Our Philosophy
Education is the process of raising a child into a fully-formed adult. In order to assist parents in this task, every school must begin by answering the question, “what is a human being?” We begin from this foundation: humanity is made in the image and likeness of God, and our purpose is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. That is what we educate students for. School is not an end in itself, but a tool for achieving this purpose.
How do we cultivate wisdom and virtue in our students? It begins with the cultivation of what the ancients called piety. Piety is the love and respect that human beings should have for God and for those in authority over them, especially their parents, teachers, and pastors. This is illustrated for us in the book of Proverbs. Solomon teaches us that the foundation of wisdom is piety. “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction. Hear, my son, your father’s instruction and forsake not your mother’s teaching, for they are a graceful garland for your head and pendants for your neck.” (Proverbs 1:7-9)
C.S. Lewis said that “the aim of education is make the pupil like and dislike what he ought.” We seek to do that by fixing our students’ eyes on the Good, the True, and the Beautiful. The Apostle Paul teaches this principle in his letter to the church at Philippi: “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.” (Philippians 4:8) With piety as our foundation, our goal is train students, body and soul, to love the Good, the True, and the Beautiful. That is the goal of classical education.
The philosophy of classical, Christian education permeates everything our school does. Here are some of the distinctives of our educational approach:
- Our goal is to encourage the development of moral and intellectual virtue in our students, including the four cardinal virtues—Wisdom, Courage, Temperance, and Justice—and the three theological virtues—Faith, Hope, and Love.
- Our curriculum is built on the foundation of the history, ideas, literature, art, music, and culture of Western Civilization and the Christian tradition.
- Our pedagogy is traditional, rather than progressive. We do not practice “student-centered” or “project-based” learning. Instead, we use the time-tested tools of teaching and learning.
- Our teachers are to be mentors who model for their students how to follow Christ and love the Good, the True, and the Beautiful. Students become like their teachers.
- Our culture encourages the pursuit of virtue and excellence. Our students are trained to be polite, respectful, humble, and kind.
Doctrinal Beliefs
The Apostles’ Creed
I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, his only begotten Son, our Lord; who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary; suffered under Pontius Pilate; was crucified, dead, and buried; he descended into hell; the third day he rose again from the dead; he ascended into heaven, and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from there he shall come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit; the holy catholic church; the communion of saints; the forgiveness of sins; the resurrection of the body; and the life everlasting. Amen.
Statement of Faith of the Association of Classical Christian Schools
We believe that God reveals Himself through the creation, preservation, and government of the universe. We believe that God makes Himself more clearly and fully known through the Scriptures, which are the only inerrant and infallible Word of God, our ultimate and final authoritative rule for faith and practice. These Scriptures are made up of 66 books, from Genesis to Revelation, the authority of which depend not upon the testimony of any man or church, and are all to be received as the Word of God.
We believe that there is but one living and true God, eternally existent in three Persons of one power, substance, and eternity—Father, Son and Holy Spirit. He is perfectly wise, the overflowing fountain of all good. He is omnipotent, omnipresent, and omniscient. In all things He is limited by nothing other than His own nature and character. We believe the God we serve is holy, righteous, good, loving, and full of mercy. He is the Creator, Sustainer, and Governor of all that has been made.
We believe in the true deity and full humanity of our Lord Jesus Christ, such that two distinct natures, divine and human, were inseparably joined together in one person, without conversion, composition, or confusion. We believe in His virgin birth, in His sinless life, in His miracles, in His vicarious and atoning death through His shed blood, in His bodily resurrection, in His ascension to the right hand of the Father and in His personal return in power and glory.
We believe that Adam was made from the dust of the ground and formed after God’s image and likeness, which was good, righteous, and holy. Because of Adam’s sin all mankind is in a state of rebellion against God. For the salvation of such lost and sinful men, regeneration by the Holy Spirit is absolutely necessary.
We believe that salvation is by grace through faith alone, and that faith without works is dead. We believe that God freely justifies His own, not by infusing righteousness into them, but by pardoning their sins, and by accounting and accepting their persons as righteous, for the sake of Jesus Christ alone.
We believe in the present ministry of the Holy Spirit, by whose indwelling the Christian is enabled to live a godly life, as the Spirit of Christ within us enables us to do freely and cheerfully what the will of God revealed in Scripture requires to be done. We believe that good works are only those which arise from true faith, conform to God’s Word, and are done for His glory.
We believe God has appointed a day when He will judge the world in righteousness through Jesus Christ. We believe in the resurrection of both the saved and the lost; those who are saved to the resurrection of life, and those who are lost to the resurrection of damnation.
We believe in the spiritual unity of all believers in our Lord Jesus Christ. All who are united to Christ as Head of the Church are united to one another in love, and have communion in each other’s gifts and graces.
We believe that God defined marriage as the life-long covenant between one man and one woman, and that all forms of sexual activity outside of marriage are sin.
We believe that God immutably creates each person to reflect His image as male or female.
