At a recent event at the Sanctuary Cowboy Church in Caldwell, Celeste Mays mans a booth promoting the school she founded. Her school, the Cornerstone Community Schoolhouse, is located in the same area as the church at 912 W. Linden St. (Photo taken by Gaye Bunderson)
By Gaye Bunderson
“I dreamt I opened a school … ” — Celeste Mays
Cornerstone Community Schoolhouse in Caldwell started with a dream. Not a “pie-in-the-sky-someday-I…” sort of thing. But an actual in the dark, slumbering in bed dream.
First, the night miracle in 2019 put an idea in Celeste Mays’ mind that launched into an incredibly large life goal. Then, three years later, an ER emergency showed up and pushed her close to death.
“After deciding to homeschool my children, I got a blood clot in my lung in August of 2022,” Mays said. “I wasn’t sure if I was going to live; but by the grace of God, I worked hard to juice and go on walks by my house.”
The juicing and the walks led her to a small building marked Crosspoint Church of Caldwell.
“At the time,” she stated, “I was praying over the building that is now the Sanctuary Cowboy Church. I walked for a year and asked God if this was the building He wanted the school in. For an entire year, I never saw anyone in the building until one day on a brief motorcycle ride with my husband, Michael, I finally saw people outside – former youth pastors Laura and Dave Clason. Dave mentioned that his wife had considered opening a school of her own at one time, encouraging me to talk to the pastor of the church, Eddie Hancock, and inviting us to attend.”
The Mays attended Crosspoint Church the following Sunday, and Celeste was able to share her vision for a new school with Pastor Hancock, who embraced it and invited her to present the idea to the church leadership team. The team embraced the idea as well.
But what’s new about a school? Adults have been educating kids for millennia now. Is there anything really new? Well, yes and no.
Mays has taken some long respected concepts, mixed them with a sense of acceptable modern models, and brought them into a 2020s decade institution with an old-style name like “schoolhouse.”
The school’s launch was in 2023, with the theme, “Keeping Jesus at the Foundation of Education.” So far, Mays has clocked two successful school years, and the future looks glowing. The blend of approaches appeals to many parents, particularly parents of faith. “Another wonderful school year resumed on September 2, 2025, and God willing there will be many more to come,” said Mays.
Cornerstone Community Schoolhouse is located at 912 W. Linden St. in Caldwell. The Cowboy Church is in the front building on the property, and Crosspoint Church of Caldwell and Cornerstone Community Schoolhouse are in the back building on the property, all sharing the same address.
Thirty-four-year-old Mays focuses on classical education at the school.
“What makes us unique is that we teach classical education in a modified one-room, schoolhouse-type setting where multiple grades reside in one classroom. Classical education is a traditional education that has been abandoned in the United States, but we are bringing back these timeless truths and virtues,” Mays said.
The school has a theme, as stated, and an overriding principle taken from Proverbs 22:6 that is the scriptural light classes are taught by: “Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it.” (NIV)
Mays explains it this way: “It’s God’s promise that if we are diligent in teaching our children in the way they should go (loving Christ and others), when they are old it is something that they will come back to. We truly believe we are doing just that, not just by teaching children classical education, but by also teaching them about how to be missionaries, whether in their neighborhoods or in the world.”
A novelty at Cornerstone Community Schoolhouse is a class that started just this year called Missionaries-in-Training, designed to inspire a deepening of the students’ faith and a pursuit for the biblical Great Commission, as mentioned in Matthew 28:18-20. Jesus commands his followers to, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.”
The missionary part of the school started with a parent, Keisy Kretzmann, who is from Brazil and speaks Portuguese. She and her husband served on a mission to Brazil, and Keisy brought back items from their trip to show the students. The school is essentially preparing future missionaries but also teaching the children about different cultures, and the Kretzmanns are the class instructors.
“I have to listen to God. It’s not always just what I want,” Mays said, smiling.
The Schoolhouse curriculum is similar to what a parent would find in almost any school but with some differences. In classical education, children also study Latin, critical thinking, and great books. Other schools no doubt do this as well; but at the Schoolhouse, everything circles back to connections between humanity and God; how God is the Creator of everything; and how, without Him, there would be nothing – including great books.
The curriculum also includes, along with academics, sewing, music, and art. And it emphasizes life skills and manners as well.
While there are no proms or homecomings, there is entertainment. “We have a family dance, and a DJ plays. Last year, we called the event Glow for Jesus,” Mays said. “For this year’s family dances there was a Fall Ball and there will be a Spring Dance. The Fall Ball focused on manners and etiquette. The spring dance is not so formal. Families in the community enjoyed it so much they requested two family dance parties. These are open to the public – most of our events are.”
Here, she keeps a Plato quote at the ready and said her music teacher, GMAMA, also quotes it: “To sing well and to dance is to be well-educated.”
“GMAMA is our music teacher. It’s her nickname; it stands for Grandma. Her name is Joani Baker-Gerner.”
Mays received her teaching degree from the College of Idaho and originally wanted to start a farm school, where the kids would study and also do farm work. She liked the idea of a farm where kids could be outside, grow plants, care for animals, and then take time to go to school. She tried it in 2020, but medical events during that year didn’t lend themselves to novel concepts.
Intriguingly, Mays didn’t grow up on a farm but was raised in Santa Barbara, Calif. She later went to school in Middleton, and post-college taught in Notus.
Seventeen students attend her school at present, from junior kindergarten (for 4-year-olds) through fifth grade. She has four employees currently; including herself as director, she has a junior kindergarten-second grade teacher, a third-fifth grade teacher, an office administrator/event coordinator, a music teacher, and a Missionaries-in-Training teacher. “With every decision, I go to the board; there are five board members. We are a non-profit; I actually am a volunteer. We pay a small fee for rent.”
Her first dream was to start a Christian school; her second is to make Christian school more affordable. The Schoolhouse presently costs $3,250 a year for full-time students. There are other part-time tuitions available for half-day and homeschooled students.
Along with her dreams, she has a Vision and a Mission. Her Vision is alliterative:
“To become an educational institution that teaches students to hold each other accountable to grow in grace, grit, gratitude, and grammar.”
Her Mission is equally as uplifting. It says, in part:
“Helping students cultivate a love of what is true, good, and beautiful.”
Her dream is a reality now.
Registration to attend CCS doesn’t end when the school year begins. For more information, go to www.ccschoolhouse.com. Cornerstone Community Schoolhouse is a registered private Christian school with a provisional accreditation through the Classical Latin School Association.
