Assuming a conventional five-day model, students spend 10,000 hours in school from kindergarten through high school graduation. Those hours will either train them to “take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:5)—or imply that God has little to do with the life of the mind.
Our academic program follows the “liberal arts tradition,” a centuries-old approach to education aimed cultivating the minds, bodies, and souls of students and pointing them to their Creator—the source of truth, goodness, and beauty. This approach includes instruction in the seven classical liberal arts (grammar, logic, rhetoric, arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, and music), piety (or loving what is lovely, especially through studying the humanities), gymnastics (or physical strength), and philosophy—all rooted in theology, "the queen of the sciences."
This rich and robust model presents a thoroughly intentional and integrated approach to education—one that differs radically from the modern approach focusing on “college and career readiness,” and one that we believe will incline the minds, wills, and affections of our students towards passionately following Christ, who is before all things and in whom all things hold together (Colossians 1:17).
From the time students first enter Knox Classical, every aspect of our programming and practices is carefully chosen to develop graduates exemplifying this Portrait of a Graduate, which is a more detailed explanation of our Vision Statement for our students. By God’s grace, we are humbly pursuing and prayerfully anticipating that Knox Classical graduates will…
Demonstrating His virtue, growing in maturity, and seeking to walk in the good works prepared for their lives by God (Ephesians 2:10).
Trusting His sovereignty and viewing every aspect of life as subject to His authority (1 Corinthians 15:24-28).
Understanding the times and knowing what they should do (Matthew 10:16; Proverbs 4:4-8, 9:10; 1 Chronicles 12:32), and communicating with gentleness evident to all in the midst of a dying world (1 Peter 5; Philippians 4:5).
Perceiving, pursuing, and treasuring truth, goodness, and beauty (Matthew 7:7-8, 10:16; Philippians 4:8-9).
Actively serving and leading in their families, communities, local churches, and workplaces to further the Kingdom of God (Philippians 2:3-4).
Our educational program strives to introduce students to the riches of the liberal arts and sciences tradition in a manner suitable to students' current cognitive development—and in a way that ultimately trains students how to keep learning throughout their lives. Borrowing from the creative thinking of British scholar and author Dorothy Sayers, modern classical educators study the first three liberal arts—grammar, logic, and rhetoric—as essential arts unto themselves and as consider them a helpful, though flexible, paradigm for organizing students' progression of learning.
During their initial years at Knox Classical (grades K–6), our Primer and Grammar School students master the basic tools of learning on which their future educational advancement depends, including memory, catechism, penmanship, phonics and spelling, reading comprehension, arithmetic, basic geometry, and English and Latin grammar. They also become familiar with the basic outline of history and explore different areas of science. Young children have an amazing ability to memorize vast amounts of information, and through chanting, singing, skip counting, and reciting, our students joyfully grow in knowledge about God's Word and world throughout these early years of their studies, often referred to as the "grammar" phase of classical education.
As students advance academically and mature cognitively, they will formally study the arts of logic and rhetoric in our Upper School (grades 7–12). They'll also deepen and develop skills of critical thinking, analysis, research, problem solving, research, eloquent writing and speaking, and exercising sound moral judgment as they continue studying the liberal arts and sciences. Above all, students are taught to recognize Christ's primacy over all, which we pray and believe will cultivate graduates marked by wisdom and eloquence. These later years of classical education are often called the "logic" and "rhetoric" phases by modern classical educators.
A key benefit of our collaborative model is that it redirects time from the classroom back to the home, allowing families to explore God’s Word and world together, and orienting family time around discovering what God made and how He has worked throughout human history to pursue, justify, and sanctify sinners.
To facilitate this lifestyle of learning, we actively look for ways to integrate studies across grade levels. In particular, we synchronize our humanities (Bible, history, literature, geography, and fine arts) and science studies across grades 1–6. We love hearing how Knox Classical siblings delight in learning together—and how our co-teaching parents appreciate the ability to focus on one historical period and one scientific discipline with all their students! This integration also enriches our on-campus days, allowing us to mix ages and grade levels for certain projects or demonstrations—and fostering a joyous learning community as students study the same things at the same time.
How does this work in practice? Following a kindergarten year in which students are introduced to the entire story of history and a range of scientific disciplines, all of our Knox Classical students hop aboard our current year of a four-year humanities and science cycle. This four-year-cycle approach means that students will revisit historical time periods and scientific disciplines three times between first through twelfth grade, deepening their learning each time and understanding history as a cohesive whole.
| Primer School (Kindergarten) | Grammar School (Grades 1–6) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| All Years | Year 1 (next cycle - 2028–2029) |
Year 2 (next cycle - 2029–2030) |
Year 3 (2026–2027) |
Year 4 (2027–2028) |
| Creation – Modern America | The History of Redemption: The Books of Moses - Western Rome Falls | Between Ancient and Modern: The Middle Ages - Age of Revolutions | The Nineteenth Century: Napoleon's World - The Gilded Age | The Twentieth Century: Dawn of the Twentieth Century - The Postmodern World |
| Introduction to Science | Biology | Earth Science & Astronomy | Chemistry | Physics |
Kindergarten · All Years
Grades 1–6 · next cycle 2028–2029
Grades 1–6 · next cycle 2029–2030
Grades 1–6 · 2026–2027
Grades 1–6 · 2027–2028
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