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The campus at accredited ACSI member school Asheville Christian Academy (ACA) looks different today than before Hurricane Helene, which hit North Carolina on September 27, 2024.

All outdoor athletic facilities were destroyed, the first floor of the academic buildings took on water, and the campus shut down.

When administrators surveyed the damage, it felt impossible to estimate a return date.

“God provided in every step and we feel very blessed to accomplish what we did,” said Jason Putnam, ACA’s Head of School.

That accomplishment: school resumed on campus on January 7, just 101 days after the hurricane. Thanks to meeting at Biltmore Church in Asheville in the meantime, ACA students missed just 18 days of school.

“We were really amazed with the support that we got,” Putnam said.

“It was really just a God thing,” added Diane Poole, ACA’s Director of Development. “We pointedly didn't ask our families for any support during that time because so many people had loss of their own to deal with. The funds that we were able to raise were just from all over the world: many, many schools.”

In the immediate aftermath of Helene, power and phone lines were down, but ACA school staff members were able to confirm the physical safety of ACA families and staff.

When the school transitioned temporarily to Biltmore Church, there still was no running water in the community, but the students and faculty made it work.

“We mainly spent a lot of time caring for the kids and the families so that by the time we came back in January, we had a stronger community and foundation to resume coming back together,” said Alex Panagiotacos, ACA’s Head of Academic Affairs and Fine Arts.

Getting ACA campus back to operational took intensive labor, but the reconstruction work was also providential. For example, the gym floor that was destroyed was already close to needing replacement even before the flooding.

"We were able to update so many needed areas across our campus. What are the chances we would ever be able to afford new flooring, new drywall, new paint across the entire first floor all at the same time, as well as a gym floor replacement? Never,” Putnam said.

The ACA campus is located along the Swannanoa River. When Helene hit Asheville, the Swannanoa crested to 26 feet, the highest level the river had reached since 1791.

Still, students were able to return to campus a week earlier than local public schools that had not sustained as much damage. Several businesses in Asheville still haven’t reopened to this day.

At ACA, debris removal lasted from November 2024 until February 2025. Construction on the athletic fields began in July 2025 and is still ongoing. 

Another thing that hasn’t ended: the gratitude from ACA staff and students for the support they have received.

“We received boxes of encouraging notes from students and teachers from Christian schools, which were really impactful,” Poole said. “Having someone pray for you from afar, especially schools in New Orleans or around the world that have experienced something similar, it was overwhelming.”

"The greatest evidence of God’s goodness is how he used His people,” added Amber Roth, ACA’s Head of Finance and Operations. “I would just say, ‘Thank you.’ And if I had words of advice, it would be to hold loosely the things of this world.”

In terms of the financial ramifications, ACA had the maximum level of flood insurance available, though it only covered about one-seventh of the reconstruction costs. The school is exploring possible reimbursement for facility projects with FEMA and received extensive support from fellow Christian schools and ACSI’s crisis response fund.

With the help they’ve received, ACA wants to also be a helping hand to those in their community.

“We've made a renewed commitment to reaching out to the community and helping the Swannanoa Valley,” Poole said. “The grocery store in this immediate area is not reopening anytime soon. Even the post office is not reopening anytime soon. There's great need in this valley. So, we're trying to use every opportunity to welcome people to campus and help them in any way we can.”

Looking ahead, ACA administrators hope to ensure the decisions they make at this time are not made in haste but set up the school for success over the long term.

"As little sense as this may make, we want to be good stewards of the disaster,” Roth said. “We're calling every decision a 25-year decision, making sure we build the right way, being financially responsible, and that future generations of students would have the benefit of what we learned."

View a video update on ACA’s YouTube.