The Meadow Glade community in Battle Ground, Wash., is alive and thriving when it comes to Adventist education.

Meadow Glade Elementary School and Columbia Adventist Academy are across the street from each other, creating a community filled with youth, energy and promise for the future.

Going to school in "The Glade" provides opportunities for lasting connections as students and families grow and learn together. Friendships made in kindergarten can grow for 13 years, providing CAA graduates with lifetime memories.

Kayla Harbold, CAA junior, began attending MGES in second grade and will graduate from CAA next year. She says 10 years is a long time to grow and strengthen friendships. "Some of my friends have gone to other high schools so I don't get to see them as much. It makes me appreciate the friends here with me that I have known so long."

The proximity of the schools allow for integrated education. Academy students share their knowledge with friends still in grade school. Through the peer-tutoring program, CAA students volunteer helping children at MGES during their free period and before and after school.

Shannon Breakey, CAA junior, says, "I like tutoring because I get to know a lot of the younger kids."

Students also help with science demonstrations and music lessons.

Harbold says, "I like that the schools are so close because we get opportunities to do things for the kids at MGES that we wouldn't if they were farther away."

The two schools participate in an integrated music program. Sharing choral, band and handbell teachers provides a seamless music program for students attending MGES and CAA. Teachers and students build a program from kindergarten through 12^th grade. This brings continuity of instruction, and strengthens the music programs at both schools.

For more information about MGES, visit www.mgeschool.org. For more information about CAA, visit www.caaschool.org.