Lexington Christian Academy is the result of the merger of two schools: Lexington Christian School and The Academy. Although independent of each other at the beginning, both schools began with a vision to provide a strong academic program and a competitive athletic program in a Christ-centered environment. The following brief timeline provides historical background prior to the merger in 1989.
| 1975 |
Gardenside Christian Church decided to start a Christian school with three teachers and thirty-eight students in grades 1-5. |
| 1977 |
Lexington Christian School was sponsored by six area Christian denomination churches. They began adding one grade each year and expanded from Gardenside to Southern Acres and then to Hill n' Dale. |
| 1983 |
Lexington Christian School graduated its first class.
The Academy was founded in February and began with 40 students in preschool and six in Kindergarten. They met in what was known at the time as the "Hoover House" (presently Murray's restaurant on Harrodsburg Road). |
| 1989 |
In June, the boards of both schools legally merged to become The Lexington Christian Academy (TLCA). |
When TLCA began there were 565 students enrolled in preschool through 12th grade, located on three different campuses. As TLCA continued to grow, the school began facing space issues and expanded to seven different campuses in Lexington. It soon became apparent that TLCA needed a place of its own. The school's strategic plan was to have preschool, elementary and junior high students in churches that would feed into a central high school.
In 1992 Mr. Wayne Holcomb inquired about property on Reynolds Road. A member of the Lexington City Council responded "No, no, no . . .you couldn't afford a blade of grass on Reynolds Road!" Two years later, Mr. Jamie Hargrove was contacted by the chairman of the mayor's Reynolds Road Small Area Planning Committee. Within a few days, several leaders of the school met with the owners of the property. In a matter of hours, the control of the property was transferred over to the school. The school purchased 54 acres of land and the 210,000 square foot structure that would later become LCA's "home". A few years later, an additional 26 acres were purchased. Although it was believed that LCA could not afford "a blade of grass" on Reynolds Road, God has blessed LCA with 75 acres! During Christmas break in 1998, after nearly 3 years of construction, the high school moved to the Reynolds Road property. The official dedication was held on January 11, 1999. Slightly over 80,000 square feet had been completed during this first phase of the project.
In June, 1998 the school's name was officially changed to Lexington Christian Academy (LCA). In 1999, the LCA Board of Directors formally named the Reynolds Road facility as the "Rose Campus". In the spring of 2003, the second phase of the project was completed. That fall, LCA's junior high, one of its elementary campuses and one of its preschool campuses moved to the Rose Campus. However, construction at the Rose Campus is still underway. Finishing the permanent library and the two gymnasiums are the most significant projects yet to be completed. Additional athletic fields and facilities are also being developed.