History of Victory Christian Academy
VCA came out of the former Victory Christian School (VCS) which started in 1975 when several families from South Side Bible Chapel became dissatisfied with the trends they were seeing in the local public schools. They started educating their children in the basement of the small church located in South St. Louis, and Victory was begun. The school was supported by a free-will offering financial system and was staffed by willing parents. The student enrollment quickly expanded to the point that the facility was no longer adequate, and South Side Bible Chapel had to find a new building to accommodate the growing ministry. In 1982, the church purchased a former public elementary school from the Lindbergh School District, Dressel Elementary School.
The school continued to grow and saw the addition of a high school in 1985. Even though the school grew to a top enrollment of around 240 in the early 1990’s, it continuously faced challenges with of adequate funding and teacher turnover.
The Bible Chapel leadership and Victory school board determined to move away from the free-will offering system to a standard tuition system in an effort to stabilize teacher salaries and reduce teacher turnover. In 1999, Victory closed the high school to focus its resources and efforts on the elementary and secondary grade levels.
At the close of the 2008-2009 school year, the Bible Chapel ceased to be the main sponsor of VCS. As a result, Victory Christian Academy was incorporated as a parent owned and managed K-8 school.
In January, 2010, VCA announced it was relocating to the vacant St. Martin of Tours facility in South St. Louis County/Lemay area at 618 West Ripa Avenue. Victory held school in this facility from August 2010 through May 2017.
Again, the Lord provided for VCA by providing a larger, newer facility. Starting in the 2017-18 school year, VCA relocated again to 1930 Meyer Drury Drive in Arnold MO, to a building owned by Encounter Church and shared with Wee Kids Academy.
In response to ongoing interest and a growing need for a quality Christian high school in the South County area, in 2020 VCA partnered with Canaan Baptist Church to relaunch Victory high school. Starting with the 9th grade, Victory’s high school will add a grade each year to achieve grades 9-12 by the 2023-24 school year.
The Lord has continued to richly blessed Victory’s efforts to provide excellence in education for His glorify for more than 45 years. As the school’s history continues to unfold, make sure you are part of this history. May you dedicate yourself to the task with all of your God-given abilities and talents – for the benefit of our students and the glory of God.