Schools Within a School: Scholar Project provides distinction options for students at Traders Point Christian Schools

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Traders Point Christian Academy is a private Christian school which serves Zionsville, Whitestown and surrounding areas. Recently, it launched the Scholar Project, which includes new K-12 curriculum, a facilities expansion and the first year of a multi-year rollout for the new “Schools within a School” model for Traders Point Christian High School.

“We are a small school, and we are located in an area where there are so may bigger schools that have the availability to offer a variety of different experiences and course offerings, and looking at our offerings we said we really haven’t been able to offer as many courses and experiences as we would like because of the limited number of students and space,” Chief Advancement Officer Ryan Gallagher said. “So, the Scholar Project allows us to expand how many courses we can offer in a day.”

The recent expansion doubled the high school’s space.

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TPCA Head of School Paul Williams, center, cuts the ribbon introducing the new Scholar Project. (Photos by Ben Stout)

“We can get really specific about the types of classes we are offering, like medical technology or things looking at leadership and business principles,” Gallagher said. “Our class sizes have shrunk as a result of opening new classrooms.”

The Scholar Project includes the new Project Lead the Way curriculum for grades K through 12. The second floor of the high school was unfinished when it was built three years ago.

“We finished off that entire space to allow for, not just more students, but a lot of kids have been saying it feels like another school,” Gallagher said.

The $1.1 million project took 10 months to complete. A ribbon-cutting ceremony recently celebrated the opening of the upper level. The entire upstairs of the school is dedicated to the Scholar Project.

The “Schools Within a School” concept allows students to graduate with a distinction, such as from the School of Biomedical Science.

“These things all are experiences we think our students want. We also believe if they have these experiences before they go onto college, or whatever the next step is, it allows them to be more efficient with their time on that next level and next step,” Gallagher said. “If they leave us feeling like they have been exposed to more things, they may leave and say, ‘I know I don’t like that now,’ or vice versa.”

Sophomore Hayla Barton is one of 12 students enrolled in the biomedical science program. She will take the course through her senior year.

“Personally, I’m interested in the medical field, so the School of Biomedical Science does a lot of very hands-on labs and stuff where we do blood typing,” Barton said. “When they introduced it, I was really excited for it just because it’s something I’m interested in. Basically, the class lets us use our own processes and lets us figure things out for ourselves. I feel like we can learn more from it.”

For more, visit tpcs.org.

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TPCA Head of School Paul Williams, center, cuts the ribbon with Suzanne Reed on the new 4,000-square-foot Reed Athletic Center training facility and locker room. The new building, made possible by the generosity of its namesakes Suzanne and Stuart Reed, features state-of-the-art facilities with weight training and cardio zones, two locker rooms that offer athletes direct access toWitham Field, a training room where student-athletes have access to a full-time athletic trainer and team physician, provided by Witham Health Services.

The Reed Athletic Center

Besides conducting a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the Traders Point Christian Academy’s Scholar Project, TPCA also cut the ribbon introducing the new Reed Athletic Center.

“The Reed Athletic Center was gifted to us in full, so that project was a real blessing to our school,” Chief Advancement Officer Ryan Gallagher said. “It’s on the west side of Witten Field. That’s a state-of-the-art field that opened about three years ago.”

The Reed Athletic Center is 4,000 square feet and was made possible through a partnership between TPCA and Witham Health Services.

“That provides us with an athletic trainer, a chief medical officer and resources they’re providing us (that) we can put to use in this space,” Gallagher said. “There are weights and training equipment. Our faculty and staff are excited they get to use that space now, too. With the community growing at the rate that it is, we have 650 homes being built to our west and expected to break ground this winter, and then the Whitestown Little League project to our south, and then Anson is exploding with new restaurants and shops every day.

“Our job is just to keep up with all the growth in a sustainable way. It’s going to be a continued focus for us as we announce new projects in the near future to meet the need of the community.” 


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