Monte Vista Christian School is celebrating 100 years of faith, learning, and leadership.
The school was founded in 1926, by Revered R.O. Price and his wife, Nell Price, both public school teachers in the Fresno area. Monte Vista’s current head of school Nikki Daniels said the couple felt a call from God to start a Christian school.
“Nell had relatives that owned what was then called the Monte Vista Ranch out in Watsonville,” Daniels told Lookout in a phone interview. “The relatives shared this vision from God to start a Christian school and gave them their ranch house in the core center of their ranch land.”
The school started off with 40 students, grades 3-12, with most boarding in dormitories at the school. It now has 815 students, grades 4-12.
The Price family led the school for the first 60 to 70 years, which Daniels believes kept the school committed to its founding principles. However, she also credits the school’s longevity to “the blessing and presence of the Lord.”
“I would really call 1926 to 1996 our foundational years. That’s when the founder and his son were leading us and building the foundation of the school,” she said.
Between the 1980s and 1990s, Monte Vista integrated athletics into the curriculum and started to have more day students. In the past 100 years, the school’s grades have fluctuated: sometimes there were classes for third graders, other times the school started in middle school with 6th grade.
In the 2000s and 2010s, Monte Vista teachers began introducing technology into their instruction, like providing an iPad for each student.
“In 2020, like every school, we reconfigured and figured out how to roll with the punches,” Daniels said. “Since COVID, we have added grades 4 and 5.”
As Monte Vista enters its 100th year, it will be introducing “centennial honorees,” who are examples of the school’s core values and have contributed significantly to its success.
On Jan 5, from 2 to 3 p.m., the school will hold a centennial celebration and introduce eight centennial honorees. After, there will be a 45 minute Q&A with Daniels. At 3 p.m., the event will conclude with pictures at the Mustang Stadium.
Daniels began working at Monte Vista in 2017 as assistant head of school and became head of school in 2021.
“I’ve been in Christian education for my entire career, and this was an opportunity to come to a really unique and special school,” Daniels said. “So I jumped at it.”