YEAR 1 MODEL
The 2021-2022 school year is our first year in operation. For the first year, we will operate as a hybrid homeschool academy. This means that students will meet with us two days each week while continuing their schoolwork independently or with a parent the other three days of the week. Each student will work within a curriculum approved by the parents and will have an individualized plan, detailing what will be accomplished at school and what will be accomplished at home each week. Prior to the start of the school year, every single student and his or her family will have the opportunity to meet with us to prepare an individualized learning plan, catered to each student and family’s unique needs.
Small group setting with individualized attention guaranteed
Lighten the load for homeschooling parents
Give students opportunity to work with experienced educators
Opportunity to address problem areas and improve them
Encourage students to work independently
Religious Philosophy
Westminster Academy of Berks County, PA, is a school of the Reformed Presbyterian Church (Covenanted). As such, Westminster Academy is governed first and foremost by the Word of God, which is summarized in the seven documents of the 1647 Westminster Assembly—The Westminster Confession of Faith, the Shorter Catechism, the Larger Catechism, the Directory of Public Worship, the Sum of Saving Faith, The Directory of Family Worship, The Form of Church Government—as well as all other attainments of the Reformation including the binding nature of the 1650 Solemn League and Covenant. Parents should understand that the Bible will be taught from the perspective of these documents, and we encourage parents to familiarize themselves with them. We believe that God is the source of any known truth, and we strive to teach no truth outside of God’s Word. Additionally, we believe that the only legitimate system of education is based exclusively upon the Bible.
VALUES
Westminster Academy’s core values are faith, rigor, and compassion (fides, duritia, misericordia). At the heart of everything we do and everything we are is our religious faith. The primary tenet of Christianity is to serve God and our fellow man, so we strive to do that in every aspect of our lives. In an academic setting, that encompasses kindness, respect, and hard work from both our teachers and our students. Additionally, we value rigor in our academic standards as well as our personal conduct. We seek to challenge our students, teachers, and administrators to hold themselves to the highest standards both in their academic endeavors and in their individual lives. Finally, we value compassion in our students and educators. For Westminster Academy, this means that we will work with every student and family to make their education possible, regardless of financial status. For our students, this means that we will encourage and provide them with every opportunity to serve those around them.
Educational Philosophy
We believe that the aim of education is to restore our students to the image of God, lead them to reconciliation with Him, and equip them with the knowledge to be faithful and gracious members of society in all facets of the human experience. Therefore, our focus is not simply on intellectual advancement but on education of the whole student. Westminster Academy adheres to a classical Christian model of education. For students in first through sixth grades, a grammar school model emphasizing reading, writing, and mathematics is utilized. For students in grades seven through nine, a logic school emphasizing systematic study and application of logic supplants the grammar school content and methodology as each discipline comes to life in deeper and more expansive ways. In grades ten through twelve, rhetorical skills are developed to equip students to become integral and influential members of the greater learning community and society.
“The purpose of an education is not merely to communicate information, let alone current scientific opinion, nor to train future workers and managers. It is to teach the ability to think, discriminate, speak, and write, and, along with this, the ability to perceive the inner, connecting principles, the intrinsic relations … of creation … The “purpose” of the quadrivium was to prepare us to contemplate God in an ordered fashion, to take delight in the source of all truth, beauty, and goodness, while the purpose of the trivium was to prepare us for the quadrivium, The “purpose” of the Liberal Arts is therefore to purify the soul, to discipline the attention so that it becomes capable of devotion to God; that is prayer.”
-- Stratford Caldecott, Beauty for Truth’s Sake