Pastor at West Dallas Community Church in 1987.

Founder of West Dallas Community School

After reading this article, Robin Lewis put it in her Bible and began to pray about a Christian school in West Dallas.  Two years later she met Pastor Wilson and offered to help him establish a school.

Norm and Carole Sonju also read the article and proceeded to contact Pastor Wilson to see what they could do to help finish their first small church building.  It was the beginning of a life-long relationship.

Pastor Wilson and Carole worked together to develop a crest that made it clear this was a school based on biblical truths and Christian values. The motto became ‘veritati fidelis’ which translates ‘Faithful to the Truth.’

Opening Day was a joyous celebration.  It was the culmination of eight months of prayer, planning and hard work.  There were hundreds of people from the community, the church, the Dallas Mavericks and various media who came to share in the excitement.

Sara Capps was hired shortly before school started in 1995.  Sara did the testing and admissions along with her classroom duties.  After three years she attended Dallas Theological Seminary for two years and then became our first Dean of Instruction.  Sara was invaluable in making sure that the school followed through with Robin’s philosophy and curriculum.  Sara was very instrumental in establishing that foundation in a practical way day after day.

Donna Bolden was the first kindergarten teacher and taught for nine years.  She was a member of the West Dallas Community Church and knew many of the children from the community. She loved and trained many young students as she prepared them for success in their education. 

Students at Christmas time with Pastor and Mrs. Wilson, Sara Capps, Donna Bolden, and Carole Sonju.

In 1995 the church members graciously allowed the school to ‘overrun’ their building because they had high hopes for the children in their community. In 1996 the school board began efforts to get property to build a permanent school.  To the east of the building we had commitments to be able to purchase everything except the house adjacent to the school.

The Board began to raise money for the property and by the time owners were ready to sell, God had provided the necessary funds.  The plan was to build on that corner unless the Priscilla Tyler School building could be procured.  

A few years later the Priscilla Tyler School was closed down. Pastor Wilson and Tom Neuhoff, Jr., Headmaster at the time, worked to purchase the property.  It was procured for one dollar a year with a 99-year lease.  It was then renovated with the help of Tom Neuhoff, Jr, Doug Williams, and the Building Committee.  It became the permanent home of the West Dallas Community School. 

We began to build a library months before the school opened.  The school hoped to be able to offer a large selection of good literature.  Kathy Burns took on the task of building the library from scratch; the goal was to locate 6,000 books.

We purchased quality wooden desks and chairs and made it a priority to have as much quality as possible from day one.  Even though space was limited and shared there was an effort to maintain excellence and beauty as much as possible.

During the first year, lunch was eaten on blankets on the grass.  Children ate outside in the fresh air whenever possible.  The goal was to practice conversation and manners, however, the ‘lunchroom’ atmosphere did not always make that possible.

Today there is a beautiful lunchroom with lovely wooden tables.  It is a perfect atmosphere for learning the art of conversation and practicing good manners.

The first playground was a concrete driveway and grass…but how much fun we all had.

The new playground provided a shaded place for children to play.

Students gathered to plant a garden for Mother’s Day