Source: University considering Legacy campus in Placerita Canyon
The Master’s University downplayed its role Wednesday in Legacy Christian Academy, a “TMU university partner,” according to TMU’s website and a statement from the university’s spokesman.
According to a source close to the university, TMU is considering the possibility of a move for Legacy Christian amid TMU’s myriad plans for land in Placerita Canyon. The four-year Christian university declined to respond to questions about those potential plans.
In a statement Wednesday, Legacy Christian’s superintendent described newly finished upgrades for the upper grades at the Valencia preparatory school as a welcome addition for students.
Legacy Christian, which is on Dickason Drive in Valencia, reached out to TMU in 2022 and “asked the Grace Community Church elder board to assume spiritual and legal oversight of the school,” according to Legacy Christian’s website and its annual report for 2024-25.
The partnership “provides Legacy with increased legal protection and First Amendment rights afforded to churches,” also noting the leadership of Grace’s former lead pastor, John MacArthur, who died earlier this year.
There was no release or statement announcing the partnership or its details at the time it was reached, but each campus mentions the other as a partner.
Mason Nesbitt, a spokesman for TMU, said the extent of the university’s involvement is the alignment of both schools’ educational goals. He declined to make himself available for an interview Wednesday.
“While Legacy Christian Academy and TMU are both strategically aligned partners of Grace Community Church,” he wrote in a text message Wednesday, “we both maintain our statuses as separate nonprofit entities and continue to operate under the direction of our own boards to direct our missions for exceptional Christian education.”
To that end, Ryan Theule, former leader of College of the Canyons’ Canyon Country campus, has taken the role of superintendent at Legacy Christian Academy, and said the school’s “off to a great start” for its 31st year.
Theule, listed as a leader on the website for Grace Community Church, which leads TMU, indicated he was not immediately available Wednesday for an interview.
In Theule’s statement, he credited the great start to the leadership of Stacie Zorichak, the head of the elementary school, and Helen Crater, who leads the high school.
“Legacy Christian Academy is grateful for friendly relationships with ministry partners like The Master’s University as a means of collaboration through a shared commitment to education,” Theule added.
Another benefit of the partnership for Legacy, according to the nonprofit school’s annual report, is investment from the John MacArthur Charitable Trust, “both to bring the right students to campus and to build a curriculum from Legacy’s unique philosophy of education.”
Theule said the semester also marks a milestone for the campus: a completed Upper Campus remodel, which now houses middle school and high school grades.
The new facility includes classrooms, labs, a welcome lobby and student spaces, adjacent to the lower grades’ campus.
Theule left COC as assistant superintendent after 17 years with the college. He was replaced by Paul Wickline, former associate vice president of instruction at College of the Canyons.
