Milestones of the 1950s

The first 10 years of the history of Hawaii Baptist Academy were marked by several significant milestones. In 1949, the Academy opened its doors for the first time to 24 students in grades 7 and 8, eventually ending that first school year with 36 students. Originally intended for the “young people of the churches,” HBA was also welcoming non-Christian families who were “interested in attending a Baptist school.” Within a couple years, the school needed more space, leading to the expansion of the school campus from having only wooden army barracks as classrooms to the construction of a one-story elementary school building. (It was later expanded to two stories in 1955.) The construction of the elementary school building was made possible by funding from the Foreign Mission Board (through the Lottie Moon Christmas offering), a building and loan fund, a Bible school fund, and the First Baptist Church of Amarillo,  Texas, home church of teacher Nell Sauer, and the First Baptist Church of Shelby,  N.C., home church of the elementary school principal at that time, Laura Cornwell. Construction began even as full funding was not yet assured.

In the early 1950s, HBA took over the first three grades of the Olivet Baptist Church School, increasing enrollment to 227 by the year 1952, with students in grades one through 11. The curriculum continued to expand each year with the addition of music and journalism classes, along with the already-existing core classes that included a Bible curriculum written by founder H.P. McCormick himself.

In 1954, enrollment had reached 236, and HBA graduated its first three graduates. In 1957, the Makiki campus expanded with the purchase of the Mitchell Property adjacent to the existing HBA property. Both HBA and the Academy Baptist Church (later named Central Baptist Church) used this newly-acquired property. In 1958, enrollment was 300. By 1959, 80 students had graduated from HBA, and enrollment reached 340.

And so the 1950s was filled with many momentous events and a great deal of development. Unwavering in its commitment to provide quality Christian education to its students, Hawaii Baptist Academy looks to the end of the first decade and the beginning of a new one with faith and trust in the providence of God—in times of plenty as well as in times of need.