The Woodlands Christian Academy celebrated its thirtieth year serving families in 2023. A highlight of the school’s tenured legacy are its talented teachers and students of the fine arts. School leaders recognized the pressing need for facilities that showcase those talents and further their mission to include creativity as a priority in developing well-rounded students.
In August, a 22,585 square-foot fine arts building and home of The Benjamin Wells School of the Arts welcomed students and staff alike with enthusiastic response. Now with an enrollment of over 850 students, and ever-growing, the addition means fine arts events and classes no longer have to compete for time and space on campus. The new fine arts building has an art studio, a dance studio, a choir hall, and a band hall. The dressing rooms are reminiscent of those at major theater venues and the natural light from several large windows allow a perspective of gratitude for this beautiful campus and how much TWCA has grown over the years.
“We want our students to appreciate God’s beauty. Not only in nature, but within each other,” says Head of School Mrs. Ambler. Part of that discovery can be found in an outdoor extension of the school - a stunning amphitheater nestled behind the new building. When weather permits, it is yet another exquisite space for performances and outdoor concerts.
The building’s student-centered spaces surround a 4,225 square foot black box theater. TWCA’s black box theater is the largest in the Houston area and has seating for up to 400 guests. With an array of configurations and an LED board for digital art, the creative possibilities are endless. Mrs. Ambler shared she is thankful for Jeff Young with The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion who sent a team of volunteers to help get the theater’s state-of-the-art technology ready to welcome students and audience members alike.
The black box theater is impressive and took a team to get up and running, but there are so many who brought the entirety of this space to reality Mrs. Ambler shared, “We are incredibly grateful to all our parents, grandparents, and community friends who helped raise $10.8 million in just one and a half years to break ground on this project.”
The hallway leading out to the amphitheater displays the names of several donor families who are committed to continuing the legacy built on campus.
It is Mrs. Ambler’s hope that the new fine arts center will allow students to find and develop talents they didn’t know they had. One such student, fifth-grader Henry Sweger, is excited for new opportunities, “The theater experience in our new space will be phenomenal!”
Fine Arts Director, Phil Sweger, reflects with gratitude on the project, “I am thankful we can now all be together. Thankful for the school and the parents who believed in this and gave above and beyond to make it happen.”
Every step forward honors The Woodlands Christian Academy’s mission to ‘challenge each student to achieve their highest potential- spiritually, intellectually, creatively, physically, and socially- all for the glory of Jesus Christ’. In the future, TWCA hopes to extend that mission to children in the surrounding community through summer and afterschool programs.
Mr. Sweger is grateful for the abundant support for the arts at TWCA. It is because of this that new and furthered opportunities abound for students and the Fine Arts Mission of TWCA is carried out:
The Woodlands Christian Academy believes that God has shared His divine gift of creative artistry for the benefit of each child; that the Fine Arts are an integral part of a student’s well-rounded education and provide a powerful opportunity to glorify God.
“I am thankful we can now all be together.”
-Phil Sweger