Grace Christian School announces the launch of a new Development Department focused on community outreach and school-wide engagement.
The new Development Department will focus on cultivating new business and other partnerships in the Staunton, Augusta and Waynesboro communities and beyond, and engaging the Grace Christian School community through events and other communications.
“As we grow, we know it is of utmost importance that we simultaneously increase our presence in the community at large and more fully embrace our existing school community. We have recruited additional staff to build out this department and work to fulfill its key priorities of enhancing our inward and outward relationships,” said Grace Christian Head of School Dr. Donald Larson.
Amanda Glover, who served as the Director of Economic Development for Augusta County from 2013-2019 and prior to that held the position of Assistant Director of Economic Development for the City of Staunton, will lead the new department as the Director of Development. She will be joined by Amy Showalter, who will serve as the Events and Engagement Coordinator, Luke Twombly as Media Coordinator, Patricia Martin as Food Services Coordinator and Beth Lum as Data Coordinator. They will collectively work to accomplish the department’s goals.
“With 15 years of development experience in the Shenandoah Valley, Amanda has the knowledge, expertise and relationships to help Grace Christian School establish new connections in the broader community, plus her son is a rising first grader at Grace. Meanwhile, Amy, Luke, Patricia and Beth have been involved in the GCS community for years and all have either children or grandchildren enrolled at Grace. It’s really an excellent combination of talent,” Larson said.
Grace Christian School is the largest Christian school in Augusta County. In 2022, the school purchased the former Beverley Manor Elementary School on Cedar Green Road, just outside the Staunton city limits on the West End, to accommodate its continued growth. With $3.1 million raised to date, redevelopment of the former elementary school building is well underway, with plans to transition the Grace Christian High School to the new campus in January of 2026.
“Our Advancement Director, Dan Darling, has successfully led our capital campaign and we will move our high school to our next generation home in a few short months. Dan and our advancement team will continue to focus on the capital campaign and planned giving, so we can eventually combine our elementary and middle schools at the new campus. However, we cannot stop there. We must continue to focus on community outreach and nurturing our existing and prospective Grace families: the new Development Department will do just that. In alignment with our strategic plan, we are supporting all facets of Grace Christian School, and we look forward to the results of these two complementary but independent departments,” Larson said.
Glover may be reached at [email protected] and Darling may be reached at [email protected].
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Rebecca Barnabi
