Valley Classical Christian Academy
Celebrating 29 years of education.
School History
Located in the Central Corridor of Phoenix, our school began as a ministry of the Valley Cathedral in 1980. The school established what has now become a long tradition of Christian education under the name Valley Cathedral Christian School. In 2002, after much research, the school decided to make an academic improvement that not only provided Christian education, but did so by using Classical methodology. We changed our name to Valley Classical Christian School in order to reflect our ideological transformation, and begin working as a team to discover just what a Classical Christian education looked like. In 2008 the school changed its name to Valley Classical Christian Academy and now makes its home just a few minutes away from the original 1980 location. We continue to be Christian, Classical, and a community, and just as we encourage our students to be lifelong learners, we also continue to learn about the best possible educational practices for our students. We are looking forward to celebrating our 30 year anniversary very soon and are looking ahead to what God might have in store for us.
Why Classical Education?
Tools for Success: Classical Education at VCCA
Jesus once blamed the lawyer of His day for “taking away the keys to knowledge.” He said that they had so blurred the meanings of words that they had, in effect, blocked the access of common people to learning. The accumulation and retention of knowledge, as well as the ability to use it appropriately for the benefit of one’s self and one’s community, depends largely upon how well we learn certain kinds of fundamental skills. For hundreds of years, those skills were taught in the earliest years of life. It was assumed that a child would first learn how to learn. After gaining these “keys”, the child could easily acquire whatever specific knowledge he or she cared to.
The aim of a classical Christian education is to give children the basic tools of learning. As they learn a fundamental knowledge of Latin, for example, they will gain the linguistic foundation necessary to learn most European languages, including a powerful grasp of the English language. They can learn Spanish, the language of our largest American minority group and of most of the countries of this hemisphere, with relative ease. As they learn the basics of grammar and rhetoric, they learn what it takes to acquire a deep knowledge of any subject as well as knowledge of how to communicate what they know to others. A classically educated child can go on to excel in the rest of their life because they have attained the keys to knowledge.
A classical education is a benefit to any child. Perhaps the ones who profit the most, however, are those whose families, for whatever reason, have not had a strong background in education. In educated and wealthy families, children often pick up bits and pieces of Western civilization and thus learn to be at ease with the protocol and language that opens the doors of opportunity as they move through life. Children of the less affluent classes many times stumble through school and then through menial employment opportunities because they simply do not have the opportunity to pick up on the subtle phrases and mannerisms that separate those who are successful and those who are not. Classical education gives the keys of knowledge to everyone, regardless of background and class. A classically educated child knows how to unlock the doors of society.
Valley Classical Christian Academy chose a classical format because the leadership agreed that this was what a Christian education truly was. A Christian education is not one that hides children away from the world and shelters them from reality, teaching children to be afraid and hostile to the community in which they live. A real Christian Education gives children the tools to view all their experiences of life through the lens of the teachings of Christ and His people. They learn how to articulate their beliefs with confidence, kindness, and integrity.
A true Christian education teaches a child to retain the sense of wonder and awe of God and the marvelous world He has made. It teaches a child to honor all peoples. It teaches a child how to learn. A real Christian education teaches a child that he or she is unique, created for a specific calling in life that will become clearer as time goes on. For that reason, a classical education at the elementary and middle school levels is a preparation for life that points a person toward a vocation (Latin for “a calling”) instead of toward an occupation (“labor”).
Why classical Christian Education? Because it is built on a foundation that is deeply consistent with the things Jesus taught. It teaches us to become a blessing so that we may bless others. It teaches that everyone should have the same opportunities to make it in life. It teaches honor and dignity for all human beings. It teaches us how to acquire the knowledge of the past and how to build new knowledge upon that foundation.
In short – VCCA chose to become a classical Christian school because that approach actually gives children an education.
Statement of Beliefs:
Mission Statement
Valley Classical Christian Academy is committed to educating students spiritually and academically with Christ as the cornerstone for the purpose of providing a solid educational foundation, which ignites a passion for lifelong learning, a heritage of faith, and instills a sense of community, purpose, and responsibility.
Statement of Faith
- We believe the Bible to be the inspired and only infallible authoritative Word of God.
- We believe that there is one God, eternally existent in three persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
- We believe in the deity of our Lord Jesus Christ, in His virgin birth, in His sinless life, in His miracles, in His vicarious and atoning death through His shed blood, in His bodily resurrection, in His ascension to the right hand of the Father, and in His personal return in power and glory.
- We believe that for salvation of lost and sinful man, regeneration by the Holy Spirit is absolutely essential. We believe in the present ministry of the Holy Spirit, by whose indwelling the Christian is enabled to live a Godly life. We believe in the resurrection of both the saved and the lost; they that are saved unto the resurrection of life, and they that are lost unto the resurrection of damnation.
- We believe in the spiritual unity of believers in our Lord Jesus Christ.
- As Christians, we believe and teach what Peter proclaimed in Acts 4:12, “Salvation is found in no one else (except Jesus), for there is no other Name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.”
Core Values
- The parent has the ultimate responsibility to train and educate his or her child. When a parent chooses VCCA, the staff will act in loco parentis, humbly accepting the role of educating the student. Teamwork between parent, teacher, and student is vital to educational success at VCCA. (Deuteronomy 6: 6-9)
- VCCA seeks to discover, mentor, and release future leaders by creating a loving environment that is highly academic and spiritual and which celebrates the eternal qualities of truth, goodness, and beauty. (Ephesians 4:11-12, Acts 6:1-7)
- In every academic endeavor, VCCA will preserve and teach the faith once delivered to the saints, as declared by the Holy Scriptures and defined by the Apostles’ Creed. (Jude 1:3, 1 Timothy 3:16-17)
- Every student should be educated and informed of the dignity they possess as creatures made in God’s image and likeness, and students should be encouraged to understand and apply this truth in all aspects of their life. (Genesis 1:27, Matthew 19:4)