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From the earliest planning stages leading to the academy's opening in 2005 to the current academic year, Lake Pointe has grown in depth and breadth. In any way that LPA has done well in academics, athletics, and arts, it has been the Lord's gracious provision.

Early beginnings

The University Model concept started with a group of parents in the Dallas, Texas area. Desiring the best of private, public, and home schools, these parents were led to create a format to combine high academic and character standards, heavy parent involvement, and an alternating school-to-home schedule. The first such school opened in 2002.

Carrying the idea acorn back east

   Educator Lori Mace taught in Texas before moving back east. Returning to the Lone Start state to visit friends, she discovered former students were participating in the first University Model School. Intrigued with the idea of a school partnering classroom and home, Lori carried the idea for years before eventually moving to Lake Wylie.
   Once in York County, a tight circle of friends supported the first steps as Lori realized that the Lord was calling her to head the school project. After a slow development process, matters suddenly moved quickly as the Lord provided others supporting the vision.

Origin of the Lake Pointe Name

   Lori had chosen the name Lake Pointe Academy long before, but this was confirmed in a conversation with an area pastor. The minister told of a previous school by a similar name long ago in Lake Wylie’s history. At the junction of the Catawba River and two feeder creeks had sat the “Pointe School.”

Move from the lake

After nearly two years of preparations and renovations, the campus moved in 2023 to a larger campus at Carolina Crossings. There, it is more centrally located to serve the growing York County. 

From an idea and one campus in Texas

The National Association of University Model Schools grew from a single pioneer school in the early 1990's to over 80 schools today.

From the NAUMS.net web site:

University-Model Schooling began in 1992 with the implementation of the GPA Project.  This project was a private effort designed to test educational theories surrounding the (1) significance of parental involvement and (2) character development in the educational success of students in grades 1-12 and in their preparation for success in college.  Although these theories were supported by the US Department of Education studies (and many others), practical, nationwide implementation had been severely limited due to the traditional structure of schools, both public and private.  In addition, these theories suggested that academically “average” students could be successfully and consistently prepared to overcome the significant dropout rate prevalent in colleges and universities throughout the country.  As a result, project organizers developed a new educational model called University-Model Schooling or UMS.

This new model, with its university-structured schedule, was first implemented in a UMS test school formally established on December 18, 1992.  The test school opened for its first year of operation in the fall of 1993.

Positive results were experienced almost immediately and exceeded the project organizers’ original expectations.   After only two years of operation, interest was expressed by others to open similar schools in other communities.  Project organizers, therefore, formed an outreach program to facilitate this purpose and to serve as the GPA Project’s second phase.  As new UM schools opened in many communities and states across the country, the University-Model School® name was registered as a certification trademark, and the outreach program was transformed into the National Association of University-Model Schools® (NAUMS, Inc.), a distinctly Christian organization. 

Formally established on April 8, 2005, NAUMS, Inc. now serves as the centerpiece of the University-Model School® Christian movement.  With the establishment of NAUMS, Inc., the initial test school phase of the GPA Project ended, and ongoing improvements to the UMS model are now coordinated by NAUMS, Inc., through the collective efforts and successful practices of University-Model Schools® across the country.