Philosophy of Education

NLCS has been established to provide parents and students in the Columbia Basin area with a classical Christ-based education. We believe that all Christian parents are commanded by God to give their children a thoroughly Christian education (Eph. 6:4; Deut 6:4-8) and we exist to partner with parents to achieve this weighty command. While we seek to be at peace within our community as much as possible (Rom. 12:18), NLCS is ideologically opposed to modern progressive educational philosophy. There can be no compromise in our belief that Christ is the source of all wisdom and knowledge (Col. 2:3). Our primary goal is to shape the hearts and minds of our students to love God and love their neighbor (Mark 12:28-34). 

We believe the ancients discovered that children move through biological developments where certain forms of learning are more joyful to them. Our desire at NLCS is to run with the grain of the child so that they develop a taste and joy for learning. To this end, we use a methodology based upon the ancient trivium: grammar, logic, and rhetoric. In the grammar phase (KinderPrep-6th), students prefer learning through songs, chants, repetition, and memorization. In the dialectic/logic phase (7th-9th), students prefer learning through debate and wanting further explanations for why things are the way they are. In the rhetoric stage, students desire to use what they have learned to express what they are passionate about in winsome and persuasive ways. Recognizing this means we can cultivate a love for learning in the student and equip them with the tools they need to be successful wherever God takes them. 

NLCS believes that one of the primary reasons one should be educated is that an education provides freedom. Particularly, this means teaching the tools of learning so that our students can cope with all of life's circumstances rather than be intimidated by them. To this end, we desire to instill within our students a love of reading, a curiosity and wonder of the world around them, a virtuous character, an understanding of the process of learning, an ability to think deeply, and most importantly to be grounded in a Biblical worldview. We accomplish this through curriculum and teachers who are steeped in the Holy Scriptures, Liberal Arts Tradition, the Great Books, and the Great Ideas.  Where appropriate, NLCS makes use of both secular and Christian materials drawn from the classical tradition.

We also understand that education is not just a matter of the mind, but a matter of the heart (Luke 6:45). Therefore, NLCS seeks to cultivate the Cardinal virtues into the life and character of our students. These virtues are grounded in the descriptions of godly character that we find in the Scriptures. NLCS seeks to shape our school culture around these virtues so that our students are more than just knowledgeable but can apply their knowledge toward the true, the good, and the beautiful.

We feel called to service all students God sends to us, excepting the following situations which, we currently are not equipped to handle

  • Students with severe learning disabilities as defined in the student handbook
  • Students who are two or more grade levels below the standard in either reading or math (those students would be placed in the grade for which they meet the requirements)
  • Students who have been removed from other schools based on discipline situations and, therefore, likely will not uphold the virtues outlined in our handbook