Academic Philosophy

Faith Christian School (FCS) provides a Christian and Classical education as a service to the Christian community of the Roanoke Valley. As a Christian school, we are dedicated to teaching every discipline from a Christian worldview. We affirm that all disciplines are interconnected, and are unified in the Lord Jesus Christ, creator, redeemer, and sanctifier of all things, who providentially orders all for the good of His people and the glory of God (Col. 1:15-20; Rom. 8:28, 11:36). At FCS, children are taught that trusting and revering God is the first and most important step in acquiring knowledge. Instruction at FCS, then, acknowledges that God is evident in creation, sovereign through history, revealed in His son, Jesus Christ, and intimately concerned with us as individuals. FCS students are taught how history displays God's judgment and providence, how mathematics manifests the order and symmetry of God's creation, how the language arts can provide them with the tools necessary to extend Christ's Kingdom, how science testifies of God's actions and methods, and how through the creative arts God has entrusted to them a finite ability to create. This integrated and interdisciplinary approach, in concert with scriptural training and regular worship, combines faith and reason to encourage students to develop a thorough and thoughtful Christian worldview. As a Classical school, we understand that the traditional methodology of education in the West (since the early Christian era) is harmonious with a biblical view of humanity and exceeds modern educational theories in its ability to train the mind and produce discerning and articulate citizens. Classical, in this context, refers to a focus on the liberal arts organized by the Trivium (Grammar, Dialectic, Rhetoric), an emphasis on reading the best and most influential books in history, a commitment to writing and speaking well, and an engagement with the historic exchange of ideas that shape our culture and our world. Faith Christian School's classical emphasis defines one of the aims of our mission. The goal of a well-trained mind is best served by the liberal arts curriculum rather than in a technical or vocational scheme. As a result, because of this classical emphasis, we welcome those students capable of intensive study. This kind of education requires humility and diligence. It requires humility because our students must stand on the shoulders of greater men and women who have gone before in order for those students to extend the influence of Christ's Kingdom in our world. It requires diligence because they will memorize extensively, read broadly, think Christianly, and write clearly. By combining thorough knowledge of the past with the skills to reason logically about the significant issues of their lives, students are trained to learn for themselves and to cultivate strong minds that can distinguish truth from error. The work is hard, but the rewards, both personal and societal, are abundant. Supportive parents and committed, capable students are essential. While Faith Christian School graduates are well prepared for an undergraduate curriculum (depending in part on native ability and the degree to which they apply themselves), we want to attract all students who desire the kind of training described above, regardless of their plans after graduation. Therefore, our curriculum will be shaped by our conception of classical and Christian liberal arts, not simply college admissions requirements (offering Advanced Placement courses for the sake of an "AP" label, for example). At the same time, we do seek to impart appropriate competitive advantages for college-bound students where those advantages are in line with our guiding principles. FCS is an independent, non-denominational Christian school. Teachers and board members embrace the historic tenets of biblical Christianity as presented in our Statement of Faith. Beyond these doctrines, we respect and acknowledge the primacy of the family and local church and refer any demonstrated specific doctrinal questions to parents and local churches for clarification. Ultimately, our goal at Faith Christian School is to equip students with the knowledge, skills, and vision necessary to be effective leaders and servants for Christ in a wide variety of professions and vocations. We seek to raise up a generation of young people who have a genuine love of learning, who love Jesus Christ with all their hearts and minds, who can articulate the Christian message with clarity, creativity, and power, and who can witness to Christian truth as an answer to the corrosive spirit of modern culture. In short, Christian Classical education aims at cultivating wisdom and virtue by nourishing the soul on Truth, Goodness, and Beauty by means of the liberal arts so that, in Christ, the student is better able to know, enjoy, and serve God. 2 The Grammar Stage (top) In the Grammar stage, roughly equivalent to the elementary years, we take advantage of a young child's innate capacity to memorize and retain information by teaching underlying facts and relationships of each subject. Teaching methods used at this stage of learning include chants, jingles, rhymes, and songs that make facts easier to memorize and remember, as well as hands-on learning experiences that nurture curiosity and creativity. During this period, we focus on "the basics;" that is, the fundamental teaching of Holy Scripture, phonetic reading, mathematics, history, language studies, the arts, and introductory science. Our students study Spanish in grades K-3, and begin Latin in grade four. The study of classical languages (Latin) is invaluable in building English vocabulary, developing precision in grammar and syntax, accessing modern foreign languages, stimulating cultural literacy, and developing a stronger understanding of the classical world of the New Testament. The Dialectic (Logic) Stage (top) While the Grammar stage is the learning the "what" or facts of something, the middle school years roughly correspond to the leaning of "why." In this phase, children are very naturally testing the facts they have learned, putting data together in an understandable way. Students in these years develop the capacity for more abstract thought, as they expand on the knowledge base acquired during the grammar stage. Now, however, emphasis is placed on using these facts to create proper sentences, to define terms and eliminate ambiguity, and to detect fallacies. Students at this age love to question and debate. To equip them to argue correctly, we teach a formal course in Logic, whereby they are taught properly to construct and critique valid arguments, to recognize logical fallacies, to identify critical underlying assumptions, and to develop sound reasoning skills. The Rhetoric Stage (top) In the Rhetoric (high school) stage, students put together their acquired knowledge and skills in the creation and articulate expression of their own ideas, and begin to formulate their own worldviews. Classical education is incomplete without the final phase of acquiring wisdom, and developing the capacity for beauty and clarity of expression. Students in this stage take positions on issues and argue for these positions using cogent, articulate, and persuasive communication. Discussion and analysis of controversial and fundamental issues and philosophies will continue, and students will be required to critically examine the assumptions and conclusions intrinsic to their own philosophies and those of the world around them. The students will be immersed in the best of literature, the arts, history, theology, philosophy, science, and mathematics, they will refine their ability to articulate their knowledge, and will learn how to share and defend their faith, so that they might shape our world for Christ in the next generation. 2 Paraphrased from Andrew Kern.