After School with RCS

How is the small school experience different from the large school experience?

There’s no doubt that students at a small school have a different experience from students at a large school. But what are those differences? Is one better than the other? What are the pros and cons of attending a smaller school? What are the pros and cons of attending a larger school? In this episode we seek to answer these questions and more, while doing our best to stay evenhanded. Along the way we look at the unique educational experiences that students receive at Redeemer Classical School.

Interview with Annie Leach

Redeemer Classical School began in 2004 with 15 students in 6th-8th grade. It was the vision of a small group of people — many of whom were parents of young children at the time — who wanted a better education for their children and others in the Harrisonburg and Rockingham County area. Mrs. Annie Leach was a part of that visionary group, and also one of the school’s first faculty members. Today Mrs. Leach teaches a host of Rhetoric School (9th-12th grade) Humanities courses. In this episode we interview Annie and along the way we learn a lot about Redeemer’s founding, where the school is today, education, teaching, and life in general.

What is Classical Christian Education?

Classical Christian Education (CCE) is growing rapidly all across the United States, with hundreds of new schools opening in recent years. But what is classical Christian education? Turns out that question is quite difficult to answer quickly or in soundbites, because CCE is an entirely different paradigm for education with many different facets. In this episode we seek to answer the question, “What is classical Christian education?” and, in the process, to show why so many families are finding it so appealing today.

The RCS Portrait of a Graduate

Redeemer Classical School’s mission is to partner with families to provide for the Christian discipleship of children through a classical education to the greater glory of God. But what does that look like in the life of a student? How does our mission statement impact the goals that we have for students? In this episode we seek to answer these questions as we examine Redeemer’s Portrait of a Graduate — a set of ideals and values that we want to characterize our graduates and alumni, and in turn shapes the way we educate students at Redeemer.

The Purpose of K-12 Schooling

Students will spend nearly 17,000 hours in school between the ages of 4 and 18. That is a lot of time at the most impressionable ages of our lives. We know that education is necessary, and we have a sense that schooling (a particular form of education) is crucial, but we rarely pause to reflect on why that’s the case. Why do we send our children to school for 14 years? What do we expect school to provide for our children? What do we want for our children in the critical school-aged years? In this episode we explore these ideas and more as we ask, “What is the purpose of K-12 schooling?”