Our School

Philosophy of Education

At Waves Christian Academy, the core of our Christian private school is the belief that God has given every person unique gifts and talents, and has a specific purpose for their life.  We believe that the purpose of “education”, from the Latin educare “to draw out”, is to assist each student to grow into and fulfill that purpose, whatever it is. At Waves Christian Academy we have several key components:

Academic Excellence

As a Christian private school, we believe that a Godly life means striving to be excellent in all things.  When it comes to academics, that means striving to have the best curriculum and the best teachers possible.  It means encouraging our students to take their academic requirements seriously, and not only to meet, but exceed, the requirements mandated by the state.  Academic excellence drives our mastery-based approach to education, whereby we strive to have all students attain mastery in all subjects to the best of their abilities.

Approach To Learning

At Waves Christian Academy, we believe that learning is more than just academics.  We believe that good education involves the whole person – not just the mind and academics, but all other aspects as well – character development, leadership, and social skills.  While much of our direct effort is focused on academics, we also recognize that character, social and other aspects are equally as important. We feel with our unique approach through lower class sizes, multi-grade classrooms, individualized instruction, and quality curriculum, we engage our students in learning that supersedes the traditional approach.

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The House System

At Waves Christian Academy we have community groups based off the RCA House System. The House system is a dynamic, exciting, and proven way to create a positive climate and culture for students and staff. With the House System we want to create the following with our students:

CULTURE OF BELONGING – Houses provide students with a culture of belonging. The first day of school can be a stressful moment for young students, and some may feel out of place or like they don’t know where they fit in. But when they spin the wheel and are sorted into their Houses, they are greeted with the roar of applause and cheers from other students — upper-classmates even — welcoming them into this new, special group. Throughout the year, each student’s personal accomplishments are then rewarded with points that collectively count toward his/her House. This gives students an opportunity to be recognized and thanked by their peers daily for their individual contributions to the overall team. At other schools, achievement is sometimes seen as something that is nerdy or uncool — but at Waves Christian Academy, good behavior and academic success are revered among students because they all know that students’ success helps their own House get closer and closer to winning the championship and that culture of belonging goes beyond just the students! Parents are encouraged to become a part of their child’s House too. This helps them build bonds with other parents, including parents of upper classmates, who they can reach out to for advice and wisdom. The House gives them the instant community of a slightly smaller family group as an introduction to the whole school, thereby helping them to understand and feel like a part of it.

SCHOOL-WIDE COMMUNITY – The House System is a unique and creative cross-age group approach like our classrooms to building a deeper community that will strengthen the social and academic lives of students. Traditionally, schools are split up into grades and students never interact with older or younger peers. Like in our classrooms, in a House, students are able to interact with peers from other grade levels. With this, the older students become support systems to younger ones who are struggling or need advice — and they in turn grow as Christian leaders themselves when they are able to pour into the younger ones in this way. And this mentoring community extends to the teachers and staff as well. Every adult in the school participates in the House System because it instantly gives them the opportunity to form strong bonds with a smaller group of students in their House. Additionally, it enables a playful sense of competition with students of other Houses. This type of role modeling and mentorship, provided on a consistent basis to students as they go through each grade of the school, is exponentially valuable to their growth while at Waves Christian Academy!

CHARACTER BUILDING – The House System builds character with a reward system that goes beyond something like earning a piece of candy from a candy jar for doing something good. Instead, each student’s achievements add to a collective group, making the reward communal and social. We have seen this change the way that a student perceives points over time: what may start as extrinsic motivation in the beginning turns into intrinsic motivation as the student realizes the behavioral and academic traits and ethics that are valued by their peers.