Christian-based school to open in Freeville next fall

A new Christian-based school is in the process of opening its doors in the Dryden/Freeville area. Called the Willow Glen Christian School, it is named after the wetlands on the property, located on Dryden Road in the village of Freeville.

The school opens for the 2023-24 school year next September and will replace Covenant Love Community School, which has been part of the area for about 50 years. Willow Glen will start out in a rented space on Dryden Road, which is in the same location as Covenant Love.

Alyssa Yengo, the assistant principal at Covenant Love and acting principal at Willow Glen, has been putting together plans for Willow Glen Christian School for the past three years, which will provide an “an environmental and hands-on approach to learning” for grades pre-kindergarten through 12.

“The teachers do a really good job of integrating the outside in [at Covenant Love],” Yengo said, noting that sometimes students go outside for art class to grab materials for their art projects. “They’re outside reading, journaling, [making] nature crafts and art. The students have music classes outside pretty regularly.”

Yengo noted that Willow Glen will transfer over a majority of Covenant Love’s educational tools and learning but will also create some of its own lessons and approach to teaching.

“We try to embrace the environment as part of our school,” Yengo said. “One thing that makes our school special is that it’s nurturing, wholesome and those kids are not staring at a screen all day; they’re getting dirty.”

The school will take advantage of its environmental focus by using the 100 acres of land available on the property. Yengo mentioned students will not be outdoors just for science classes but also for a weekly environmental education class.

This includes working in flower gardens and other gardens, tapping maple trees and working to “try and resurrect” an old apple orchard, Yengo said.

The environmental education lessons also involve students looking for animal tracks and prints and trying to identify which animals made them. Yengo also noted lessons that pertain to winter survival, for which students build fires and cook food outdoors.

“It translates to understanding the world better,” Yengo said. “If you understand the impact of fresh water on a wetlands ecosystem, you understand the impact of not having water on a desert ecosystem or frozen water on an arctic ecosystem. It’s a doorway to make learning relevant and interesting.”

Willow Glen Christian School will also take a “classical approach” to its lessons, Yengo said. This approach will include logical thinking, reading classic texts from Greek myths to ancient history, learning the Latin language and studying Shakespeare, public speaking and more.

Despite being a Christian-based school, Yengo said Willow Glen is a “community school.” A not-for-profit and independent religious school, Willow Glen is receiving financial, marketing and scholarship support from a handful of churches in the area.

“It’s exciting to see these churches and say how much they believe in this school and support Christian education,” Yengo said, noting member families can receive scholarships through their churches to aid with tuition to attend the school.

Yengo is hoping most, if not all, of the students at Covenant Love will transfer to Willow Glen. She added that enrollment is available for current students, while further enrollment for potential new students will open in January.

The current cap for students is 80, Yengo said. Once construction for the new school building is finished, she added, the cap will increase to 150. Yengo’s goal is to have 12 to 15 students for each grade.

Covenant Love currently has a rented space for high school students near Asbury Church on West Main Street in the village of Dryden. The elementary and middle-school students are at the Covenant Love building in Freeville, Yengo said.

The plan, Yengo said, is to have all of the students in their new building on Dryden Road, which is currently in the development stages. She anticipates that the cost to construct the building will be about $1.5 million, with the plan to cover costs through fundraising efforts and donations.

Yengo hopes to build the new school building in “wings or stages,” with the goal to break ground next year.

“We might move slower on this project so we can be more conservative and careful with our finances,” she added.

Further details on the building have yet to be determined.

For Willow Glen Christian School’s mission, Yengo wants families to have an array of options for schools.

“Some families don’t feel comfortable with public schools but aren’t cut out for homeschooling either,” she added, noting a hybrid option for homeschoolers. “We provide a good third option for those families.”

Dryden Dispatch appears every Wednesday in Tompkins Weekly. Send story ideas to editorial@VizellaMedia.com.

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Jennie’s Book Club at Southworth Library to meet Dec. 20

Jennie’s Book Club at Southworth Library on 24 W. Main St. in the village of Dryden is slated to meet at 9:30 a.m. Dec. 20.

The club, which is a monthly discussion for adult readers, will read “Books for Living” by Will Schwalbe. The book is considered “thought-provoking” and could provide book options for the club in the future.

Each chapter of “Books for Living” focuses on a different book that has helped Schwalbe “understand the world around him in some way,” according to the description. Books are available to borrow at the library.