Taking a Leap of Faith into New Life in Woodbury

These days, knows he’s not in Kansas anymore—or Iowa, for that matter—because his faith took his career on a trip back to Minnesota and into the halls of in Woodbury.

The Kansas native and former Iowa principal is now the head of school at New Life Academy (NLA).

“Very unexpected—this is pretty ‘out there’ for us,” said Lambert, who added that he was not seeking to change jobs or relocate at the time, yet felt that he was being led in the right direction.

“This is a perfect fit, a huge challenge and great people. It became very clear that this was the direction to go,” said Lambert, who joined New Life Academy last July. “It’s fast-paced, high-energy—the kids bring a lot of energy when they come to school, and that’s fun for an aging adult to have that energy once in a while.”

With previous leadership turnover at the school, Lambert said he is excited about the opportunity to provide some stability and continuity in his new role at NLA.

“I think in a challenging economic time, to continue to provide our families with the assistance they need—I think that’s going to be important, moving forward, to increase our retention,” Lambert said. “We’ve had outstanding demand for the product, and plenty of new students. I think we have to continue to look at how—especially as challenging as the economy is right now—to support our current families economically as well.”

Lambert noted that NLA graduated the largest senior class in school history last year, and the Woodbury school is seeing an influx of students in the middle school grades.

Overall, Lambert said the transition to his new life in Woodbury has gone smoothly.

“In a word, it has been blessed. We have just felt like we could not have scripted it better than it has gone,” he said.

“You are not choosing a perfect environment—you are choosing an environment that supports you, to have a common basis to work from, to solve problems to solve conflicts, to work toward resolutions,” Lambert said.

Lynn Atkinson, New Life Academy secondary principal, who served as interim head of school, said Lambert “is a godly man.”

“His passion and vision for Christian education has invigorated New Life Academy,” Atkinson said. “I look forward to what the lord has planned for the academy as we move into the future with Mr. Lambert as our head of school.”

A father of four children—ages 9, 6, 3 and a newborn—Lambert said his school-age children have also adjusted well to their change.

“They really love school, they’ve really adapted well. At the end of the day, I think that’s a testimony to Christian education and that aligning of beliefs of school and church and parents, so that when we bring our kids here, we know that they’re really going to be supported—not only academically, but from a personal standpoint, from a faith standpoint,” he said. “It’s really great to have a school like this that you can partner with and feel it’s a real benefit to your family.”

Lambert attended college at Northwestern College in Roseville, where he earned a bachelor of science degree in elementary education and a biblical studies degree.

While in Minnesota, he also met his wife, Jen. The two eventually settled in Iowa.

Lambert’s prior experience includes teaching at public schools as well, including Urbandale Middle School in Urbandale and Perry Elementary School in Perry, Iowa.

In Iowa, Lambert went on to receive a master's degree in educational administration from Iowa State University and also holds a pre-K through 12 educational specialist administrative license.

Before coming to NLA, Lambert served as elementary school principal at Des Moines Christian School in Urbandale, Iowa since 2004. He had also been varsity football coach of the DMCS Lions since 2008.

New Life Academy, established in 1977, serves more than 430 families throughout Woodbury and surrounding communities.

The student body at NLA represents 90 area churches from 47 different municipalities. For more information visit www.newlifeacademy.org or call 651-459-4121.