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Twenty years ago, Covenant Day School didn't have a library.
The playground offered one jungle gym and one swing set for 149 elementary students.
The school didn't even have decent-sized trees.
"You laugh when you think back," says second-grade teacher Sherry Dixon, who has taught at the school since its second year. "The trees that were two feet tall back then are now so tall you can hardly see the tops of them. And that tiny playground was where the middle school building stands."
Now one of the largest church-sponsored schools in Charlotte with 819 students, Covenant Day School on N.C. 51 will celebrate its 20th birthday with an Oct. 10 carnival.
Meanwhile, parents, staff, alumni and students are remembering how much the school has grown.
Lisa Barlow, head of admissions and mother of three Covenant Day alumni, was a volunteer music teacher when the school was first conceived with 10 paid teachers and many parent volunteers.
"We had a library mom in each classroom who volunteered to go to the public library and check out a bunch of age-appropriate books for the kids," Barlow says. "The library mom had to be in charge of roping them back in. We'd just hold our breath and pray the kids would bring them all back."
Now the school has two libraries, one for the lower and middle schools and one for high school, with a combined 26,500 volumes.
What was once the church sanctuary is now the middle-school gym - which explains the stained-glass window opposite the bleachers.
In the early years, parent volunteers also did all the tutoring, landscaping and painting.
One woman, Annika Cole, served as school nurse, receptionist, office manager, assistant to the business manager and assistant to the head of school - all at the same time.
"She was superwoman," Barlow says.
"That was the fun part about being a part of something brand new. Everybody wore a lot of hats. Everyone rolled up their sleeves and pitched in."
'God's perfect timing'
The Matthews school was started in 1989 by Christ Covenant Church, part of the Presbyterian Church in America. The church today has more than 2,350 members.
"We wanted to found a school that offered academic training but also offered solid spiritual training for students to be salt and light in the world," Barlow says.
The school began with kindergarten through fifth grades, and added a grade each year. By 1994, it was up to ninth grade.
Scott Dillon says that soon after he came to Covenant Day in 1995 as middle school principal, planning was under way to add the high school. But it wasn't until 2001, on the heels of 9-11, that the capital campaign began.
Raising the money required the help of nearby K-8th grade Carmel Christian School, which is sponsored by Carmel Baptist Church.
Some scoffed at the idea of a Presbyterian school and a Baptist school working together, says Dillon, now the high school principal.
"People kept saying, 'That'll never work.' But in God's perfect timing it did," he says.
Covenant Day graduated its first senior class in 2006.
Staff and parents say the school on N.C. 51 still tries to offer a small community feeling, beginning with a stable staff. Thirty-one Covenant Day employees have been with the school 10 years or more. All current administrators were promoted internally.
Head of school Dr. Marni Halvorson started as a ninth-grade Bible teacher.
Jason Klohr came as a Bible and history teacher with a heart for trouble-makers. That hasn't changed, he says with a laugh. As middle school principal, he adds, "I just spend more time with them now."
Before Mark Helmer was promoted to lower school principal in 2008, he was a middle school science teacher. On spring days, you'd find his class gathered in a circle on the lawn, abuzz as they built a gun that shoots potatoes - "for education and recreation," he would say.
Building a legacy
Covenant Day is still relatively young compared to some of Charlotte's private school landmarks, such as Charlotte Country Day (68 years), Charlotte Christian (59 years) and Charlotte Latin (39 years).
High school Principal Dillon says he'd like the school to grow to 1,100 or 1,200 students in the next 20 years.
School officials are proud of trying to hold the line on tuition, which ranges from $6,090 a year for kindergarteners to $9,980 for high-schoolers. (Church members get a discount for grades K-8.) That's higher than some church-sponsored schools but lower than most big college-prep private schools.
With 20 years behind it, Covenant Day can also celebrate another milestone - a second generation. Former students, now grown, are showing up on the payroll. Spanish teacher Justine Liébana and middle school science teacher Wade Tapp both attended Covenant Day.
"It's funny because now I work in these classrooms I used to be in, and I remember how I thought they were so big," Tapp smiles. "It's really good to be back."
