Bryan Walker considers himself lucky. In the middle of a recession, the athletics director at Johnston Christian Academy lost his job when the school closed in June. But Walker quickly landed the same post at Community Christian School in Wilson.

"I was very happy," he said. "That's what I love to do."

Walker and four others from JCA got jobs at Community Christian, which made a commitment to hiring staff from the shuttered school before looking elsewhere to fill positions. The school also took in 26 Johnston County students. On school days, they make the 30-mile trip to Wilson on a bus that picks them up at Belk in Smithfield.

But not everyone from JCA has been so lucky. Walker said several teachers and staff members haven't found jobs and remain on unemployment. Some found work at Southside Christian School in Clayton or Neuse Charter in Selma, but many lack the degrees or certification required to work in the public schools.

Many students, meanwhile, have ended up at public schools or in home schools. Community Christian didn't work for everyone.

"The distance was a factor for a lot of people," Walker said.

Even for those who attend Community Christian, the commute can create hassles. Diane Edwards said her daughter, Ashley, had to give up sports because she had no way home from late-night away games.

"I hated that it happened," Diane Edwards said. She added that many of Ashley's friends are spread out among public high schools but that the high school senior manages to keep up with the ones she's close to.

Walker said some former JCA students have been able to arrange carpools with teammates to continue their sports activities. Dawn Creech, a former JCA staffer who works at Community Christian and drives the bus, sometimes takes kids back from games.

Creech said the extra driving was worth it to work at a Christian school and send her children there. "We want to have God with our children and teaching our children these things," she said.