Guiding Principles & Methodology

Education is never neutral.  It is more than the mere transmission of facts; it involves the communication of life principles and values and, therefore, requires a spiritual context.  Because God created, sustains, and will consummate all things through His Son, Jesus Christ, we believe that facts, whether mathematical, historical, scientific, or otherwise, can only represent truth if they are taught in the context of a Christian worldview.  This belief will permeate our goals and objectives, our teaching methods, and our curriculum.

A University-Model School^® integrates challenging academics, student engagement, and Christ-like character development while affirming the parents’ role as the primary influence in their children’s lives by redirecting time from the school to the family. The UMS approach employs a university-style schedule adapted to the elementary, junior, and senior high levels, gradually preparing and releasing students towards age-appropriate independence and organization.  Professional teachers, instructing in their areas of expertise, conduct central classroom instruction.

Grammar School students in PreSchool–Grade 4 attend classes on campus two days per week, while older students in the School of Logic (Grades 5–8) and School of Rhetoric (Grades 9–12) attend school on campus three to five days per week. Students spend alternate days at home where parents continue the instruction or monitor student progress. Teachers provide parents with detailed lesson plans and instructions for days spent at home. Parents need not have teaching experience, but must commit the time to actively engage, direct, instruct, and mentor their students. 

The UMS approach and balance of group instruction complemented with individualized reinforcement caters to a wide variety of student needs. 

In contrast to modern education which seeks to train for a job or a career, classical, Christian education prepares students to be excellent learners, rigorous thinkers, and effective doers. Essentially, the goal of classical, Christian education is formation, not merely information. By analyzing the great ideas of Western civilization and holding them to the light of Scripture, wisdom and virtue are an integral part of classroom discussions and student learning/formation. This also forces the focus of education to shift from what we know to who we are becoming. This is accomplished by asking questions, reading original texts, using logic to reach educated conclusions, and communicating effectively in written and spoken word. 

A classical, Christian education also helps students link subjects together. Although the school day is divided into subject-based classes, classical teachers make clear connections between the Bible and history, history and art, art and science, science and math, and so forth. Students learn the “big ideas” that have been proposed throughout history and see not only how they have influenced our culture but how to view them in light of God’s Word. Our goal is not simply to teach our students about the Great Conversation, but to invite them to participate in it as an integral part. 

Classical education also follows the Trivium (Latin for “three ways”) to recognize that there is an ideal time and place for each part of learning. Basic factual content and rules—the “grammar”—of any given subject must first be mastered; then an understanding of how to apply the facts—the “logic”—must be discerned; and finally, the ability to synthesize the foregoing into an articulate argument—the “rhetoric”—must be developed. The Biblical equivalent to this progression is found in the admonition to pursue knowledge, understanding, and wisdom.