Former elementary school reborn as Early Childhood Education Center

GORDONVILLE, Mo., (KBSI) — The former Gordonville Elementary School building is being repurposed as an early childhood education center.

The building, located on State Highway Z, previously housed the school until it was closed due to budget cuts. Zion Methodist Church in Gordonville has since purchased the property.

Zion Methodist Church is having an initiative to help out parents and be more involved in watching children grow on a faith foundation. 

This process has been three years in the works to find a building and start the process of opening a preschool in the Gordonville area. 

Cindy Rodgers is the Director of Zion Early Childhood Center and the one who has been working diligently with the church committee and community in general getting this preschool set up for early spring of 2025. 

“There is a need for daycares. There is a need for that early childhood experience and with our church also feeling the need to provide missions and ministry within this community, it was just a perfect opportunity,” said Rodgers. 

The building was sold by the Jackson School District. Zion Methodist Church then took a vote and bided on the building. The church finalized on the building this past September and the congregation has been hands on deck getting the classrooms furnished and making sure things are up to date for inspections. 

Overall, Rodgers has had high emotions of this entire process and can’t wait to see what the future holds. 

“I feel like I’m in a front seat watching, just a motion picture of everything that God can do, because he has worked so much through this entire process, and I have just been all stricken. Yes, there have been some challenges along the way, but it seems like with every challenge, there is always an answer, and it seems to be a much better answer than what we could have even come up with. So we have really felt God’s presence in this whole endeavor. And, I find myself very excited,” said Rodgers. 

Ages 2-5 with the potential of three classrooms and hiring three teachers. Volunteers are already speaking up saying that they will help out and sub. 

Another person who has been Rodger’s right hand is Pastor Scott Griffin. He’s been putting his head together with the church to see how they can make this possible. 

“Our congregation, which actually mirrors the rest of our community, came in Jackson area. A third of our congregation has experience or degrees in education. So we have this ability to benefit our local community. through education. What would that look like? What could we do,” said Griffin. 

Moving forward with this plan they started having church council meetings on an annual basis where they formed a study committee that ended up creating an early childhood committee. 

Pastor Griffin says this is what the church foundation is all about. 

“That’s the point. I mean, to be honest, from a church perspective, we’re looking to make connections and not necessarily to grow our local church, but to be a part of growing God’s kingdom. We’re here to plant seeds,” said Griffin. 

They are anticipating opening the doors of education on the first of March.

Enrollment is now open, and interested parents can call 573-290-2586 or email director.zecc@ziongordonville.com for more information.