What is the GCS Apprenticeship Program?

Often we get the question, “What is the GCS Apprenticeship Program all about?” We get this question a lot because people all over the country have been talking for years about what Grace Community School has been doing in Southwest Florida, and people want to learn more.

If you are reading this, then the means that you may have also asked yourself this question too.

Well, to start the term GCS is an acronym that is short for Grace Community School. The first Grace Community School location was founded by Pastor Ellsworth McIntyre and his family in Naples, Florida in 1986. Being a lifelong educator and administrator, he felt that the evangelical open door was ministering to preschool age children. This article is not meant to be a retelling of the founding and history of Grace Community School, so instead, we will refer you to Pastor McIntyre’s book entitled, “How To Become A Millionaire in Christian Education,” for that information and more. You can find information on purchasing either a paperback copy or a digital copy of his book here: https://gcsapprenticeship.com/millionaire-in-education

Grace Community School has grown from one location in 1986, to nine locations throughout Southwest, Florida including Naples, Golden Gate, Bonita Springs, Cape Coral, Fort Myers, Lehigh Acres, North Fort Myers, and Port Charlotte. All of these locations specialize in caring for children as young as six weeks, and as old as 12 years. The schools are open year round, and they are distinctly Christian in their approach to education and business operation. You can learn more about all the Grace Community School locations by visiting the school’s website here: http://gracecommunityschools.com

Pastor McIntyre began the GCS Apprenticeship program shortly after the founding of the first Grace Community School location. He believed that Christians should be focusing efforts on evangelizing the youngest members of the community rather than attempting to repair years of poor education and theology with older students. It is indeed essential to have ministries that help, aid, and educate older children and teens, but with the fact that no Christian ministries were focusing on younger ages, Pastor McIntyre committed to designing a program to meet this need. Not only were Christian preschools needed they were also profitable for the private Christian owner. Pastor McIntyre also wanted to help others understand this as well. Being a full-time Christian missionary did not mean you had to be poor, nor that you had to live on the goodwill and donations of others to care for the material needs of your family.

The apprenticeship program then is designed to take unskilled and unknowledgeable committed Christians and give them training in becoming professional Christian teachers, and proficient owners and operators of a Christian school. To do this requires time, that is why the GCS Apprenticeship program is designed to take three years to gain the necessary experience to learn the do’s and don’ts of teaching and managing a private Christian school.

Grace Community School has been successfully operating Christian schools in Southwest Florida now for over 30 years; the GCS Apprenticeship program trains its apprentices from the GCS Operations Manual. This manual has been put together to cover all aspects of teaching and managing a Christian school with success. For more information on this manual, you can visit the GCS Apprenticeship’s Operations Manual page here: https://gcsapprenticeship.com/operations-manual.

The GCS Apprenticeship program is specifically designed to train qualified young Christian men and women, but also encourages men and women of all ages to apply, and even those married couples that feel the call and desire to own/operate their own Christian school.

Apprentices enrolled in the GCS Apprenticeship program are given:
1. Full Salary
2. Free Housing
3. Monthly Bonuses
4. Daily Hand’s On Classroom & Office Training and Management
5. Weekly Theological Training & Studies
6. Licensed To Preach/Ordained to the Ministry
7. Completion of a National CDA (Child Development Associates Credential)
8. Eventual Certification of Completion and Recommendation of Competence in Teaching/Operating a Christian School

This article has been designed to introduce people to the GCS Apprenticeship Program and to answer common questions about the program. If you wish to learn more visit our page here: https://gcsapprenticeship.com/our-program