Note: Some classes listed in this Course Guide are not offered every year. All courses are subject to teacher availability and student registration.
Foreword to Parents
Westminster Christian Academy complements the Christian home and church in teaching and training young people in the way they should go, so when they are old they will not turn from it (Proverbs 22:6, NIV). The Westminster curriculum and programs are designed to integrate God’s truth into every aspect of the school experience. Students and families should prayerfully consider the curricular and co-curricular choices available at Westminster and make decisions that will maximize opportunities to learn and grow in knowledge, wisdom, and grace.
Because the Christian education of a child is the responsibility of parents, decisions regarding the program of instruction that the student will pursue at Westminster should be reached after careful discussion and consideration. Parents should always be fully aware of the educational decisions involved in course selection.
Key Concepts for Parents
- Pray with your student regarding available choices.
- Help your student establish realistic goals that will guide decisions and shape performance.
- Seek the assistance of the faculty and staff at Westminster.
- Honestly assess the talents and interests God has given to your student.
- Reevaluate the direction and progress of your student’s educational program each school year.
- Listen to your student and be sensitive to his/her feelings.
- Support the spiritual, academic, and cocurricular programs at Westminster.
- Share your thoughts with Westminster faculty and administrators regarding academic and cocurricular programs.
Key Concepts for Students
- The decisions I make today will affect the options that are available tomorrow.
- Middle and upper school years are important; missed opportunities cannot be recaptured.
- Discipline, self-control, and sacrifice are among the necessary ingredients that will help me succeed.
- My parents and teachers are dedicated to helping me be the person God wants me to be. I must respect and utilize their counsel.
- My response to God’s gift of His Son is that I give my life to Him through obedience and service. I must dedicate every school, home, and church experience to His glory.
Philosophy
Westminster Christian Academy is an independent, coeducational, college preparatory school serving grades 7 to 12 and founded on the following:
- We believe that God is the creator and sustainer of all things and that Jesus Christ is the only redeemer of our fallen world. As a covenantal school, we are committed in partnership with home and church to a quality education based on these truths.
- We believe that our curriculum provides an academically diverse student body with knowledge in the traditional liberal arts and the skills and wisdom to apply that knowledge. Teachers are committed to designing and employing creative teaching strategies to meet this goal.
- We believe that a complete education transforms knowledge into practical action. The essential outcomes of our educational perspective are the development and application of Christian character through leadership training, community service, cocurricular programs, and the building of relationships.
- We believe that trust, respect, and open communications are the foundation for both the school and community atmosphere. We expect staff and students to exemplify biblical standards in their attitudes and lifestyles and to take personal responsibility for the growth and development of others.
Educational Objectives
A Westminster education encourages students to:
- Respond personally to the gift of salvation.
- Develop a biblical value system that guides decision making.
- Develop individuality and self-acceptance based on God’s grace and truth alone.
- Appreciate all people as God’s image bearers.
- Recognize, embrace, and participate in the interpersonal relationships within the community.
- Develop basic competencies and applicable skills in theology, sciences, physical education, humanities, foreign languages, and practical and fine arts.
- Become lifelong learners.
- Participate in cocurricular activities with tenacity, poise, and perspective.
- Participate in interdisciplinary activities, recognize the interrelatedness of the disciplines, and synthesize the disciplines for themselves.
- Seek God’s plan for their lives and follow God’s leading in education, career choices, and lifestyle.
- Demonstrate responsible stewardship of time, talents, and resources.
- Respect and enjoy God’s creation.
- Influence our culture, as redemptive agents in a fallen world, by applying God’s standard of truth and grace.
Advanced Placement
Advanced Placement classes play an important role in the curriculum of Westminster in that they push students and teachers alike to strive for academic excellence as defined by a nationally recognized standard. Because AP tests are difficult and comprehensive, they challenge students both to master complex information and demanding concepts and analyze and reflect upon that knowledge in sophisticated ways. The fact that those students seeking to earn the Scholar’s Diploma must pass at least four AP courses with a grade of C- or better indicates the importance Westminster places upon Advanced Placement work as a measure of academic rigor.
However, Advanced Placement tests should not be allowed to define or limit the curriculum of an AP course. Both Westminster’s Philosophy of Curriculum and Philosophy of Pedagogy encourage teachers to dig deeply into the ideas and concepts of each course to ensure that students have not only a thorough knowledge base of important core concepts but also the ability to understand the relevance of that information to their lives and to God’s world at large. That means that in the interest of deeper student understanding, teachers in each AP course must have and exercise the freedom to adjust their curriculum to focus on that information most vital to that field of study at the expense of total coverage of every concept or idea that might appear on an AP test. While Westminster believes that scores on an AP test matter, a lifelong love for a specific discipline matters more, so teachers should not sacrifice the search for deeper understanding and a sense of wonder about God’s creation to the urgency of covering material that may or may not appear on the AP exam.
Westminster teachers will help prepare students for the AP test, but they will not teach to the test or compromise full commitment to the Westminster mission and vision.
