Koinonia Classical Christian School purposes to be inherently different in philosophy and content from what is offered by secular education.
As a Christian school, we operate as an extension of the family whose charge it is to raise their children in the fear and admonition of the Lord (Deuteronomy 6:4-7; Proverbs 22:6; Ephesians 6:4). We want to help parents teach their children that everything they do should be done “heartily, as unto the Lord” as Paul says in Colossians 3:23. Therefore we encourage and require quality academic work and Biblical standards of conduct including Biblical discipline principles.
It is our firm belief that God’s character is revealed not only in the Scriptures but also in every facet of creation (Romans 1:19-20), so we teach that all knowledge is interrelated and can instruct us about God Himself. Our curriculum is Biblically based, and we teach all subjects as parts of an integrated whole with Christ as the integration point—the chief cornerstone (2 Timothy 3:16-17; Ephesians 2:20).
God wants us to love Him with not only our hearts, souls, and strength, but also with our minds (Mark 12:30). For that reason, we seek to challenge students at every level and teach them how to learn by using centuries-old, proven methods.
Therefore, in addition to being a Christian school, we are also a classical school.
In the 1940’s a scholar named Dorothy Sayers wrote an essay titled The Lost Tools of Learning. In it she not only calls for a return to the application of the seven liberal arts of ancient education, the first three being the “Trivium”—grammar, logic, rhetoric—she also takes three stages of a child’s development and lays it over the Trivium. She marries what she calls the “Poll-parrot” stage with grammar, “Pert” with logic, and “Poetic” with rhetoric (see The Lost Tools Chart). Thus, when we say “classical,” in part, we are talking about the arrangement and the content of the education we provide to our students.
Classical education, and more specifically classical Christian education, is designed to cultivate what Scriptures call “paideia.” The Association of Classical Christian Schools aptly describes paideia in the following way:
Paideia is at one level, the transfer of a way of viewing the world from the teacher to the student. At another it shapes and forms the child in terms of his or her desires, passions, and loves… All schools reinforce some type of paideia. The difference is that classical Christian schools intentionally design their programs to form a Christian paideia.
In classical education more than data is being conveyed by a teacher to his students. Subjects and raw data aren’t really the point, rather, the goal of the classical Christian educator is to form the soul of his students. G.K. Chesterton said as much when he said, “Education is not a subject, and does not deal in subjects. It is instead a transfer of a way of life.”
The Circe Institute, on the classical difference, says this of our high calling as Christian educators:
We teach differently because we have a different perspective on the child. We don’t believe that a child is a fortuitous blob of protoplasm waiting to be decomposed. We believe that she is nothing less than the Divine Image, an icon of the invisible God. She must not, therefore, be taught following techniques developed to instruct beasts. She must not be reduced to mere chemical responses to electrical stimuli. She must be taught personally, in relationship.
We teach different things because we have loftier goals for the child. We govern differently because we have a more serious perception of our task. We assess our work differently because we have higher standards. We confront the challenge of communication because we don’t conform to the spirit of the age.
In conclusion, our aim for classical Christian education is to disciple and nurture Christian children to better love and understand God, His ways, and His creation so as to glorify and enjoy Him in everything. Parents can be confident that their children at Koinonia Classical Christian School will be loved with the love of Christ by our teachers and staff.
Christ-Centered
In all teaching we aim to:
1. Teach all subjects as parts of an integrated whole with the Scriptures foundational (2 Timothy 3:16-17; Ephesians 2:20) and Christ as the integration point (Colossians 1:15-20; Ephesians 4:15).
Secular education places man at the center of all things. Christian education places the God/man at the center. What does this mean? There is no such thing as neutrality in education. Every fact, every truth is understood in the light of a certain worldview. This means that history, art, music, mathematics, etc., must all be taught in the light of God’s existence and His revelation of His Son, Jesus Christ. Because the Scriptures occupy a fundamental role in teaching us about this revelation, they must also occupy a fundamental role in Christian education.
This is not to say that the Bible was meant to be read as a science or mathematics text. It was not. It does, however, provide a framework for understanding these so-called secular subjects. Without such a framework for understanding, all subjects will degenerate into chaotic absurdity. Christian education is teaching our children how to think Biblically.
As R.L. Dabney stated, “Every line of true knowledge must find its completeness in its convergency to God, even as every beam of daylight leads the eye to the sun.” As Christian educators, our goal is not to require the students to spend all their time gazing at the sun. We want them to examine everything else in the light the sun provides. It would be invincible folly to try to blacken the sun in order to be able to study the world around us objectively.
Because all truth comes from God, the universe is coherent. Without God, particulars have no relation to other particulars. In education, this position leads to the fragmentation of knowledge. History bears no relation to English and biology no relation to philosophy.
Because we have a Christian worldview, based on the Scriptures, we are able to give the students a unified education that is only possible because of the centrality of the Scriptures. Without that centrality, true education will wither and die. With it, all subjects will be understood, and more importantly, they will be understood as parts of an integrated whole.
