Why Continue a Classical Education Through High School?

Adapted article by Pastor Nate Walker

Our church school (Immanuel Classical School) is a K-12 school that many families in our church utilize, and so I’m writing to those families, but the principles apply broadly towards finishing high school with a Classical Christian Education. You’ve maybe asked, “Why should I stay at ICS through the High School, the Rhetoric School?” Even if your kids are younger, this is certainly something you have probably already thought about. But I want to offer some things to consider as you make these decisions with your family. Four reasons to consider staying at ICS all the way through.

Approaching education pragmatically means we primarily think about getting jobs, or getting into the right university, or nice buildings and facilities. Of course that is all attractive. But one of the key principles of Classical Education is resisting this pragmatism.

Avoid the Dangers of Pragmatism

Our culture approaches life pragmatically. We don’t think in terms of what is right or wrong, or what is pleasing to God or displeasing. We mainly ask, “What works, what makes me happy, comfortable, and wealthy?” Pragmatism often guides even Christian thinking about education.

But Christianity is not pragmatic. We live our whole lives for God’s glory, so we obey God even if we don’t understand why or think it might hurt. We do what he says even if it seems like it won’t work. This principle comes from our Lord: “Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things will be added to you” (Matt. 6:33). Or as CS Lewis put, “Aim at heaven, and you’ll get earth thrown in; Aim at the earth and you’ll get neither.”

How many of us have experienced that in our life? Do what God says, even if you don’t see the reason—and you often find yourself blessed.

Approaching education pragmatically means we primarily think about getting jobs, or getting into the right university, or nice buildings and facilities. Of course that is all attractive.

But one of the key principles of Classical Education is resisting this pragmatism. What does it mean to seek first God’s kingdom and righteousness in education? St. Augustine, the church father who maybe more than anyone else, helped build the Western World, said education had two goals, teach people to (1) read the Bible and (2) tell other people about it (see his On Christian Teaching). It turns out if you focus on doing just those two things well, you actually shape a young life in an incredibly holistic manner: morally, intellectually, spiritually, socially, and vocationally.

So the first key is avoiding the temptation of pragmatism.

Make a Principled Decision

To not be pragmatic means to make decisions on principle. Families at ICS have already done this. A family would not follow the road less traveled of classical education if it didn’t come from a place of deep conviction.

How do you go about making a principled decision in education? Consider the following thought experiment.

I invite you to clear away all the options before you: ICS, public schools, running start, tuition, sports programs, and college credit. Clear all of that away, and imagine you have a blank slate. And you are sitting around with the people in your life who you trust the most, who you are raising your kids alongside, who love God’s word and his kingdom and the Gospel. And you come together and say, “What do our kids need at this crucial time in their lives so that they grow up into oaks of righteousness and pillars in our community? What do they need to be wise and loving and faithful Christians? What do they need to be thoughtful and confident?”

Your deepest principles will rise to the surface. I can almost guarantee you would come up with something that looks way more like ICS than a public school or Whatcom Community College. In fact, that is exactly what ICS is: a group of families putting into action their deepest convictions.

There is a reason that we avoid pragmatism and act on principle (especially when our children are in 8th grade!) because of a third reason to consider staying at ICS all the way through.

Know Their Frame

The Scriptures say that the compassion of a father is in that he “knows our frame; remembers we are dust” (Psalm 103:14). To understand the frame of our children is to know what they are strong enough to face at that age. It is common for people to say, “Oh I wanted to give my children a foundation of Christian education, maybe elementary or middle school. But then they should be ready to go out into the world.” Is the frame of a fourteen year old truly ready for the world? Again a thought experiment is helpful.

Remember back to when you were an 8th grader: all those zits and cracking voice and braces, saying awkward things at just the wrong time. (Or if you have an 8th grader now, watch how often they misread the room trying to be funny.) When you were an 8th grader you were not ready for the world. Our kids are not ready to go out into the world either. They are still being equipped to serve the Lord with confidence and courage. This is the time where massive changes are happening in their life. If there is one time when you want people who love the Lord discipling and pouring into your children it is during adolescence.

Another thing that parents often say is, “Well, I want my kids to be missionaries in the public schools. They are called to be salt and light.” I really sympathize with that desire, and love the impulse to share the love of Christ with those who don’t know him.

What adolescents need more than anything is Christ. If there is one time of our lives where we need the grace of Jesus telling us “This is who you are!”—high school is it.

But a key part of being a missionary is to be called. Has your child really felt the Holy Spirit tell them, “Jesus has called me to go into the public school and tell all those kids they are sinners who need to repent and trust in Christ?” Likely not. Most Christian high schoolers are trying to make some friends and not be ridiculed for their faith. If I could say this gently, I’m afraid many parents using this reasoning are really just finding a way to justify not having to pay for school. Of course money is a real issue!— and I don’t mean to minimize it. But if that is the real issue, let’s say that. (And work together to make that less of an issue.)

