A new campus life center and gym will allow Cypress Christian School to double its general programming. A new campus life center and gym will allow Cypress Christian School to double its general programming.[/caption]

A little more than a year after announcing the launch of its Advancing Excellence capital campaign, Cypress Christian School is slated to break ground on a new campus life center and gymnasium Dec. 2.

In fall 2014, school officials began collecting donations toward the Advancing Excellence campaign with the goal of raising $3.3 million. This August, officials announced they had exceeded their goal by $25,000.

“Parents, grandparents, alumni and friends in the community have generously rallied behind this project,” Executive Director Steve Novotny said.

One hundred percent of full-time faculty and staff personally contributed money to fund the project as well, Novotny said.

“They love the children they teach every day and are committed to help provide the best facilities possible for their students,” he said.

Construction is projected to take anywhere from 12 to 18 months to complete, mostly dependent upon weather conditions, Novotny said.

As the largest private school in the Cy-Fair area with an enrollment of 686 students this fall, Novotny said the school is already filled to capacity. He said the expansion will allow the school to double its general programing, but no plans are in place to expand enrollment in the near future.

“We’ve grown 20 percent over the last six years,” he said. “The center will help us to serve our current students better.”

Novotny said Cypress Christian’s expansion has been in planning for almost a decade and will help ease the strain that enrollment growth has put on the school’s facilities.

The 26,000-square-foot building will include a collegiate size basketball court, volleyball court, tumbling and cheer space, full concessions, a retail shop, business offices and locker rooms.

The space will also be used for academic and extracurricular activities, including choir performances, science fairs, art exhibits and speech competitions.

“The new campus life center and gym will enable us to advance our mission of honoring the Lord Jesus by providing families in our community with academic excellence centered around biblical values,” Director of Operations David Swan said. “Our community is growing, and we’re excited to grow in our ability to better serve both current and future CCS families.”