New life for former Sunset School

(Above) The former Sunset Elementary School, located at 408 Mars Hill Drive, has sat empty for two years.  In the fall, Clear Lake Classical, a private Christian school, plans to move students into the building, which will be known as its Mars Hill campus.-Reporter photo.

by Marianne Gasaway 

The former Sunset Elementary School will again be an educational center.

Dr. Cory Gerdts, headmaster of Clear Lake Classical (CLC), a private Christian School currently housed at the Evangelical Free Church on Highway 18, said the school will expand its operation this fall.

“We have been renting space from the Clear Lake E-Free church and hope to continue that even as we expand into the old Sunset School, which we are calling the Mars Hill campus,” explained Gerdts.

CLC is in its sixth year of full time operation and has grown to 100 students, Pre-Kindergarten through 10th grade.  

“Our intention is to add a grade each of the next two years until we have our first high school graduates,” Gerdts added.  “We are moving into that space, primarily because of the need for more space. We are pretty well maxed out at the church campus. We are glad to have the opportunity to lease the building for the years ahead, allowing us to continue to grow.”

In  June 2018, the Clear Lake School Board approved the sale of Sunset Elementary School, 408 Mars Hill Dr., to Cedar Falls/Waterloo developers Jim Sulentic and Brent Dahlstrom. Operating as Dolly James LLC., of Waterloo, Iowa the developer agreed to not close on the property until the school district had completed an addition at Clear Creek Elementary to accommodate preschoolers who had been attending classes at Sunset. That move was made in 2019.

Although the building has been sitting empty for two years,  Gerdts said only minor updates are needed.