2. Provide a clear model of the Biblical Christian life through our Staff and Board. (Matthew 22:37-40)
Education does not exist for its own sake. It is not an exercise conducted on paper. Education occurs when information is transferred from one individual to another. We have already discussed how that information can be a part of an integrated worldview; this by itself is not enough.
If the subject matter is in line with the Scriptures but the life of the teacher is not, a conflict is created in the mind of the student. What the inconsistent teacher writes on the board and what he lives in the classroom are two different things. This same conflict can be created in the minds of the students and teachers if a Board member is living in a manner inconsistent with the Bible.
When hypocrisy is tolerated, it leads to greater problems. At best, the integrated Christian worldview becomes a dead orthodoxy – true words, but only words. At worst, anti-Christian living leads to anti-Christian teaching. The hypocrisy is removed by making the instruction as false as the life. As Christian educators, we recognize that hypocrisy on our part will place a stumbling block in the path of the students. The flow of information from teacher to student will be seriously hindered. Because we are in the business of transmitting a Christian worldview, we must also be in the business of living exemplary Christian lives.
3. Encourage every student to begin and develop their relationship with God the Father through Jesus Christ. (Matthew 19:13-15; Matthew 28:18-20)
Without regeneration, a Christian worldview and a Christian lifestyle are nonsensical impossibilities. If a man is dead, it is wasted effort to seek to revive him with a nourishing meal. If the life-principle is absent from the student, no amount of instruction and example on the part of the teacher will give that student life.
We have the responsibility to plant and water. We also have the responsibility to recognize that growth comes from God. God initiates growth in the life of the individual when he is born again. From that time on, the nourishment of instruction results in genuine growth as the Christian puts what he learns into practice.
It is not our role as educators to attempt to make God’s work in human lives superfluous. There is no way to perfect human beings by means of instruction – even if that instruction is Christian in content. The error of thinking that education can perfect man is one that was with the government schools at their inception and which still governs their philosophy. To repeat this error – even with Christian instruction – is to create a legalistic atmosphere in the school. This is in contrast to the Good News that God offers us in Christ which will create a moral atmosphere in the school.
Good instruction is conducive to rational Christian minds and godly Christian lives, but only if it presupposes and is built on the Gospel. This Gospel is that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures and that He rose again on the third day. If a person’s heart is regenerated by this message with repentance and belief, then God will give that person eternal life.
It is a goal of Koinonia Classical Christian School to bring every child who does not have a relationship with the Father into such a relationship through Christ. Then, and only then, will the rest of the education we offer be fully understandable. If the child already knows the Lord, it is our goal to encourage him to develop that relationship. As he grows, the education he is receiving will further that growth.
Classical
In all teaching we aim to:
1. Emphasize grammar, logic, and rhetoric in all subjects.
By grammar, we mean the facts and rules of each subject (we do not limit grammar to language studies). In English, a singular noun does not take a plural verb. In logic, A does not equal `A. In history, time is linear, not cyclic. Each subject has its own grammar which we require students to learn. This enables students to learn the subject from the inside out. By logic, we mean the ordered relationship of particulars in each subject. By rhetoric, we are talking about how the grammar and logic of each subject may be clearly expressed.
The structure of our curriculum is traditional with a strong emphasis on the basics. We understand the basics to be subjects such as mathematics, history, and language studies. Not only are these subjects covered, they are covered in a particular way. For example, in history class students will not only read their text, they will read from primary sources.
2. Encourage every student to develop a love for learning and live up to their academic potential.
This goal is impossible to realize unless the teachers have a real love for the subject. If the teacher is not excited about having this knowledge, then why should students be excited about acquiring it? Necessity may induce the students to learn the material; it will not induce them to love it. If they do not love it, they will content themselves with some minimum standard. The origin of this travesty of education is a teacher who also is content with some minimum standard. A teacher who is excited about the subject he teaches will be extremely sensitive to those students who are seemingly bored.
If this goal is successfully reached, then students will spend the rest of their lives building on the foundation laid during their time at Koinonia Classical Christian School, not only receiving the tools of learning but the desire to use them.
3. Provide an ordered atmosphere conducive to the attainment of the above goals.
We aim to maintain an ordered atmosphere in our school by means of strict, loving discipline. Indeed, when discipline lapses, fairness and love are usually the first casualties.
Our discipline policy includes the use of spankings. This is not done in a way that usurps the authority of parents. When a child is being disciplined, the parents are involved at every step. It is our desire to be a service to parents, not a replacement for them. This is true of the entire program at KCCS, but it is particularly true of our discipline policy.
We understand that some children may have deep-seated difficulties which cannot be solved by means of discipline at school. Nevertheless, our primary obligation is to the majority of students who require an ordered atmosphere in which to learn. We will not tolerate the ongoing presence of a disruptive student. He must either submit to the standards of the school or be subject to expulsion (See our discipline policy found in the handbook for more details).