Summit Classical Christian School was established in 2006 to assist faithful parents in educating their children to the glory of God applying Christian principles through classical methods. Summit serves students in grades K-12.  We were very excited to have had our first graduating class in 2021.

Objectives:

Education at Summit Classical is inherently different not only in philosophy but also in the science of teaching. As we seek to offer an education that is both rich and challenging for all students in light of each student’s God-gifted academic abilities, Summit employs different methods to realize the extraordinary results that God has appointed for our children.

These methods—or tactics—fall into two categories:

1. The environment we create for learning.

2. The way in which we teach.

1. The Summit environment

Summit undertakes to provide an atmosphere where board members, administrators, staff, parents, and students model Christian principles in work and relationships. We expect to see honesty, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control exhibited by all at Summit.

To this end, Summit shall only appoint board members and administrators and employ teachers and staff that have accepted Jesus Christ as their personal Savior. They must also exhibit godly character qualities, subscribe to the school’s governing documents, and live a lifestyle consistent with biblical teaching.

Summit shall admit students whose parents are in agreement with the school’s governing documents and Student Honor Code, who faithfully uphold their God-given duties for their child’s education, and who participate in the advancement of Summit. Additionally, Summit shall admit students who exhibit Christian character traits, are earnest in their studies, pursue excellence in all that they do, and are in agreement with the school’s governing documents and Student Honor Code.

Finally, to create a successful scholastic environment, Summit teaches all subjects as parts of a unified, integrated whole with Scripture as the center. We teach every discipline in the light of divine revelation and realize all knowledge is made complete only when seen and understood in relation to the eternal glory and purposes of the triune God. Truth, goodness, and beauty consist in and proceed from the holiness and eternal majesty of God and are divine absolutes that ultimately define the learning environment of Summit.

By holding to the above, we aim to create a unique environment both inside and outside the classroom through which the vision of Summit will be realized and through which God will be glorified.

2. The way in which we teach

Summit endeavors to provide students with the tools of learning and to instill in them a life-long desire to increase in knowledge and wisdom. Summit immerses students in the history, language, and art of western culture in a manner that enables them to understand our present age and equips them to wisely build the future.

The classical approach to education was the Western world’s accepted method of teaching for nearly 1,500 years. Its emphasis on structure, content, and method is unsurpassed in providing the tools of learning as well as providing for intellectual development, academic achievement, and moral stability.

A classical approach emphasizes the goal of giving children the educational tools to both learn and think for themselves. The classical emphasis is grounded on the three-fold approach to the tools of learning called the trivium. The trivium consists of the three foundational academic categories, or phases, that are consistent with the specific stages of development of the child: grammar, logic, and rhetoric.

1. The grammar phase (K-5) emphasizes knowledge mastery and memorization.

2. The logic phase (6-8) emphasizes principle comprehension and reasoning.

3. The rhetoric phase (9-12) emphasizes expression and application.

In addition to laying out the stages of learning, the trivium also provides a way to break down a subject of study for full comprehension. Every subject has aspects of grammar, logic, and rhetoric in that one must first grasp the facts, then learn the reasons, motivations, and logic around the facts and finally, evaluate and make applications. The trivium, while providing a way to approach each subject is also a set of subjects. Traditionally, the trivium has included Latin as part of the grammar phase, logic or the principles of reasoning as part of the logic phase, and rhetoric, the art of speaking/writing clearly and cogently, as part of the rhetoric phase.