School sets new foundation

Decades after sitting in the first student class at The Tabernacle Christian School, Heather Downing returns in a new role, leading her Montessori Christian School, Foundations Academies, to its new campus.

Foundations Academies, now in its ninth year, will utilize four of five buildings that housed The Tabernacle Christian School until it closed in August after 40 years in operation. The school was part of the Tabernacle Church campus, wedged between DeSoto Road and University Parkway at 4141 DeSoto Road.

While it is a homecoming for Downing, her focus is on the future of the private school she owns.

“It is giving us a huge ability to grow and expand the programs we have here,” Downing said of Foundations Academies.

The move allows Foundations Academies to expand from its 10,000-square-foot building in the Lakewood Ranch Corporate Park to about 35,000 square feet, with potential of up to 80,000 square feet in total. 

As part of the lease agreement, Foundations Academies will be able to use the existing library, playground, science labs and other infrastructure at the old Tabernacle Christian School site.

Parent Kerstin Muise, whose 9-year-old daughter Bella attends Foundations, spent a week painting as she helped prepare the space for the academy’s early November move.

“There’s going to be miles and miles of area for kids to grow,” Muise said. “I’m beyond excited. The classroom space is going to be larger. We’ll have all of the little components that were needed, that I would call the icing — the science lab, library, an auditorium with a stage.

“It is a family,” she said of the school. “It is a loving, nurturing environment. It is absolute magic there. Heather has worked really hard to make it special.”

Downing was a teacher and administrator at The Tabernacle Christian School for about 20 years before she decided to start her own school in 2007. It started with just one student but had 17 by the end of the first year. Every year after, it grew.

“I’ve never had a traditional business plan,” she said. “My plan was always to follow God’s lead. If there’s a door, walk through it.”

Over time, she adopted a Montessori philosophy, an educational approach based on self-directed activity, hands-on learning and collaborative play. Enrollment has reached 125 children from infants to eighth grade.

“We are constantly adapting our curriculum to meet our children’s needs,” she said. “There’s no pushing a curriculum or an agenda.”

Before the move to the Tabernacle was planned, Downing hired her father, Douglas Cooley, to be the school’s campus pastor and director of community events. He served as the principal of Tabernacle Christian School for more than 30 years, where they worked side by side.

“It’s a huge win all the way around. We’re excited for them,” Tabernacle Church pastor the Rev. Dwain Kitchens said. “Our leadership team really loves Doug and is very excited that a Christian school could use the facilities. From the historical aspect of the church, Doug really started the school.”

Downing is also excited to be working alongside her father again, although she said she feels strange being his boss.

“It’s really special,” she said of their relationship.

Foundations Academies also accepts special needs students, such as Muise’s daughter, who has autism, as long as it can accommodate their needs. Downing hopes the school eventually may be able to accommodate more special needs children in the larger space.

She also hopes to launch a high school program one day, so students can attend the academy from infancy through graduation.

Downing plans to relaunch Foundations Academies in January as Foundations Christian Montessori Academy.