Philosophy of Education
1.1 Mission Statement “Our mission is to glorify the Lord by assisting parents in their God-given responsibility of educating their children through godly teachers, with God’s Word as the basis and center of all academic and theological learning, teaching students the tools for life-long learning and for truly thinking and living their lives from a biblical world view.”
1.2 Purpose Riverbend Academy seeks to instill in each child a life-long love of learning and the skills to pursue that learning. A distinctive school to this area, education at Riverbend Academy is Christian and Classical in our philosophy, both in what we teach and in how we teach. Children will be taught the fundamentals of each subject (grammar), how to think through each subject (logic or dialectic) and how to express their thinking on each subject (rhetoric). Riverbend Academy is committed to teaching the absolute truth of the Bible (God’s Word) and to integrating all areas of study under the authority of God’s Word.
1.3 Vision for Our Ideal Graduate: Our prayer is that the graduate of Riverbend Academy will contend earnestly for the faith revealed in God’s Word, the Bible (Jude 3). He or she will do so with great integrity of heart and with great skillfulness in thinking and communicating in whatever vocational pursuit and sphere of life the providence of God places him or her. He or she will have a Christ-centered biblical worldview, genuinely thinking and living biblically.
1.4 ACCS Riverbend Academy is accredited by the Association of Classical and Christian Schools. Association of Classical Christian Schools (ACCS)
Mission Statement: “The primary mission of this association is to promote, establish, and equip schools committed to a classical approach to education in the light of a Christian worldview grounded in the Old and New Testament Scriptures. The mission of the association is both to promote the classical approach and provide accountability for member schools to ensure that our cultural heritage is not lost again. This mission will be accomplished through the work of the Association of Classical and Christian Schools. Through these various means, ACCS seeks to set an educational standard for a unified and directed approach to classical and Christian learning. Our mission is also to equip schools in teaching such subjects through the methodology known as the Trivium (grammar, logic, and rhetoric), the educational foundation of our Western culture.
We believe that God will bless this approach as He has in the past, as long as it follows the principles set forth in his Word.
“We recognize that Christ was born in the reign of Caesar Augustus, and that Christianity took root and grew to maturity in the West. For this reason, we believe that we must teach certain subjects so that they are understood and appreciated. This includes ancient history, languages, and culture, studied in the light of biblical Christianity and its impact on western culture. We recognize our cultural heritage as a gift from God, but in seeking to restore that heritage we by no means are intending to idolize it. Therefore, we ground all that we seek to do upon the revelation of God, both in creation and in Scripture, with the former being interpreted by the latter. The Triune God of Scripture has created an ordered universe, which can only be fully known through an orderly submission to His revelation of Himself in Scripture. As Christian schools, we are seeking to equip member schools to integrate all their teaching around the revealed Word of God.” (accsedu.org)
1.5 What is Classical Christian Education? “The classical and Christian approach to education is about equipping children for the future with what has been successful in the past.” Gregg Strawbridge, Classical and Christian Education
Historical researchers have found that classical education can be traced to the ancient Greek civilization, just before Christ. However, it is the Protestant Reformers of the 1500’s who continued this high view of education and centered it in Scripture. Succeeding generations of Reformers perpetuated these tools of learning and subjects as central to education in Colonial America. Classical education continued well into the 1800’s but was then increasingly lost, only to be replaced with the “New Age” thinking and methodology of current day instruction.
In 1947, Dorothy Sayers, a writer from Oxford, wrote an article entitled, “The Lost Tools of Learning.” In this article, she advocated a return to the classical ways of educating children that would equip students with the tools of learning so that they could effectively learn and think well on their own. Dorothy Sayers wrote about the first three of seven liberal arts of education from the past. These three are called the Trivium. They are grammar, logic (or dialectic) and rhetoric. Sayers compared these with three distinct stages of learning that children go through and called these phases “poll- parrot” with grammar, “pert” with logic or dialectic, and “poetic” with rhetoric.
For more information about Classical education, we recommend “Classical vs. Modern Education: A Vision from C.S. Lewis” by Dr. Steve Turley.
Classical Education focuses on the following:
1.6 Philosophy of Education The Supremacy and Sufficiency of the Word of God (2 Tim 3:16-17) God’s inerrant Word, the Bible, comprises the foundation upon which all areas of true knowledge and study rest. Riverbend Academy seeks to permeate all disciplines with God’s Word and study all disciplines under the authority of God’s Word (2 Tim 3:16- 17; Col 1:15-20; Matt. 7: 7-12; Rom. 1:20). God states in His Word that He reveals Himself in creation. Thus, all genuine truth in creation is truth that God has revealed and is available to all mankind at all times. This means that truth in mathematics, science, language, history, etc., is established by God and should be studied as such. This truth from creation, however, will never contradict God’s special revelation in His Word; thus, God’s Word must guide us in our understanding of what is true and what is false in all fields of study.
