New Hope Christian Academy

House System

Tue, 21 Dec 2021 03:07:32 GMT

House System

At NHCA we have a student leadership program designed to organize and enrich student life while allowing older students to take leadership among their peers. This student leadership program will be called the House System. The house system broadly indicates a basic grouping of students. At NHCA, houses will be led by student captains, appointed on the basis of their character and leadership. Captains in turn are assisted by representatives from the various grades (6th and above).

Houses are supervised by a Head of House selected from the NHCA faculty. Over the course of the year, all students in the house will formally and informally contribute to their house’s success (providing encouragement, competing in activities). Houses will engage in contests centered on academics, academy culture, and sports. Points for student conduct and success will be awarded throughout the year with the highest achieving house ultimately winning the annual House Cup.

The house system at NHCA is designed to help build smaller communities within the larger NHCA community so that all may belong to something meaningful and grow in faith, friendship, and charity. Through the houses, friendships are strengthened, faith is lived, and NHCA is more fun!

Students are divided into three houses. Each house is named for an outstanding Christian figure in Western culture that represents an ideal, a cultural “archetype”, for the kind of men and women NHCA seeks to produce: St. Augustine (the philosopher and theologian), St. Boniface (the leader and saint), and C.S. Lewis (the poet and artist).

These names recognize and highlight the distinct way that art, ministry, scholarship, and leadership can transform the world. Though students are not assigned to houses on the basis of any perceived personal characteristics, the houses seek to impact their worlds by following in the path of excellence demonstrated by their namesakes.

A Christian Approach

Tue, 21 Dec 2021 02:59:42 GMT

Education is Never Neutral

Education is never neutral. It involves the sharing of life principles and values. At NHCA the understanding of God as Creator is the foundation of our study as we seek to illustrate the story of God’s interaction with humankind through the study of history, literature, and the fine arts. Education is the equipping of our students to love God with all their minds (Matthew 22:37), to ask questions, and to fearlessly explore the various areas of knowledge from the conviction that all truth is ultimately God’s truth (Psalm 24:1).

As a part of our commitment to the formation of a whole person, we value the spiritual growth of our students. Every aspect of NHCA is based on Scripture. A quality education is offered in an atmosphere where Jesus Christ and His Word are an intimate and inseparable part of each school day. We aim to guide the affections of our students toward loving God and loving the things that God loves.

NHCA’s educational mission is rooted in the principles of historical Christianity and has been carefully crafted to emphasize the unity all Christians share in the essentials of our faith while respecting the diversity in faith and practice in matters considered non-essentials. We believe in God almighty, maker of heaven and earth. Therefore, we approach all truth as edifying for those who believe in God, and we strive to understand every aspect of the world as part of God’s creation. We believe creation - including human thought and culture - is good, yet fallen from its proper relation to God. Therefore, we approach the best of human culture as an expression of creation yearning to be reunited to God, and we recognize that our own understanding of God and creation is limited.

We believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, God’s only Son, one in being with the Father, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary. We believe God acted decisively in history through Jesus, who suffered, died, was buried, and on the third day rose again, ascended to heaven, and who with the Father will come to judge humankind. We believe through Jesus Christ, God reconciled the world to himself by granting the remission of sin, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting. Therefore, the story of God’s saving work in history and promised consummation is essential to our understanding of the world. We believe God continues to work in history through his Holy Spirit to restore the image of God in us. Therefore we trust in God’s indwelling presence to empower us to discern truth, excellence, and beauty, and to do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly before God.

We believe Holy Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness. In response to the goodness and grace of the Triune God made manifest in creation, Christ, and the Holy Spirit, we develop our minds and our hearts that we may be good stewards of God’s creation and faithful bearers of Christ’s image in love and service to one another.

A Classical Approach

Tue, 21 Dec 2021 02:57:06 GMT

The Art of Thinking

At New Hope Christian Academy (NHCA) students not only learn content but pursue the heart of learning itself: the art of thinking. NHCA draws on the wisdom of the medieval trivium, teaching students in three developmentally appropriate stages: in Grammar (Pre-K - 5), students are learning to use language well to speak to the world; in Logic (6-8), when students are predisposed to question existing structures, they think deeply and reason carefully to discern the interrelationship of facts within a discipline and among disciplines; finally, in Rhetoric (9-12), when students want to engage with the world around them, they synthesize what is gained in the first two stages to formulate, articulate, and defend their positions in speech and writing. A NHCA education is designed to meet students’ deepest intellectual desires at each developmental stage.

Our academic program draws from the rich heritage of the Western liberal arts tradition. In literature classes, students study the “great books” that have inspired thinkers in every age. History classes are organized chronologically so students develop a deep understanding of how each age proceeds from and is a response to the last. Scientific principles are uncovered through hands-on experimentation, and the study of mathematics lays the foundation for the logical thought process. Students learn both classical and modern languages, communicating with worlds past and present, near and far, and students’ lives are enriched with a deep appreciation for the fine arts.

At the heart of a NHCA education is understanding motivated by delight and wonder. NHCA inspires students to delight in the world around them and experience wonder at the beauty and diversity of creation. At NHCA the demands of a classical education are carefully balanced with each student’s spiritual and emotional well-being. The quest for knowledge never outshines the call to live in Christian community, building one another up rather than degrading one another through excessive competition or meaningless work. While we maintain rigorous academic standards for our students, learning is above all regarded as a gift from God that inspires awe and appreciation for the world we seek to understand.