Academics at The Covenant School
We believe education is about shaping who students become, so we partner with parents in nurturing the minds, hearts, and habits of our students. Our greatest hope is that TCS graduates will love Jesus, their families, others, and the pursuit of learning throughout their lives.
At The Covenant School, we seek to be a school that cultivates wisdom, virtue, and a love of learning. Classical Education is language-focused and depends on three stages of training the mind: the Grammar stage, the Dialectic (or Logic) stage, and the Rhetoric stage. To the classically educated mind, all knowledge is interrelated and students are equipped with tools for a lifetime of learning.
Our methodology of teaching subjects and presenting a Biblical worldview is the Trivium. This centuries old method applies the Biblical concepts of knowledge, understanding, and wisdom to the developmentally appropriate stages of a child – Grammar (grades K-5), Dialectic (grades 6-8), and Rhetoric (grades 9-12). The ultimate objective of classical methodology is to give students the tools of learning and the wisdom to apply these tools to any situation.
Grammar School
Young children at TCS learn the “grammar” of all subjects, which includes the facts, rules, fundamentals, and vocabulary, thereby gaining knowledge. The Scriptures point out the wisdom and benefit of gaining knowledge.* As children mature, they tend to naturally seek understanding by asking “why” and by looking for relationships among these specific pieces of knowledge. Students at this age love to collect and gather, they love to memorize, and they enjoy singing and chanting and often use these tools in memorizing facts.
*Numbers 24:16; Proverbs 14:7; 15:7; 18:15; 19:27; 21:11; 22:12; Ecclesiastes 2:7; 12:9
Dialectic School
The second stage of the Trivium is the Dialectic (or Logic stage) and focuses on equipping students with the ability to discern truth from falsehood; the right relationship of facts to the whole. In Scripture, understanding is prerequisite to good judgment and sincere obedience to truth.* Children at this age begin to question everything and enjoy a good debate. TCS therefore teaches our students how to question, and debate, well. Teachers challenge their students to defend their position with sound arguments.
*I Kings 3:9; Job 28:28; Psalm 119:34, 104; I John 5:20
Rhetoric School
The last stage of the Trivium, the Rhetoric stage, is the instructional method for TCS’s oldest students (grades 9-12). This is the capstone of the Trivium. Its goal is godly wisdom, and the context for developing this wisdom is a Biblical fear of the Lord.* The Rhetoric school equips students to effectively communicate through written word, speech, and the arts. The Bible clearly defines wisdom as valuable and worthy in Proverbs 3, and I Corinthians 1 differentiates the wisdom of the world from the wisdom of God. For more Rhetoric School specific information, please visit our Rhetoric Resource Page.
*Proverbs 9:10
Our Specials & Electives
Our Kindergartners created masterpieces with shapes and color in art class, just like modern artist Victor Vasarely.
Art
The first words in the Bible are, “In the beginning, God created...,” and each of us has been given the innate ability to create. We believe that learning about the arts and creating works of art are integral to Classical Education.Students in Kindergarten through 5th grade at The Covenant School take art each week, and it is offered as an elective in 6th-12th grade.
Music
In classical education, music is a part of cultivating virtue, fostering love for the good, the true, and the beautiful. When we study music at The Covenant School, we hope students delight in its beauty and see it as a gift from our Creator. Students in Kindergarten through 5th grade take music each week, including learning to play the recorder in 4th grade and the ukulele in 5th grade. We offer various music electives for our students in 6th-12th grade to choose from.
Electives
Beginning in 6th grade, students at The Covenant School are able to take two electives per academic year. We hope to give our students the opportunity to explore new skills and areas of interest during their time in the Dialectic and Rhetoric schools. The elective offerings vary each year, and have included courses such as Art, Calling & Career, Creative Writing, Drama, Finance, Gardening, Guitar, Home & Hospitality, Interpersonal Relationships, Music Theory, Physical Education, Sewing, and Songwriting.
Our Spanish Program
Students have the opportunity to learn Spanish at The Covenant School beginning in Kindergarten through Spanish V as a senior. We believe that learning a new language is an academic exercise and a tool for communication. Our desire is that our students would grow in their ability to communicate in Spanish, allowing them to build relationships with Spanish speakers and equipping them to serve others in our community and around the world. Our goal is to graduate students from our program who have a love for people of all cultures and have the language skills necessary to engage with the world around them.
Classical Languages is also a potential course offering in the future.