Parental Responsibility (Deut. 6; Eph. 6:4) God has granted to parents the responsibility and authority for raising their children, including the responsibility of educating them. The heart of this education is the teaching of God’s Word, with all areas of knowledge included. Riverbend Academy seeks to assist parents in this God-given responsibility. In addition, God has ordained fathers to be the heads of their homes. We desire that in each home, whenever possible, the father will exercise leadership in educating the children (Eph. 5:22-6:4). At all levels, the Riverbend Academy Board of Governing Officers, administration, teachers, and staff acknowledge that the school does not function above parental authority but, rather, functions with delegated authority from the parents (in loco parentis).
Biblical Worldview (II Cor. 10:5) All areas of knowledge and life should be viewed according to the perspective of the absolute truth of God’s Word. Riverbend Academy teaches this worldview and seeks to model it through the godly lifestyles of its teachers, staff and volunteers. As a key part of teaching this worldview, Riverbend Academy seeks to encourage students, by God’s grace, to repent of their sins and to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ alone for salvation. We also strive to provide an environment in which students can develop Christian character and leadership skills (II Cor. 10:5, Matt. 28:18-20, 19:13-15; Proverbs 22:6, 4:20-27, II Cor. 5:20).
Academic Excellence (Col. 3:23) Riverbend Academy believes in doing all it does with excellence as unto the Lord. Riverbend Academy teachers provide a high level of teaching to provide for an expected high level of learning from the students. Though Riverbend Academy’s purpose and vision are much broader, they include being an academically challenging school that will prepare students well for college, vocation, and life.
Athletic and Extracurricular Excellence (1 Tim. 4:8) Riverbend Academy is dedicated to excellence in the development of the whole person. This also applies when it comes to the realm of athletics and extracurricular activities. In our practice and play, we strive to encourage spiritual, mental and physical maturity, strength and discipline. Our athletic and extracurricular programs bolster and support our academic and Christ centered focus and teach important lessons the students can use for the rest of their lives.
Performing Arts, Music, and Aesthetic Excellence (Acts 17: 22 – 31) Riverbend Academy remains true to and consistent with its belief that a classical formatted education presents the best opportunity to mold a child’s love of learning and helps each student become pursuers of goodness, truth and beauty throughout their life. Toward that end, the fine arts encompassing vocal and instrumental music, studio and historical art and drama permeates each class level throughout the trivium.
Classical Trivium (Luke 10:27) Riverbend Academy teaches with the time-proven classical approach of the Trivium. The Trivium consists of three categories: grammar, dialectic (or logic) and rhetoric. These three categories are emphasized successively in three stages of the student’s educational development.
The grammar stage focuses on mastery of knowledge, specifically the fundamental and foundational knowledge that will provide them with a framework on which to build all future learning. Grammar refers not just to the fundamentals of English but also theology, history, mathematics and other disciplines. The grammar stage seeks to address the questions “Who, what, where, and when?”
The logic (or dialectic) stage focuses on thinking properly and well. The students will learn how to order, relate, and think through knowledge they are gaining. This stage seeks to equip students with sound thinking skills that will enable them to recognize when an idea or argument is sound, when one is not and how to correct it. The logic stage seeks to address the questions “Why and how?”
The rhetoric stage focuses on training the students to use written and spoken language to communicate their thinking clearly and persuasively. This is the stage of application and expression. The rhetoric stage seeks to address the question, “In light of this, so what?”
The Trivium seeks to instill in students a love for learning and give them the tools of learning so that they can both think and communicate clearly, fully and biblically.
Biblical Discipline Our Academy staff will encourage and bless students for obedience and bring consequences to students for disobedience (Proverbs 22:6). We believe maintaining sound discipline is essential to quality education, and we are committed to work with parents to solve any student’s persistent misbehavior so as to not frustrate the education of that student or other students. We are committed to the patient love of all the students in providing discipleship in training their hearts and minds towards Gospel opportunity. In line with parents having the God-ordained responsibility for their children, we will involve the parents early in any disciplinary issues with their child (Eph. 6:1-4; Heb. 12: 6-7; Heb. 13:17). In all of this, we seek to cultivate the student’s heart toward Christ and His grace and encourage forgiveness and reconciliation in relationships.
Preparation for God’s Purpose (Jeremiah 29:11-13) Riverbend Academy seeks to be an effective part of preparing its students for God’s plan for them to God’s glory and their good. We believe each student reflects the image of God with a unique vocational calling upon their lives. We seek to provide ample opportunity to discover a range of subject matters and develop a strong knowledge base. Further, through pointing students towards the Gospel, with the prayer they will come to saving grace, they will therefore, pursue their God-given purpose in ministry wherever God may call them.
Christ, the Word of God, and Our Statement of Faith Riverbend Academy commits most essentially and fundamentally to providing education that is Christ-centered and biblical. As such, biblical doctrine permeates all that we are and do. All of our faculty teaches according to the Riverbend Church Statement of Faith. Therefore, parents should read and consider the entire Statement of Faith located in Section 9.