Eukarya Christian Academy
Stephens City, VA.
Parent-StudentHandbook
2016-2017Academic Year
The Eukarya Board of Directors
July 2014
Eukarya Christian Academy is a 501c(3) organization
Special Note of Gratitude to Ad Fontes Academy
Many thanks to Ad Fontes Academy in Loudoun County for granting us permission to
make liberal use and modification of the policies and procedures they use.
Eukarya Christian Academy Board
At LargeBobby Alger At LargeJohn Morrison
At LargeRusty Haws HeadmasterDan Donnelly
Dear Eukarya Parents,
Sharing with you the educationanddiscipleshipofyourchildren is for us a solemn trust.
We believe God has called us as a school toprovideadistinctively Classical Christian educational experience where the Lord is at the center of our worship and our learning. We intend to challenge and encourage your student spiritually, academically and personally through the classroom instruction, as well as the school’s community. Our culture is fostered by our faculty and students, and through each of our ‘outside of class’ learning opportunities.
Eukarya invites your participation as parents in the learning process. We will do all we can to communicate with you what we see in your children: the strengths upon which we hope to build as well as weaker areas we hope to help them develop. Ourschool is an accepting and team-building environment in which we help the students develop meaningful friendships and collaborative efforts with their instructors and fellow students.
Through our language arts learning, debate, composition, literature, Latin, and STEM disciplines, and through all components of our comprehensive curriculum, we will point your child to Jesus Christ “inwhomarehiddenall thetreasuresofwisdomandknowledge” and tailor our instruction to their learning strengths and weaknesses.
Our goal for each Eukarya graduate is that he or she will be prepared internally and externally to meet the challenges of life as young adults in further studies, in the workforce and in the home. Internally, we want their growth in Christ and His character to provide a solid foundation for a life of faithful, loving obedience to God. Externally, we want them to enjoy learning so that they choose to live as lifelong learners. We expect each one to demonstrate skill in thinking, written and oral communication, historical and civic awareness, mathematical computation and scientific reasoning for the next stage of learning and for contribution to the world.
Thishandbookarticulates thephilosophyandpoliciesthatguide the school and its relationships.Our leadershipandfacultyeagerlyanticipatetheLord’sworkinour communityand inthegrowthofyoursons and daughtersthiscomingyear.
Thanksagainfortheprivilegeofworkingwithyour children.
SincerelyinChrist,
Dan Donnelly
Headmaster
Eukarya Christian Academy
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Table ofContents
1. Mission and Identity
1.1 Meaning of the Name of EukaryaChristian Academyp. 6
1.2 Mission Statement
1.3 Core Values
1.4 K-12 Goalsp. 7
1.5 Our Statement of Faithp. 8
1.6 Secondary Doctrines
1.7Controversial Subjectsp. 9
1.8Our Community
1.9 Non-discriminatory Policy
1.10 Organizational Structure
2. Parents at Eukarya Academy
2.1 Parental Supportp. 10
2.2 In Loco Parentis
2.3 Classroom Visits
2.4 Communication between Parents and Teachers
2.5 Conferences
2.6 Website and School Announcements
3. Admission Policies
3.1 Overview of Admissionsp.11
3.2 Requirements of the Student
3.3 Requirements of the Parents
3.4 Acceptance Priority
3.5 ProcessP. 12
3.6 Deadlines
3.7 Admissions for Part-Time Students
3.8Re-enrollment
3.9Learning Disabilities
3.9.1Learning Disabilities Policyp.13
3.9.2Severe Learning Disabilities
3.9.3Mild-Moderate Learning Disabilities
3.9.4Disclosing Learning Disabilities
3.9.5 Arrowsmith Program®,
4.Academic Policiesp.14
4.1Class Procedures
4.2Summer Required Reading
4.3Tutoring
4.4Advisement – College Admissions
4.5Advisement – Role of Parent
4.6Academic Load
4.7Dropping or Adding a Course
4.8Graduation Requirementsp.15
