Christ Presbyterian Academy will transition from the Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association’s Division I classification to Division II in the 2017-18 school year, the private school announced Tuesday.
“We view this new transition of our athletic program as an opportunity for CPA to increase our presence locally and have more opportunities to build relationships within our community,” CPA Headmaster Nate Morrow said in a statement.
“For our student-athletes, it means less travel and more time to focus on academic priorities. More important, competing in Division II supports CPA’s long-term priority of increasing access to Christian education to missionally aligned families. We are confident this decision will enhance the life-giving and gospel-centered culture for all CPA programs.”
CPA’s football team will be placed in Division II-Class AA, while all other sports will compete in DII-A.
Schools in Division II are permitted to give need-based financial aid to students.
“While our athletic program is a very important part of our learning environment, one program does not define the school,” Morrow said. “This decision, as with every comprehensive decision at CPA, was filtered through our mission to assist Christian families in helping students come to know God, evaluate all knowledge and life by His truth, and live transformed by His truth for His glory. With this as our compass, in the end the decision was very clear.”
The football team has made three consecutive Division I-Class 3A state championship appearances, while the boys soccer team is the defending two-time Class A/AA state champion.
The girls soccer team was the Class A/AA state runner-up last year, and the baseball team has made two straight Class AA state championship appearances, winning the title in 2015.
