M.Ed., Ed.S in Elementary Education | Tier 1 Leadership Certified        

👩‍🏫Meet the Founder

A Welcome from Mrs. Stokes

Welcome! My name is Chiquita Stokes (known to our families as Mrs. Stokes), and I am the founder and lead educator here at Rooted In Christ Academy.

I know that choosing who guides your child's educational journey is a profound decision. Please know that in our academy, your child will not just be educated—they will be known, protected, and deeply loved."

Every day, our academy is filled with hands-on discovery, joyful worship, outdoor exploration, and gentle guidance tailored exactly to how your child is growing. I am so honored to partner with your family throughout their school years, and I look forward to walking alongside you as we build a strong, faithful foundation for your child.

Welcome to our academy family!

With joy, Mrs. Stokes

💡My Vision

I believe that every child is a unique masterpiece created by God. My heart for starting Rooted In Christ Academy was to create a space where students don't have to choose between high-level learning and deep-level faith. I wanted to build a school where 'growing up' means 'growing deep' in the love of Jesus.

📜My Background

  • Educational Experience: With over 10 years of dedicated experience in classroom education, leadership, and ministry, I have spent my career cultivating learning environments that challenge young minds while protecting the joy of childhood. 

  • Heart for Children: As both a parent and an educator, I saw firsthand the shifting landscape of modern schooling and recognized a profound need for an intentional alternative—a place where every educational stage, from early childhood through high school graduation, is treated as a sacred season of discovery rather than a race through rigid worksheets.

  • Faith Journey: As a member of New Creation Christian Fellowship, my life and ministry are anchored in the daily reality of God’s Word. I am wholly dedicated to leading this academy in alignment with the Holy Spirit, ensuring our students see faith modeled in action every single day. Beyond my role at the academy, I am blessed to share my life with my husband, Jerard Stokes, and our five children—my greatest joy and my first ministry.

🤝My Commitment to Your Family

As we expand from our foundational early childhood classes through high school, my promise to you is to treat your child with the same love, care, and excellence that I would my own. We aren't just building a school; we are building a family.

📖Our Story:

The Birth of a Vision🌅

Every great tree begins as a seed of vision. Rooted In Christ Academy was born directly out of a vision and divine instruction given by God. For years, the natural path ahead seemed to be chasing a role as an administrator in an established school system. However, God clearly closed those doors and redirected our founder's path, giving her a specific vision and blueprint to build a brand-new foundation from the ground up—one modeled after Colossians 2:7: "Rooted and built up in Him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness." This academy is the direct fruit of that holy instruction—a school built not on human ambition, but on radical obedience to God's calling.

Out of that prayerful desire, we sought to provide a different kind of education—one where academic excellence and spiritual depth are grown together. We recognized that a child's foundational school years are the most fertile soil in their life. With a mission to plant the Word of God deep in the hearts of our students, we officially opened our doors starting with our foundational early childhood classes, setting the groundwork to walk with families all the way through graduation. We saw a need in our community for a school that didn't just teach children how to learn, but Who to follow.

🏗️Building the Future, One Grade at a Time

Rooted In Christ Academy operates on an intentional, multi-year expansion model. From our foundational early childhood programs through middle and high school, we add grade levels at a deliberate pace to ensure our operational scale never outpaces our educational quality. This standard guarantees a seamless, consistent, and Christ-centered academic path as our students advance through 12th grade.

Today, we are proud to be a community of families, educators, and students who are all growing together, firmly Rooted In Christ.