Dade Christian School

Dade Christian School
Address
6601 NW 167 St. Miami , Florida United States
Coordinates	25°55′35″N80°18′23″W / 25.9263°N 80.3065°W / 25.9263; -80.3065
Information
Type	Private Christian
Motto	Where Christ Makes a Difference
Established	1961
President	Pastor Reyner Cruz
Grades	2k–12th Grade
Enrollment	595
Campus	Suburban
Color(s)	Red and white
Athletics	Baseball, Cross Country, Basketball, Volleyball,
Mascot	Warriors
Accreditation	Florida Association of Christian Colleges and Schools, Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools
Website	www.dadechristian.org

Dade Christian School is a private Christian school that enrolls kindergarten through 12th grade students in Miami, Florida.

The school was founded as a segregation academy in response to the court-ordered desegregation of Miami-Dade public schools. ^[1] It is one of two private schools run by New Testament Baptist Church, a Southern Baptist church that also runs The Master's Academy. ^[2] Dade Christian School had a 2024-2025 enrollment of 595. ^[3]

History

Al Janney, founder of New Testament Baptist Church and Dade Christian

Founding

New Testament Baptist Church was founded in 1954, and Dade Christian School in 1961 by Pastor Al Janney. ^[4] Janney founded Dade Christian School in reaction to court decisions removing mandatory prayer from public schools and as a segregation academy, a school founded to enable white parents to avoid having their children educated alongside black children. ^[5] Janney pastored New Testament Baptist Church until 1976. He also founded the Florida Association of Christian Colleges and Schools, the American Association of Christian Schools, and the Baptist University of America. The next pastor, E.G. Robertson, pastored until 1986 and oversaw Dade Christian when it was named a Blue Ribbon School in 1984. ^[4] The current President and Senior Pastor of New Testament Baptist Church which currently oversees Dade Christian School is Pastor Reyner Cruz. ^[6]

Segregation ruling

In 1973, a lawsuit was brought against Dade Christian School by an African-American couple named in the court documents as Mr. and Mrs. Johnny Brown, Jr. At the time, Dade Christian was an all-white school. The Browns sought injunctive and monetary relief against the school for not allowing their two daughters to attend. The couple had been handed a card that said the policy of the school was "one of nonintegration" and had been asked to leave. The school claimed in their defense that it was against their religious belief to have a desegregated school because of their belief objecting to interracial marriages. The school lost, leaving Brown's attorney to comment that the last quasi-legal segregation had been eliminated. Surprisingly, the Browns still wanted their children to attend the school. When Dade Christian School appealed the ruling in Brown v. Dade Christian School, Inc. (581 F.2d 472) in 1977, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled in favor of the plaintiff in what was considered an open question left by the Supreme Court at the time. The court failed to produce a majority opinion, though, deciding to limit themselves to the specifics of the case. They concluded that even if it was a part of the school's religious beliefs, it was a minor one and thus outweighed by anti-discrimination rules. This brought up questions regarding the free exercise of religion if courts can determine what a religion holds. ^{[5] [7] [8]}

Current

The ministry of Dade Christian School serves a diverse population of predominantly Hispanic and African American families. ^[9]

Partial campus sale

In 2022, Dade Christian School sold about half of its campus to a real estate developer, ^[10] a sale it began exploring three years earlier. ^[10]

Cheerleading

At the 2006 Fellowship of Christian Cheerleaders National Competition in Orlando, the junior high team won first place with a rendition of Grease . The elementary stunt group also finished first. ^{[11] [ independent source needed ]}

Notable alumni

• Maurice Kemp: Class of 2009, professional basketball player ^[12]

References

1. "Brown v. Dade Christian S | 556 F.2d 310 (1977) | 6f2d3101823". Leagle.com. Retrieved August 12, 2022.
2. ntbcfl.org
3. "Member School Directory (Membership)". faccs.org. Retrieved May 25, 2025.
4. "Pastor's Letter". The Gathering Place. July 27, 2008. Archived from the original on December 19, 2009. Retrieved July 11, 2010.
5. "Racial Exclusion by Religious Schools: Brown v. Dade Christian Schools, Inc". Harvard Law Review . 91 (4): 879–886. February 1978. doi:10.2307/1340360. JSTOR   1340360.
6. "Faculty & Staff". Dade Christian School. Retrieved May 25, 2025.
7. "Private Religious Schools / Segregation / Court, Ruling | Vanderbilt Television News Archive". tvnews.vanderbilt.edu. Retrieved March 20, 2020.
8. "Educational Policy and the Law" (PDF). Washington University in St. Louis School of Law. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 16, 2018.
9. "Explore Dade Christian School in Hialeah, FL". GreatSchools.org. Retrieved May 25, 2025.
10. Bandell, Brian (December 9, 2019). "South Florida private school could sell land to developer". www.bizjournals.com. Retrieved May 26, 2025.
11. Dade Christian School Newsroom at the Wayback Machine (archive index)
12. "Maurice Kemp - Men's Basketball". East Carolina University Athletics.

External links

• Schools portal

• Dade Christian School segregation ruling: article from the Harvard Law Review