PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION
The principles upon which the philosophy of education at Westminster Christian Academy is based include the following:
- That God, Father Son and Holy Spirit is glorified in and revealed through all of His creation, but most clearly in the infallible Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments.
- That through the Covenant of Grace, God has appointed believers, particularly parents, to be responsible for the training of covenant children to the end that His Glory and their enjoyment of Him is seen to be supreme in all of their experiences.
- That the training of Christian children, under the parents' supervision in the home and in the church is to be continued in a school which also carries out these covenant duties.
Westminster Christian Academy seeks to develop its educational program upon these principles. We do not divide our children's experience or education into the "secular" and "religious". All creation is under the Lordship of Jesus Christ and is to glorify the Triune God. Therefore all creation is to be studied and understood from a Christian perspective, in order that the Triune God may be praised.
Education at Westminster Christian Academy stresses that our interpretation of the world and mankind is not neutral but distorted by sin. One result is that educational goals, curriculum and teaching methods are also distorted. Since our minds interpret creation, education is also distorted. Only salvation through Jesus Christ gives us new eyes to see and opens the mind to the truth of the Gospel and its implications in the study of the world; "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom". Students must begin to understand that their commitment to the Lordship of Christ affects every area of life. This concept should be the basis for education in the family, the church and the school, without which the aims of Christian education cannot be properly accomplished.
The covenant relationship is essential to our view of education. The children of believing parents are in covenant with God, and are to be taught from the beginning of their lives. In the home, the church and the school they are to be taught that they are not their own, but they belong to a faithful Savior who died for their sins and therefore their chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever". We stress the importance of having the home, church and school in basic agreement concerning the centrality of the Triune God in our lives. Through this unified effort our children will be presented daily with the Gospel of the Covenant.
All students in our school should hear and respond to the claims of Christ Jesus the Lord. We desire to see each student be nurtured in their Christian faith and develop his or her unique God-given abilities to become a useful and creative citizen of Christ's Kingdom in the world. All school activities, curriculum and practices are to be based on a Biblical view of man and creation. We glorify God by providing the highest quality of education possible. This enables each student to achieve his or her greatest potential: mentally, physically, emotionally and socially.
Our Christian staff is essential to the achievement of these goals. Our faculty members are committed to the Lord Jesus Christ and evidence this in their lives. All of the faculty are to be members of local evangelical churches where they are under the oversight of elders and under the teaching of the truths of the Covenant upon which our philosophy is based. Furthermore, faculty members are well trained in their particular fields and are to be certified.
In summary, our goal is to be distinctively Christian in our education philosophy. We seek to work together with the home and the church to nurture our children in the way they should go, so that when they are old they will not depart from it.