Let me invite you to consider three excerpts that, taken together, provide a clear and compelling reason for Christian parents to embrace Christian education for their children. That embrace entails sacrifice and perseverance and devotion, but its eternal consequences are worth it.
that Moses' words are binding but ultimately freeing.
Education must be concerned with man's place and role in nature, and its raw material is man himself . . . a lot of cargo will have to be jettisoned [from the historically Christian model of education, in order to commit to evolutionary humanism] . . . man was not created in his present form a few thousand years ago. Mankind is not descended from Adam and Eve. . . . Children are not born with a load of original sin derived from the Fall. . . . There are no Absolutes of truth or virtue, only possibilities of greater knowledge and fuller perfection. . . . How should the new humanism's evolutionary approach take effect in education?. . . . [It needs to be] comprehensive, in dealing with every aspect of life; it must have a unitary pattern, reflecting the unity of knowledge and the wholeness of experience. It must attempt to give growing minds a coherent picture of nature and man's role in it, and to help immature personalities towards integration and self-realization. (from Essays of a Humanist).
Non-Christian education puts the child in a vacuum. The result is that child dies. Christian education alone really nurtures personality, because it alone gives the child air and food. Modern educational philosophy gruesomely insults our God and our Christ. How, then, do you expect to build anything positively Christian or theistic upon a foundation which is the negation of Christianity and theism? (from "Antithesis in Education," in Foundations of Christian Education).
Do you find these compelling?
A hearty congratulations to the newly elected Regents Academy 4-H Club officers for 2019-2020.
Pictured above (left to right) are Sydney Cunyus, Secretary; Abby Powers, President; Caroline Alders, Parliamentarian; Ethan Fairley, Vice President; and Clayton Terrell, Treasurer.
This great group of student leaders will carry on a tradition of excellent leadership of the Regents 4-H Club. Great job, students!
Purpose: The purpose of Classical Education is to cultivate virtue and wisdom. The classical Christian does not ask, "What can I do with this learning?" but "What will this learning do to me?" The ultimate end of Classical Christian education is to enable the student (disciple) to better know, glorify, and enjoy God. Since we are able to know things with which we have a common nature, the more we are like God the better we can know Him. A student gives glory to God when he is like Him. Our enjoyment of God is derived from our ability to see Him and to see His handiwork.
Grace: In a Christian school, learning is not an end in itself. Instead, the classical Christian teacher asks God to use his teaching, dispositions, and actions as an instrument in His hand to cultivate the students' souls toward holiness. In this sense, learning can be a means of grace.
What a beautiful picture of education. What a powerful tool to shape our children for Christ.
Our community of families has been and is being blessed by our great God. Blessings, all around and abundant. Recently I enjoyed reading an article about blessings by freelance writer and blogger Vaneetha Rendall Risner. The article, which appeared at Desiring God, was a timely reminder for me, and I hope it helps you think more clearly and biblically about God's blessings in your life. Are you #Blessed?
What Does It Really Mean to Be #Blessed?
The Apostle Paul wrote, "For we dare not class ourselves or compare ourselves with those who commend themselves. But they, measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise" (2 Cor 10:12). It is indeed unwise to compare yourself to yourself and then commend yourself. But consider the converse of Paul's words: it is wise to seek to compare yourself using an objective standard outside of you; then you can allow someone else to commend you rather than simply congratulating yourself. "Let another man praise you, and not your own mouth; a stranger, and not your own lips" (Prov 27:2).
This principle of objective evaluation is the reason for school accreditation. Accreditation is a process by which schools are examined by an independent organization who evaluates the school's philosophy, leadership, faculty, academics, and culture to confirm that the school has integrity and is truly excellent. Once a school is accredited, then it can point to the accreditation process as a confirmation that it is doing an excellent job at educating its students and serving its constituency.
Regents Academy already holds accreditation through the Texas Alliance of Accredited Private School (TAAPS). But now we are seeking to be accredited by the Association of Classical Christian Schools (ACCS). This is the gold standard of accreditation and a goal that our school has desired to attain for many years.
In short, this is a big moment for our school. Our administration and teachers have worked very hard to prepare for the ACCS accreditation visit, and now we will spend two days undergoing a thorough examination that seeks to insure that our school is meeting a high standard of excellence in classical Christian education.
On Monday and Tuesday three gentlemen, all fellow classical Christian educators, will be on campus observing classes and interviewing staff, students, and board members. We have intentionally planned these days to have as regular and uneventful a schedule as possible. Please join us in encouraging your children to make these days smooth and helpful (and hopefully less stressful for teachers!) by being well-rested, in uniform, and ready to learn and obey. In fact, these are good goals for every day!
Thank you, parents, for allowing us to serve your family in this highest of callings – the call to provide a Christ-centered education for our children. Thank you for praying for us, too – we certainly covet your prayers. With the Lord's help, we will attain this worthy goal of ACCS accreditation.
Congratulations to our Regents Academy students, who won ALL of the awards in this year's Texas Outdoor Writer's Association (TOWA) youth essay contest!
Once again, the students were asked to write about a favorite outdoor experience. They were judged from other entries in their division from around the state. In the middle school (6th-8th grade) division, eighth graders swept the division with Katelynn Anderson winning first place (and a new laptop computer!), Ella Li placing second, and Joseph Pratt placing third. In the high school (9th-12th grades) division, tenth graders dominated with Lilly Hook winning first place (and a new laptop computer) and Leah Vermillion placing second. A third place winner in this division was not announced by TOWA this year.
Hearty congratulations and many thanks to Mrs. Sherry Wiggins for overseeing her eighth grade students' entries and for keeping all the students on track with the contest deadline.
Pictured, from left, are Katelyn Anderson, Ella Li, Joseph Pratt, Headmaster David Bryant, Leah Vermillion, and Lilly Hook.
Congratulations to Regents Academy Logic School students for sweeping this year's Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Patriot's Pen essay contest for the second year in a row. (They must have one AMAZING writing teacher! Thank you, Mrs. Wiggins!
VFW Post #3893 Commander Don Kirkley presented plaques and checks to this year's Patriots Pen essay winners, who reminded us "Why I Honor the American Flag." Winning first place for her essay was eighth grader Ella Li. Placing second was seventh grader Cate Baker, and third place was won by eighth grader Holden Kelly.
Pictured (from left) are Mr. David Bryant (headmaster), Ella Li, Cate Baker, Holden Kelly, VFW Commander Don Kirkley, and Caroline Alders.
Three Regents Academy seniors recently spent their morning touring the SFA School of Nursing and visiting with clinical instructor Mrs. Michelle Klein. Possible future nursing school candidates Hannah Alexander, Elise Landrum, and Luke Riley toured the classroom and lab facilities, where they were introduced to live professors and sophisticated mannequins. Pictured around one of the mannequins (valued at close to $100K) lying in a hospital bed are, from left, Elise, Luke, Hannah and Mrs. Klein.