BOZEMAN — Petra Academy, a private classical Christian school in Bozeman that launched in 1995 with fewer than 20 students, is preparing for a major expansion as enrollment continues to grow.
A Bozeman school is growing — and so is its mission. See what's coming next:
Nathan Mayville has a long history with the school. He attended Petra Academy from kindergarten through 12th grade between 2003 and 2016 and graduated in a class of eight students.
“I never encountered in my time here any kind of bullying or sort of negative cliquishness in the community,” Mayville said. “It felt like a unified community.”
That experience is part of what drew him back to Petra Academy when a humanities teaching position opened up. Now, in the same room where he once learned as a student, Mayville teaches eighth-, ninth-, 11th- and 12th-grade students.
But Mayville said the school has changed significantly since his time as a student.
“When we moved into this school, it seemed enormous, and there was no way that we would ever outgrow it,” he said. “But we really have reached a point where the high school needs its own space.”
Petra Academy currently has around 250 students in kindergarten through 12th grade, all housed in one building.
“Currently, we don’t have enough classrooms for the students that we have on campus,” Head of School Justice Kurr said. “We are using our library as a classroom. We’re using our theater as a classroom.”
The school has spent years planning an expansion, and construction is now set to begin.
“Phase 1, in which we’re going to build a shell and a couple of classrooms inside the Phase 1 piece, will start actually here in two weeks,” Kurr said.
Kurr said the new 20,500-square-foot facility will cost $12.5 million to build. More than $7.5 million has already been raised for Phase 1.
Supporters include private donors, the Petra community, and a lead gift from the Gianforte Family Foundation.
The new building will include nine classrooms, three common spaces, a warming kitchen, designated art and choir rooms, additional science and computer labs, an advising suite, and new office and conference areas.
The facility will be built next to the current school building and will extend slightly into the existing parking area.
Kurr explained the expansion plans to students Thursday morning. Parts of the new facility are expected to open by next fall.
Freshman Clara said she is excited about the project and hopes to be among the first students to use the new building.
“I really like the idea of it,” Clara said. “I like being able to have a bigger space. I think it will help our school grow more.”
As part of the project, students wrote prayers Thursday morning that will eventually be placed inside the walls of the new building during construction.
“Whenever they start constructing the inside of the building, we’ll take all these prayers of the students and they’ll actually be inside of the walls of the building,” Kurr said.
Mayville said the expansion will be important as the Gallatin Valley continues to grow.
“I thought it was a great idea,” he said. “Gallatin Valley is growing really fast, and it’s not looking like that’s going to stop anytime soon.”
