ACADEMIC OVERVIEW
Academic excellence is more than just making good grades.In keeping with the biblical goal to do all things heartily, as to the Lord (Colossians 3:23), Grace Academy encourages excellence in all areas, especially academics. As students progress from kindergarten through 12th grade, they grow not only in knowledge but also in the habits, dispositions, and skills of lifelong learners that will enable them to be successful in their future endeavors.
Education is always about formation.
Modern education has become a process which forms children to desire and accomplish goals. The methods of modern education treat students simply as receptacles for filling with unconnected, prefabricated bits of information tailored for the sole purpose of meeting standardized testing requirements. However, in contrast to popular trends in modern education, Grace Academy offers something timeless: an education that shapes the hearts, minds, and souls of students well beyond their school years.
In the tradition of many great classical schools, Grace is organized into three academic stages called The Trivium. This organization of stages reflects the structure of our school itself. The Grammar School includes grades K-5, the Logic School grades 6–8, and the Rhetoric School grades 9–12.
THE TRIVIUM
The Trivium is a time tested approach that takes advantage of the students’ natural tendencies at each stage of development and provides them with the necessary tools for learning—a wealth of information (Grammar), the ability to think and reason (Logic) and the ability to communicate winsomely and effectively (Rhetoric).
Grammar
K-5th
At the Grammar Stage, young children are naturally inquisitive and are both willing and able to memorize and recite a large amount of material. This is when we help our students absorb tremendous amounts of information with historical and biblical time lines as well as master language with Latin, the Swiss Army Knife of languages - once you know Latin, learning many other languages becomes much easier.
Logic
6th - 8th
During the middle school years, the Logic stage, children begin to think independently, question the world around them, and often develop a propensity for argument. Using their natural bend towards questioning, we teach students to think and analyze critically and to argue well by arranging facts into organized statements. Practice in making written and oral arguments across all subjects helps to hone these skills.
Rhetoric
9th - 12th
During the Rhetoric stage, students learn to clearly express themselves and defend their understanding of the truth by communicating winsomely and effectively. In this final stage of education, students bring the knowledge they gained in the Grammar and Logic stages and apply it in solving difficult problems, becoming self-aware, and expressing their thoughts and understanding of concepts through both oral and written assignments.
From Kindergarten through 12th grade, children spend close to 16,000 hours in a classroom. Those hours matter because there is no insignificant moment in forming a child's worldview.
We encourage families to think about how they want to fill those hours.