “While WCCS is looking forward to the continued enrollment growth this move will bring, the school has assured parents that there are a few foundational things that will not change, including its partnership with Westminster Presbyterian Church and its mission to continue providing an excellent Christian education.”
The purchase was made possible thanks to a redistricting plan implemented by the Rock Hill School District in February 2021. One of the facets of the plan — which required thousands of elementary students to change schools in between the 2020-21 and 2021-22 school years — effectively closed three elementary schools: Finley Road, Belleview and Rosewood.
The Rock Hill Schools Board of Trustees, in a 4-2 vote, decided to close the three school buildings for a variety of reasons.
Among those reasons:
- At the time, 14 of the district’s 17 elementary schools were at 70% or less in capacity, well below the district’s target.
- Many school buildings were old and costly to maintain.
According to public notes from the Rock Hill School Board of Trustees business meeting on Dec. 6, the board unanimously approved the sale of a portion of the Rosewood Elementary School property for $2 million.
Westminster wants to keep class sizes and tuition proportional
An announcement on the WCCS website makes clear that the school remains committed to small class sizes. The announcement also states that the school does “not foresee raising tuition above the normal annual 3.5% increase that accounts for inflation and cost of living increases to support faculty and staff.”
WCCS’s 2022-23 variable tuition begins at $4,485 a year for kindergarteners and $5,170 for first- through fifth-graders, according to the WCCS website.
Westminster Catawba will begin “making all the necessary renovations and improvements” to the Rosewood site throughout the summer and plans to have lower school students begin the 2022-23 school year at the new location.
“This move will enhance our mission and facilitate extended space for future generations of students to bless our world as disciples of Jesus Christ,” Dillon said.
This story was originally published April 20, 2022 at 2:53 PM.
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