Mt. Salus Then:   The History and the Name of Mt. Salus

     In 1823, the city of Clinton was founded under the name Mount Salus (Latin for “mountain of health”). The name was first used for the famous home of the third governor of Mississippi, Walter Leake, who resided in this area known for its wealth of natural springs. But the name was removed from public spotlight when the city of Mount Salus changed its name to Clinton in 1828, after Dewitt Clinton, the former governor of New York. The city chose this new name while trying to become the capital city of Mississippi thinking Clinton sounded more sophisticated than Mount Salus. 

     In 1970, Mt. Salus Presbyterian Church founded Mt. Salus Christian School. The session of the church also became the board of the school and initiated a vision to start an elementary school that offered a Christian education in city that afforded few alternatives to public education. In 1973, the school joined the Mississippi Private School Association (MPSA). 

    Regarding mascots, the school was originally known as the Mt. Salus Patriots, and as an accredited member of the Mississippi Private School Association, Mt. Salus competed in elementary and also junior high sports, such as basketball and football, when the school grew large enough to offer education through the ninth grade.

     In 1987, with a budget deficit and only 87 dollars in the school bank account and a dwindling enrollment, Mt. Salus Church announced that the school would be closed. At this time, Mrs. Phyllis Hurley and Mr. Dennis Bomgaars agreed to work as the new administrators and the school opened in the fall with 50 students. Motivated by Isaiah 40:31, the school also changed its mascot from the Patriots to the Eagles in the same year. As the 1987-1988 school year went on, more students were added, and the following fall, Mt. Salus began to slowly expand its elementary classes so that by the mid-90s, Mt. Salus was again offering junior high classes.

     Around this same time, the question of high school education came up. In 1995, a group of Mt. Salus parents started the Clinton Christian Education Foundation (CCEF). Meeting weekly, the CCEF surveyed parents in the Clinton exploring the area for interest in a Christian high school. After making a proposal to the elders of Mt. Salus Presbyterian Church, the CCEF ran into two barriers. The elementary school had no room for high school students and the church session did not feel called to run a school on another campus.

     In 1996, Agape Church offered the use of its facilities to the CCEF, and the barriers were cleared: the CCEF had facilities for a Christian high school, and the high school could simply run independently of Mt. Salus Elementary School. The high school was named Covenant Christian High School and the CCEF nominated its own board from many of the members who had already worked on the CCEF.

     In 2001, Agape Church made the decision to sell its facilities and Covenant Christian High School was without facilities to house its students. Shortly thereafter, Parkway Baptist Church invited Covenant to run classes in its facilities and allowed the school to put a modular office building in its parking lot. 

     In the fall of 2003, Mt. Salus elementary school purchased its building from Mt. Salus Presbyterian Church and became accountable to its own board. During the spring of 2004, the boards of Mt. Salus Christian School and Covenant Christian High School merged. The school chose Mt. Salus Christian School as its name, keeping alive the name that first identified the city of Clinton and tying itself and the education it offers to that history. 

Mt. Salus Now: Current Growth and the Future

      Today, Mt. Salus is an independent, non-denominational kindergarten through twelfth grade Christian school that seeks to prepare young men and women academically and spiritually to serve Jesus Christ in their career choices and at institutions of advanced learning. Mt. Salus is still one school operating on two campuses: the high school is still housed by Parkway Baptist Church, and the elementary school runs in its own building adjacent to Holy Resurrection Orthodox Church (formerly the Mt. Salus Presbyterian Church building).

     In the 2007-2008 school year, Mt. Salus enrolled over 360 students.  Under its current board and administration, Mt. Salus has seen its full-time faculty members grow to over 30, in addition to several part-time teachers. Because of its growth, Mt. Salus has hired multiple teachers in each grade and subject area who bring Christian commitment and academic excellence to the classroom. Adding new faculty members has allowed class environments to remain small enough to allow personal interaction between students and teachers despite the growth of school. And with these new faculty members have come a variety of new class electives that include creative writing, computers, and critical analysis.

     Besides additions to its faculty, Mt. Salus has seen expansions in its athletic department.  The fall of 2007 saw the first ever varsity football squad to go along with existing varsity teams in baseball, basketball, cross-country, golf, soccer, tennis, and track and field.  The school recorded its first state championship in inter-varsity sports in 2007 girls’ basketball.  Mt. Salus also offers basketball and soccer at the elementary level.

     Ultimately, the growth of Mt. Salus has sped up the school's goal of having one unified campus on facilities that belong to the school. The Board of Trustees, under the leadership of Chairman Dennis Vander Molen, continually researches the Clinton area for potential property.  It is their earnest desire to seek the Lord’s plan for Mt. Salus as it pertains to property and buildings so that quality, Christ-centered education may abound in every way at Mt. Salus Christian School.

     Meanwhile, as Mt. Salus is redesigning its website, refining its curriculum, and increasing its advertising, the school remembers that it is not the efforts of men that bring success in this world but the will of God. Mt. Salus believes that a true Christian school is not just a school that holds chapel once a week and prays before athletic events; Mt. Salus believes that a Christian school is one that is filled with and run by Christians after the mind and heart of God, people that live and breathe Jesus Christ. In its past and now its present, Mt. Salus has been blessed with those kinds of people, and that is why it is what it is today.