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LCA History

The Lighthouse Christian Academy (LCA) is a small co-educational, college preparatory, non-profit Christian high school located in Santa Monica, CA. It is a continuation of the Lighthouse Church School, which serves grades K-8. Both schools are ministries of the Santa Monica Foursquare Church located at 1220 20th Street. The LCA was founded in 1983 by members of the Lighthouse Church, who were driven by the desire to see their children educated in a truly Christian environment with a strong academic curriculum and the highest moral standards.

 

In 1983, the leadership and parents of the Santa Monica Foursquare Church established the LCA as an alternative form of education. Their goal was to provide Christian education for the children of church members. Parents in the congregation wanted an educational system that reflected the values that were promoted in their homes and church. Initially, the classes were held in the church building. Overtime the LCA went from being exclusively a church-based homeschool to being a private Christian school open to the broader community.

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In 2004, the Santa Monica Foursquare Church purchased the current school property at 1424 Yale Street from the Missionary Alliance Church. The purchase of the property was approved by the congregation with the unanimous desire to not lose a single existing church to the development of commercial ventures in Santa Monica. The purchase of this property gave the LCA its own campus. From 2005 through 2012 the school has undergone numerous site repairs and enhancements to meet and conform national accreditation standards and Santa Monica municipal code requirements for schools.

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In July 2007, the LCA received full accreditation from the International Christian Accrediting Association (ICAA) and in February 2011, the LCA received accreditation from AdvancED under the taxonomy of the North Central Association on Accreditation and School Improvement (NCA CASI).

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In recent years the LCA begun enrolling foreign exchange students. LCA has received students from China, Germany, Japan, Italy, Spain Finland, Thailand and Brazil. The LCA also began offering a PACE Learning System program that utilizes individualized lessons combined with personalized instruction to meet the needs of course acceleration, credit recovery, and alternative classroom environments.

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In its nearly two decades of existence the LCA’s athletic programs have multiple post-season successes including twice winning the CIF Championship in Girls’ Volleyball and twice coming in Runner-Up in the CIF 8-man Football Championship. Some of our athletes have been recruited to play on D-I NCAA sports teams.

LCA graduates have also gone on to top-tier colleges and universities including UCLA, USC, and Harvard and Stanford graduate schools. Our alumni fill the spectrum of professions and career fields including lawyers, doctors, dentists, pastors, teachers, writers, and filmmakers.

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