Isaac Newton Christian Academy breaks ground on $3M fine arts wing

Isaac Newton Christian Academy held a groundbreaking ceremony Tuesday, July 7, 2026, for a $3 million two-story fine arts wing expansion called 'Project Beacon' at its campus at 1635 Linmar Dr. NE in Cedar Rapids, according to The Gazette and CBS2.

The 9,300-square-foot addition will include two music rooms, two art rooms, a technology lab, and office space, according to CBS2.

"We've tried to serve our students in music rooms that aren't specifically designed for music rooms and in art classrooms that could serve our students better," Head of School Dr. Dean Ridder said, as reported by CBS2. "And so this building addition allows us to do those things. We're really excited about that."

Ridder also said in an interview with The Gazette that fine arts helps students develop creativity, discipline, collaboration, and communication, and that the school does not see music and art as extras: "They are important ways that students learn to appreciate beauty, to express truth and to glorify God."

School board president Kate Warner said in a statement reported by KCRG that "students will fill these rooms with creativity, music collaboration, and discovery."

The expansion comes as the school's enrollment has surged. According to The Gazette, enrollment grew from 251 students in the 2018-19 school year to 423 in the 2025-26 school year — a jump of nearly 70% in seven years. Before Iowa's Education Savings Account program launched, approximately 250 students were enrolled, KCRG reported; last year's enrollment topped 400, a nearly 60% increase in three years.

Ridder told KCRG that the school has been growing since 2020 because of COVID and the addition of a high school program. He acknowledged that the ESAs help, but said the Project Beacon expansion was planned before the ESA program existed. "We've been planning to grow in the fine arts areas long before educational savings accounts were a thing," Ridder said, according to The Gazette.

Fundraising for Project Beacon started two years ago, and at least 75% of the funds have been raised through donations, not tuition, The Gazette reported. Tuition at the school was $7,800 for elementary in the first year of Iowa's ESA program and has since risen above $10,000, according to KCRG. Ridder told the outlet that tuition increases are directly tied to teacher salaries: "Quality programming is expensive."

The school was established as K-8 in 1989 and began offering high school grades in 2016, with its first graduating class in 2022, The Gazette reported. The project is expected to be completed by August 2027, in time for the 2027-28 school year, according to CBS2.