Bethel Academy

Bethel Apostolic Academy began in the month of September 1973 in the Sunday school rooms of the church located at 36th St. and O St. There was a definite vision in the minds of Pastor I.H. Terry and the many people who shouldered the dream in its meager beginnings. The first Principal was Bro. Ray Davis (1973-80). Bro. Davis already had a full time career, and he would spend his lunch hour at the school dealing with the many issues of this new venture of First Pentecostal Church. The teachers were paid $25 a week, if there was money. Much of their weekly salary went to supplies, as they paid for their own. There was no standardized curriculum for the first three years of existence. Teachers relied on any discarded books they could get their hands on. Given the fact that there were no pre-assembled tests, quizzes, or lesson plans, each teacher had to make their own including answer keys. They would take the subject books they had available, i.e., science, history, grammar, …etc., and read ahead to stay ahead of the class. Math worksheets would be designed the night before class. Finally, in 1976 a decision was made to use paces. It was during a trip to Los Angles for a teacher’s conference, that Sis. Jenkins was introduced to the ABeka program. The lecturer, Mrs. Norton, was showcasing the math component of the ABeka curriculum, and shortly thereafter the teachers began using the ABeka math in some of the grades. So impressed were they at the organization and quality of the material, that they began in 1979 using the whole curriculum in Kindergarten. Every year after they would add a few grades from paces to ABeka, and by the early 1980’s every class was using it. The school is still using the ABeka curriculum.

Eventually, the school moved from the church address into a new home at 1418 W. Columbus in January 1975. Three new classrooms and two restrooms were built in 1976, and three more classrooms and a snack bar were added in 1980-81. Under the leadership of Pastor Frost, a school gymnasium was begun in 1985, and dedicated in 1989. Three new classrooms and two bathrooms, as well as a remodeled main office was completed in 2003.

Following the leadership of Bro. Ray Davis, Sis. Dorthea Edmonson was the principal (1981-84). She served several years after being principal (K-12) as the elementary principal, while Bro. Gene Jenkins was the High School principal (1984-91). The current principal is Lois Frost (1990- to present).

The current church grounds, of which Bethel Apostolic Academy is a part, boasts of many classrooms, a gymnasium, a park area with a baseball diamond, new church facilities, and many other blessings. Those blessings are the direct result of God and the hard work of so many who dared to dream of a Christian school in the city of Bakersfield.