Sept. 10, 2019, was one of the most exciting days in the 60-year history of Amazing Grace Academy (AGA) in Palmer, Alaska. AGA received the news that the North American Division had provisionally approved AGA’s application to become a fully accredited senior academy. This means that AGA has now joined the ranks of the other 14 senior academies in the North Pacific Union Conference.
This was a day many had looked forward to for years. AGA began as the Palmer School in the basement of the Palmer Church in the late 1950s. The school eventually grew and moved to the other side of Palmer on Maud Road, where it stayed for many years.
About 15 years ago, the school relocated to its present location adjoining the Palmer Church. With divine foresight, the three-story school was built to accommodate more than its enrollment of less than 30 in grades one through eighth. Over the past 10 years, God has blessed the staff and constituency and built the enrollment from the 19 students it started with in 2009 to about 110 students in grades pre-K through 12 at the beginning of 2019–2020 school year. During this period, AGA has remodeled classrooms to accommodate the high school students, built a sizable gymnasium and made plans to finish new classroom space to house the middle school classes.
As the only Adventist senior academy in Alaska, AGA serves the needs of many families throughout the Matanuska-Susitna Valley and beyond. The school still has a few hurdles to overcome to lose the “provisional” status, but with God’s continued guidance the board and administration are confident these can be handled. The board, staff, students and school family are working together to make this an environment where God is central in all things. They ask you to join them in prayers of thanksgiving and praise to the One who makes it all possible.
Amazing Grace Academy in Palmer, Alaska.
Amazing Grace Academy elementary students enjoy a treat together in their colorful classroom.
