Holding Out Hope in the Bronx
NAOMI WOODMANSEE, HEAD OF SCHOOL, HOPE ACADEMY OF THE BRONX
For over forty years, God has guided and grown The Bronx Household of Faith (BHOF). We’ve seen the transforming power of the gospel of Jesus Christ in this church and in this neighborhood.
After four decades of meeting in homes and a public school auditorium, God has given us a building of our own. We’re committed to using this building as a lighthouse of hope to those in our neighborhood still without Christ.
So in 2014, we opened a school. Our mission: to provide a quality Christ-centered education, and to challenge and equip undereducated students in the Bronx to love God with heart, soul, mind, and strength and to live for God’s glory. Now in our second year, Hope Academy of the Bronx is educating 16 students in grades 5-8 who have come to us from public and private school settings because of challenges that made it difficult for them to succeed in traditional classrooms.
What makes Hope Academy different from other small Christian schools? Most of our students come from families that don’t know the gospel, and many of our students are hearing it for the first time. Our students come to us with academic and behavioral challenges that make learning difficult and unappealing. We have to work hard to create a culture where students are willing to trust their teachers enough to be vulnerable about their needs.
Days at Hope Academy are difficult. The challenges are many. But God’s strength equips our staff to patiently hold out God’s grace to students in need of hope. Little by little we see growth—from a student who says he “used to be a bad kid” to another who has little respect for authority but describes our school as “like a family!”
Our short-term goal is to see each of our scholars through to the completion of a high school diploma. Our long-term vision is that our scholars would leave us as eager followers of God, committed to obeying the Great Mandate, the Great Commandment, and the Great Commission.
Will you pray for us? We invite you to lift up our staff and students, and to consider supporting the work God is doing here in our scholars and their families. We would love to welcome you for a visit, to show you what He has begun to do in young hearts and minds here at Hope Academy. Thank you for your prayers and your support. God is at work here in the Bronx!
Do you know of teachers committed to Christ and skilled at helping struggling students? We are looking for teachers to join us this fall!
Contact us at hopeacademy@bhof.org | Visit us online at bhof.org/hopeacademy
Find us on Facebook at facebook.com/hope.academy.bronx