Spencerville Adventist Academy

Infobox School2
name = Spencerville Adventist Academy
established = 1943
type = K-12
head_name = Principal
head = Brian Kittleson
city = Silver Spring
state = Maryland
country = USA
students = 321
mascot = Buzz the Hornet
website = http://www.spencervilleacademy.org/

Spencerville Adventist Academy is a Seventh-day Adventist full K-12 day academy serving the Christian community in the Washington metro area. It is located in Silver Spring, Montgomery County, Maryland. Spencerville Adventist Academy operates as part of the Chesapeake Conference of Seventh-day Adventist's Education system.

History

Inspired by the dedication of Ray and Anita Doyle, lay members from the Hyattsville Church, several Adventists began distributing literature in the Burtonsville and Spencerville areas in the spring of 1940. While working along New Hampshire Avenue near the intersection with Spencerville Road (Brown's Corner), the Arthur Hume family knocked on the door of Frank DeVilbiss, who had previous contact with Adventists and had determined to make a tangible contribution to their ministry. As a result of the visit, DeVilbiss offered a portion of his property for holding a tent meeting. This resulted in the baptism of seventeen individuals - including Mrs. DeVilbiss. Early the next year, the DeVilbiss family donated a seven-acre wooded lot on the corner of Spencerville and Good Hope Roads for the erection of a church Home for the new group.

After clearing the lot of its many trees, the believers constructed a tabernacle from lumber donated by the Chesapeake Conference from its campmeeting grounds in Catonsville. The humble structure, which was built in just two weeks, became a sanctuary for the new church for the next decade. The first service was held there on October 25, 1941. The group was formally organized into the Spencerville Seventh-day Adventist Church on December 27, 1941, with thirty-nine charter members. Very shortly thereafter members began dreaming about opening their own elementary school. This dream was realized when the doors of Spencerville Junior Academy opened in September 1943 with seven students. A two-room cinder block school building was erected in 1948 with a gymnasium being added in 1956 and additional rooms in 1965.

The old tabernacle, which was destroyed by fire in 1950, was replaced by the building now occupied by the Korean Adventist congregation at the corner of Good Hope and Spencerville Roads. The congregation worshiped there until February 1980, when it moved to its current location on seven lovely acres on New Hampshire Avenue. In 1989 a generous gift from a former member fulfilled the dream for a pipe organ, and the congregation raised additional funds for acoustical improvements for the sanctuary. The organ was presented to the church and community in its inaugural concert with organist Simon Preston, formerly Organist and Master of the Choristers of Westminster Abbey, on September 21 and 22, 1991.

Description

The school is one of 5,835 elementary, secondary, and higher educational institutions operated around the world by the Seventh-day Adventist church.

Affiliations

Spencerville Adventist Academy is accredited by

Board of Regents, Office of Education, General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists
Maryland State Board of Education

School Publications

The title of the yearbook is "The Retrospective". The school newspaper is called "The Point".

See also

*Seventh-day Adventist Church
*List of Seventh-day Adventist academies and elementary schools‎

External links

* [http://www.spencervillesda.org/ Spencerville Seventh-day Adventist Church]