Mission & Vision

Mission Statement

Augustine School offers an education to the glory of God that is biblically-based, gospel-centered, and classically-informed

Vision Statement

What do we mean by this Vision Statement?

Augustine School assists Christian parents in their task of training their children to the glory of God . . .

Augustine School affirms, with Holy Scripture, that education has been entrusted to parents (Deuteronomy 6:4-9; Ephesians 6:4), and we assist parents in their God-given responsibility. We do not seek to replace parents.

. . . by means of an education which is biblically-based, . . .

Scripture is central to all that we do at Augustine School. We happily affirm sola scriptura, by which we mean that Scripture is the sole ultimate and infallible norm by which we can live our lives to the glory of God. Holy Scripture is the norm normans non normata ("the norm that norms that is not normed").

. . . Gospel-centered, . . .

As Evangelicals, we seek to keep the evangel (the Gospel) at the heart of all that we do. God has used the Gospel to rescue us and transform our lives, and this includes the rescue and transformation of our minds (Colossians 1:21-22; Romans 12:1-2). The Gospel is thus at the heart of the educational and intellectual task.

. . . and classically informed.

Augustine School is informed by the classical tradition. By "classical" we mean the centrality of reading and words, the centrality of the past, the centrality of the classical languages (Latin and Greek), the centrality of rigorous thinking, speaking and writing, and the centrality of a telos ("goal"). This goal is the intellectual and spiritual development of the person, not just for a "job," but to be a wise, virtuous, Christian person, prepared for his or her place in this world, and the next.

Augustine School seeks to teach children to pursue truth, goodness and beauty . . .

Education is not simply the accumulation of data, nor is it simply vocational training, which allows one to make an income. In keeping with the classical (and indeed Christian) tradition, we affirm that education teaches us to set our sights on the higher and permanent things, which are good in themselves, and which help set our present lives in proper perspective.

. . . through the seven liberal arts and sciences under the universal lordship of Christ.

The seven liberal arts are commonly divided into the Trivium (grammar, dialectic, and rhetoric) and the Quadrivium (arithmetic, music, geometry, and astronomy—with modern equivalents of specialization). The parts of Trivium have been called the tools of learning, which equip the student to master the various subjects of the Quadrivium. The seven liberal arts are not part of an "autonomous" quest, but are tools and disciplines which are subjected to the universal lordship of Christ, since Christ "is before all things, and in him all things hold together" (Colossians 1:18).

Augustine School aspires to develop students . . .

Augustine School is committed to the development of young people, in that we aspire to see this child and that child--as individuals created in the image of God--become wise, virtuous, Christian persons.

. . . who love God with their heart, soul, mind and strength, . . .

Augustine School affirms that every child is a complex being--spiritual, mental and physical--and we wish to see every child love God with all that he or she is.

. . . who possess a Christian worldview, . . .

Every person lives his or her life in accord with his ultimate convictions and commitments, and these ultimate convictions and commitments make up one's worldview. By a Christian worldview, we are speaking of viewing all things, of interpreting all reality, through the reality of the Triune God of Scripture. That is, our self, our relationships, the created order and our relationship to it, are all to be viewed in light of, and based upon, God and his communication to us in Holy Scripture.

. . . who are grounded in the Western intellectual inheritance, . . .

To be educated includes being grounded in one's own intellectual tradition. For most of us in the U.S., this means the Western intellectual tradition, which spans from the "cradle of civilization" in Mesopotamia, through the Egyptians and the Old Testament, through the Greeks, Romans, and New Testament era, and through the ancient, medieval, renaissance, reformation, and modern worlds. Augustine School seeks to introduce students to the Western tradition, so that students can know their past and be wise in how they live in the present and future.

. . . who have a genuine desire for learning, . . .

Augustine School's work will be truly successful only if our graduates move on with a genuine desire to continue their learning and education well past commencement. We hope to so influence students that learning becomes a life-long endeavor which brings them great joy.

. . . and who seek to take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.

Throughout one's education, he or she should interpret all reality through God and His Word to us. Knowledge is not ultimately neutral, but it is to be brought under the lordship of Christ. By taking every thought captive, we mean that continual process of discipleship by which followers of Christ seek to understand how all reality ultimately falls under His lordship.