Our Story.
From humble beginnings as a one-room school started by a few families and a Christian educator in 1972, Cook Inlet Academy has grown steadily over the years. Our facility currently sits on 8.8 acres and includes classrooms, a machine and wood shop, science lab, gymnasium, soccer field, and more.
Since its founding, CIA has operated under the educational philosophy of our founder, Charles Eugene Crapuchettes: to provide students with the best academic environment and a strong, faith-based education focusing on the relationships between students, parents, and teachers.
Today, CIA strives to combine the school’s founding philosophy with the most innovative teaching models to continue to emphasize academic excellence, spiritual development, and character building in our students.
CIA maintains its academic excellence by frequent standardized testing and an ongoing accreditation from the Northwest Accreditation Commission and the Association of Christian Schools International.
Our Founder.
Charles Eugene Crapuchettes, affectionately known as Mr. C., was born April 9, 1936, to Eugene and Winifred Crapuchettes, who were serving in Kunming, China as missionaries with China Inland Mission. He was the second of four children. Along with many other American families, they fled China through Burma and India during World War II. Eugene, Chuck’s father, later returned alone to China as a translator and liaison officer. His family would never see him again. Two years later he was killed in a truck accident and was reportedly buried in Kunming, although the family never found his grave. A single mother of four young children, Winifred returned to China from 1947 to 1951 with her family, leaving two years after the Communists took over.
Chuck headed to college early, but interrupted his studies at Wheaton College to enlist in the U.S. Air Force during the Korean War at the age of 17. Although he hoped to become a pilot, he was trained as a flight medic, then as a medical laboratory technologist. After graduating at the top of his medical class, he was assigned to the hospital on Elmendorf Air Force Base in Anchorage. He was honorably discharged in 1955 and finished his bachelor’s degree in science at Wheaton College before returning to Alaska.
After trying his hand as a big game guide, commercial pilot, and commercial fisherman, Mr. C. discovered his true gift of teaching, both as a profession and a ministry. He taught for six years at the tiny public school in Newhalen on Lake Iliamna before moving to Soldotna and becoming Cook Inlet Academy’s founder and first administrator in 1972.
Mr. C. retired from Cook Inlet Academy in 2003 and was able to fulfill his lifelong dream of returning to Kunming, China where he taught at a private Christian school. He went home to be with his Lord in 2004, leaving a continuing faith legacy in his children, grandchildren, and the lives of countless students and their families.