Classical Influence
North Hills Christian School utilizes aspects of the classical curriculum model of education for our Junior Kindergarten through twelfth grade program. NHCS began a phased approach of instituting classical five years ago. Elements of the classical model exist within all grades.
For those interested, there is an extensive article about classical education on our website, but briefly, classical education places a great deal of emphasis upon well-roundedness and the students' participation in the "Great Conversation" that has developed Western Civilization. The classical approach provides a genuinely broad liberal arts education with rich selections in the study of language and literature, chronological history, theology, and the arts.
It also includes extensive study of math, science and technology. A quality liberal arts education embraces all of these areas, rejecting the popular current notion suggesting that one must choose between either the intellectual rigors of the humanities or good training in the sciences, maths, and technology.
Scorecarding /Advocate System
As we continue to evaluate ways to improve student outcomes, one of the processes we implemented is the score-carding / advocate system. We have seen improvement in individual student outcomes with the implementation of the system. Each student at NHCS has an individualized scorecard that measures academic opportunities, both strengths and weaknesses. Every child, regardless of ability, has room to improve, grow and develop. In addition to the scorecards, middle school and high school students have houses and faculty members per house that look at the entire profile of a student across all subject areas. Since lower school students typically have one specific teacher, that teacher is aware of a student’s progress in all subjects. The combination of the scorecard plus an advocate (or teacher in lower school) ensures there is one person reviewing and evaluating the individual scorecards of their students. The scorecards give the advocate of each student valuable information about student developmental opportunities based on prior year end of grade testing results as well as feedback from prior teachers. The holistic approach to evaluating a student’s progress has been valuable and effective in improving student outcomes.