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MOUNT VERNON — A new Christian school will open here in September.

Some parents whose children attended Citipoint Christian School, which closed in June, decided to create Foothills Christian School.

Foothills Christian School will hold classes in a two-story building at 208 Snoqualmie St. in downtown Mount Vernon, said new Principal Bill McKenzie.

McKenzie is a retired principal and superintendent, most recently with Wilder Middle and High School in Wilder, Idaho. He also worked as a substitute teacher for the Sedro-Woolley, Concrete and Burlington school districts.

The school has about 30 students signed up to begin classes starting Sept. 3, McKenzie, 61, said.

He said much of the school has fallen together through serendipity. McKenzie said someone at his church, Christ the King in Anacortes, asked if he would serve as principal for the new school.

Citipoint Church closed its kindergarten-through-eighth-grade school because of declining enrollment and to focus on early childhood education. McKenzie said the church is giving the new school much of its furniture.

“We have to sort it all out,” he said.

The new school, which will have four full-time staff, also needs to decide curriculum issues.

The path has been arduous, said school founder Roberta Coletta.

“It’s required persistence,” she said. “We started out with a plan and we’ve just gone forward with the plan. We prayed about it a lot and felt God has led us to where we are.”

Tuition will cost $4,000 per child per year.