Again some might say, “Yeah, but these kids are pretty impressive by the time they are entering 9th grade.” It’s true we have some pretty impressive secondary school kids in our church and school. I have an 11th grader and a 9th grader, and I am so grateful for the conversations they are able to have with me. They are truly amazing young people, and many others like them are in our community. But this leads to a final reason to finish out the full program at ICS.

Let Them Shine in the Rhetoric School

The thing to understand about ICS is our curriculum is carefully designed to build on itself. Grammar prepares for Logic, Logic prepares for Rhetoric. It is in the Rhetoric School that they finally get to do the thing they have been preparing for all these years—taking this knowledge of God, his world, history and beginning to write and speak and debate about it.

To cut that off early is like having a football player go to practice all summer and then not let them play in the game. Just this past week I was a judge in the annual speech competition. I was so impressed with these young people and what they are capable of. They are confident, articulate, and faithful to the Scriptures. Let’s not cut this program off early.

What ties all these reasons together?

What adolescents need more than anything is Christ. If there is one time of our lives where we need the grace of Jesus telling us “This is who you are!”—high school is it. If there is one time you need grace covering your shame, if there is one time you need Jesus shaping your view of the world, if there is one time you need him helping in your weakness and awkwardness—it is adolescence.

So we want you to know, ICS has been built as a full K-12 program. We are avoiding the dangers of pragmatism, and approaching education in a principled manner, knowing the frame of our adolescence, but also wanting to give them the opportunity to shine. We hope that you would stay with us all the way through.

Original article can be found here

FAQ

  • Are parents required to keep track of credits and transcripts for their high schoolers?

    No! Immanuel’s administrative team tracks all earned credits and compiles student transcripts. However, because Immanuel is a ministry of Saint Andrew’s Presbyterian Church and not a state-recognizated private school, parents must continue to submit Intent to Homeschool paperwork to their local district for their high schoolers.

  • Do Immanuel students earn the same number of credits as public school students?

    Students on the diploma track, whether honors or regular, will earn more than most! The Washington board of public education requires 24 credits to graduate high school. Students who attend Immanuel for all four years of high school will earn 28 credits. Our standard course of study puts students on track to meet the credit requirements for most private universities and exceed the credit requirements for most public universities.

  • Will Immanuel provide support with post secondary planning?

    Yes! Our Secondary Dean will host interviews with parents and students throughout their high school years to address post secondary plans and offer assistance in that process. Colleges and universities set their own entrance requirements; they are not bound to their state’s board of education K-12 requirements. Therefore, it’s important to address individual student post secondary goals to ensure the students are on the right track. As an example, a university may strongly recommend (or even require) community service hours for their applicants, but that is not a high school graduation requirement. So our Secondary Dean will be a resource for families to come alongside as much or as little as individual families/students would prefer in addressing post secondary questions. 

  • Do Immanuel students take standardized tests?

    Yes! While standardized tests aren’t the only litmus test to excellence , they do provide an objective and quantifiable snapshot of where Immanuel’s course of study and curriculums are serving students well academically and where we can focus attention for improvement. Therefore, all Immanuel students will take the Classic Learning Test (CLT) starting in Primary C and through high school. Many colleges and universities accept the CLT in lieu of an SAT or ACT score. Our Secondary Dean can help as needed to check testing requirements for specific colleges that students are interested in and steer families towards local SAT test offerings as needed. Interestingly, many colleges and universities are not currently requiring applicants to submit any standardized test score at all; although Immanuel will continue to take the CLT nonetheless for our own growth.

  • Does Immanuel offer all the classes my student will need to graduate?

    Almost! The only  high school requirements we are not able to offer are the PE credits. Immanuel high schoolers are required to complete 2 credits of PE, and this is an area that we believe parents can accommodate and with more options than we can offer. There are a variety of ways students may fulfill their PE requirements: public school athletics, gym memberships, recreational clubs (climbing, mountain biking, ballet, etc), and much more! Families complete a credit petition form to communicate their plan so that PE credits can be approved prior to students participating in the activity.

  • Will college and university admissions know what Humanities means and accept it?

    Maybe not. So while we call our integrated block Humanities inhouse, it is delineated as Theology, Literature, and History on our transcript to provide clarity to post secondary institutions. Many assignments will overlap between the three courses because so much of student learning is integrated within that  learning block. However, in terms of impacting student GPAs, it is the same either way. One assignment  in a 3-credit Humanities course would calculate the same as 3 separate assignments in a 1 credit Theology, 1 credit Literature, and 1 credit History class.

  • Does Immanuel allow high schoolers to attend other high schools part time?

    Immanuel’s primary mission is to raise disciples in Christ versus a more singularly, academic-driven or vocation-driven mission. Thus, in most situations, we will not accommodate split enrollments as our desire is to deeply develop our students’ love of God and his world. Also, the high school years are really the capstone of a robust, classical Christian education where a student’s K-12 career convenes in a rich, rhetoric-focused style of learning! However, we understand there can be extenuating circumstances that may need to be considered to address individual student needs. We would ask families to reach out to the Head of School or Secondary Dean with questions or requests in this regard.