30 Years of Encouragement and Excellence

The initial premise was simple: Children are born curious and have a passion to please, so if a child is discouraged or avoids school, something else is at play.

God placed this thought on Merlene Byler’s heart 30 years ago. In the decades since, she followed her heart and co-founded Faith Academy Bellville with her daughter Reesa Ueckert. Byler’s goal “to be a place of encouragement and excellence in academic and character training where The Light of the World, Jesus Christ, lives in and enlightens those who teach and those who learn” remains the mission statement today.

As Faith Academy Bellville celebrates its 30th anniversary this year, the school is preparing for its future with a significant construction project funded through a capital campaign gala in February.

Humble beginnings

What began in a donated building in September 1994 with 12 students from kindergarten to 3rd grade has now grown to 325 students from Toddlers to 12th grade. The campus now sits on 50 acres and comprises six buildings, with a new two-story elementary building set to open in fall 2024.

While Byler, who serves as the executive director, has been there every step of the way, she credits God first and foremost and to her family, staff, parents and students for the longevity of Faith Academy Bellville.

“I had no intention of starting a school,” said Byler. In 1994, a couple from her church planned to start a school but then moved away. The seed was planted in her mind and heart. A fellow church member, Doug Hodges, volunteered to be a board member even though neither had been on such a journey before. They sought to open a new school that would be “an oasis to help children who were ‘learning to dislike learning’ because it was difficult.”

Faith Academy Bellville operated out of donated buildings for the first few years. In November 1996, 24 students moved into a 3,000-square-foot cinder block school, the first building on the initial two-acre site. Enrollment doubled each year, necessitating a third building, which opened in 1999 with junior high classrooms and a gym for the volleyball team.

In 2003, the school first leased and then purchased an additional building. That same year, they celebrated the first graduating class of three students who went on to Baylor University, Texas Southern University and the University of Houston. In 2007, the school built a new gym and converted the original gym into classrooms. This building is the current elementary school, which supports 150 students.

The Falcon Center
Amid those first few years, Faith Academy opened The Learning Connection, which addressed Byler's persisting thought that children instinctively want to learn and achieve but will act out or give up if it's too difficult.

After becoming aware of "The Learning Connection," a program of exercises and movements that create neurological connections, Byler attended a seminar in Houston and observed a teacher using the program. She then returned to Faith Academy and asked the kindergarten teacher if she could join the class of six students for PE. She asked the students to do exercises like balancing on a beam and standing on one foot. Based on each student's ability to perform the exercise, Byler accurately identified three students struggling with reading and three strong readers.

The program that started serving struggling readers is now known as the FALCON (Faith Academy Learning Connection of Neurodevelopment) Center. This hidden gem of Austin County supports 110 students each week with innovative modalities and services provided by certified trainers.

Gwen Stewart enrolled her now seven-year-old daughter in the FALCON Center two years ago to get support for strabismus, a misalignment of the eyes, as well as emotional control and ADHD. She has progressed through vision therapy and QRI Laser, along with tools and support to work through emotions.

"The changes we have seen are a night and day difference from two years ago, and we couldn't be happier. We love that FALCON takes the time to help guide and challenge her regularly," Stewart said.

In addition to the rhythmic movement modality consisting of drills, games and exercises to stimulate the brain, the FALCON Center provides Audio Integration Training (AIT) to help students better process sounds, as well as QRI Cold Laser treatments to integrate reflexes and calm the nervous system. In collaboration with Bellaire Family Eye Center in Houston, FALCON offers vision therapy to work on eye movement, eye teaming and eye training. Trainers work with students using the Interactive Metronome, which, like an entertaining game, uses the coordination of body movements with rhythmic sounds to improve neuro-timing within crucial brain networks for cognitive, communicative, sensory and motor performance. NILD Educational Therapy provides support to students with learning differences such as ADHD, dyslexia, dyscalculia and others to improve their confidence in the classroom.

The FALCON Center isn't only for students who need extra help and specialized support. Their techniques expand to each classroom, where every student starts the day with specialized "Brain Gym" exercises. Faith Academy Bellville athletes also benefit from the modalities in the form of improved hand-eye coordination and reaction time.

Before joining the FALCON Center staff and becoming the Assistant Director, Sarah West brought her daughter to the center as a community participant in kindergarten for speech therapy. However, when they returned the following year to enroll, there was not enough room for community students. The FALCON Center was hiring to service more children, and because West had previous medical experience, she applied for a job. Soon, she and her daughter transitioned to Faith Academy Bellville full-time for work and school.

"She had so much growth that first year just with handwriting, grip, speech, and everything. She graduated from speech that first year," West said. "The really cool thing now is she's learned so many techniques about how to calm herself down, how to calm her nervous system down, and with ADHD, she needs that."

West is passionate about the services they offer. The entire FALCON Center staff is continually training and seeking certification for the services kids need. The current capital campaign will support the expansion of the FALCON Center as it expands into the existing elementary building, hires additional staff, and adds new programs like vision training for athletes, outside equipment and the capability to serve more community students.

More than a school

To Cara Cook and Olivia Catlett, Faith Academy is more than where they attended school; it's family. They returned as the Elementary Director and a first-grade teacher, respectively. Several other alums are back as staff, and other alums send their children to the school.

"Faith Academy is, first and foremost, a family whose collective goal is the academic and spiritual growth of all its family members. It is what sets it apart from other schools in that every staff member is here for one reason: to guide our students as they learn to 'walk the way Jesus walked' (1 John 2:6)," said Catlett, Valedictorian, Class of 2017.

Cook enrolled her children to experience the "love" and "the home" she benefited from. "There was a core group of 13 of us that graduated together. Most of us started the same year in fourth grade, so we became a class family from fourth grade on," said Cook. "It wasn't like I had to go to school; it was like I got to go to a second house. These people pray with you if you're having a rough day. The teachers are not necessarily more patient, but they are patient, and it's not from them. It's from the Lord."

Influenced by her teachers and their relationship with God, Catlett hopes to share that same influence on her first-grade students.

"Sharing Jesus with children is a huge reason why I wanted to become a teacher in the first place, and Faith Academy is a place where I can freely do that. We are not only forming our students academically but spiritually," Catlett said.

The next chapter for Faith Academy
This annual Night of Knights Gala will celebrate the school's anniversary and showcase the FALCON Center program on February 10, 2024, at the Austin County Expo Center. Many of the tools used for the modalities will be on hand for guests to try out. Rumor is Byler has been working with the Interactive Metronome, and guests can try to beat her score at the event. All are welcome to attend to support Faith Academy.

The school is embarking on a capital campaign to raise $10 million to expand FALCON, several major building renovations, and to build the new elementary school.

As to what the next 30 years may hold, Cook said the future of Faith Academy is in God's hands.

"Our number one goal is to touch students' lives positively," Cook added positively. "Let's just serve the Lord through this mission of Faith Academy, whatever that looks like, however long that takes. Because God's already written this story, we're just getting to see it through." To learn more about Faith Academy Bellville, the FALCON Center, the Night of Knights Gala or the capital campaign, please visit https://www.faithacademybellville.org.

Carrie Ward is a busy mother of four and wife with a passion for writing, reading and personal advocacy for Faith Academy and the FALCON Center. She is passionate about sharing the transformative journey her two youngest children have experienced there. Navigating dyslexia,
dyscalculia and ADHD, her children have moved from battling challenges in conventional classrooms to thriving academically, thanks to the nurturing environment and cutting-edge approaches at Faith Academy.