4.8.1 High School Diploma
4.8.2Advanced Diploma
4.8.3Repetition of Failed Coursework
4.8.4Independent Study p. 16
4.8.5Transfer Credits
4.9Advanced Placement Exams
4.10Recognition/Evaluation
4.10.1Standardized Tests
4.10.1* CollegeBoard School Codep.17
4.10.2 Philosophy of Homework
4.10.3 Homework Guidelines
4.10.4 Tests
4.10.5 Gradesp. 18
4.10.6 Incomplete Grades
4.10.7Final Exams
4.10.8 Exam Exemptionp. 19
4.10.9Re-exams
4.10.10 Grading Periods
4.10.11 Upper Grades Academic Honors
4.10.12 Promotion and Retention of Students
4.10.13 Academic Probation
4.10.14 Transcript
4.10.15 School Records
5. Administrative Matters p. 20
5.1.Attendance
5.1.1 Arrivaland Tardies
5.1.2Early Dismissal
5.1.3 Excused Absencesp. 22
5.1.4 Unexcused Absences
5.1.5Make-up Work p. 23
5.2 Student Drop off
5.3 Campus Facilities Issues
5.3.1 Buildings
5.3.2 Boundaries
5.3.3 Cleanliness
5.3.4 Food and Drinkp. 24
5.4 Fire/Tornado Drills
5.5 Field Trips
5.5.1Field Trip Overview
5.5.2General Guidelines
5.5.3Field Trip Leadership
5.5.4Legality and Liability
5.5.5Safetyp. 25
5.5.6Decorum/Deportment
5.5.7Field Trips and the Right Placep. 26
5.5.8Absence from Major Field Trips
5.6 Electronics on Campus
5.6.1 Copier
5.6.2 School Telephones and Cell Phonesp. 27
5.6.3 Other Electronic Devices
5.7 Computer Usage
5.8 Medication and Illness
5.8.1 Medicine Authorization
5.8.2 Medications and Side Effects
5.8.3 Illness at School
5.8.4 Contagious Illness p. 28
5.8.5 Bloodborne Pathogens
5.8.6 Serious Diseases
5.8.7 Permission to Leave School Due to Illness or Medical Appointments
5.9 Messages and Deliveries
5.10 Lunch
5.11 Library
5.12 Student Storage
5.13 Lost and Foundp. 29
5.14. Student Drivers
5.15 Parking and Driving on Campus
5.16 Bus Rules and Guidelines
5.17 Photography and Publicity
5.18 Inclement Weather
5.19 Textbooks and Equipmentp. 30
6. Honor and Conduct
6.1 Expectations
6.2 Comprehensive Grievance Policy p. 31
6.3 Discipline Policy
6.3.1 Phone Calls Home
6.3.2Disciplinary Probationp. 32
6.3.3Behavior Contract
6.3.4Suspension
6.3.5Expulsionp. 33
6.4 Conduct Policies
6.4.1 Alcohol/Illegal Drugs/Tobacco
6.4.2Hazing/Bullying
6.4.3Sexual Harassment
6.4.4Plagiarismp.33
6.5 Fundraising Activities
ADDENDUMS
Arrowsmith School p. 34
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1. Mission and Identity
1.1.Meaning of the Name Eukarya Christian Academy
While the term "Christian Academy" to some extent speaks for itself, the word Eukarya may be new to many. The Greek biological term eukarya can be translated, "good nut." It refers to those types of cells which have a distinct, internal nucleus at their core and an attached cell membrane on the outside. We explain to our students that the triune God (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) has designed each of us to function with Him as the nucleus of our lives and has designed us to live with His Word (the Bible) as the outer membrane of our lives. By living connected to the life of God on the inside and in accordance with His Word on the outside, each person thrives. When people live together within the bounds of the Word of God on the outside and experience the life of God on the inside (what Jesus calls eternal life, John 17:3), they live as a eukaryotic community. In that spirit, we exist as Eukarya Christian Academy.
1.2.Mission Statement
- Eukarya’s vision is to glorify God through assisting parents to equip their children as lifelong learners and leaders through a classical Christian education.
We do this through a classical curriculum rooted in Latin, grammar, classic literature and language arts instruction designed to help students read well and express themselves both orally and in writing;and through a Christ centered view of chronological history and government. We agree with the goal of other fine classical schools in our effort to prepareour graduates as “informed citizens, thinking Christians and virtuous shapers of culture.”
At ECA, we endeavor to be a dynamic organization preparing students who:
Love God with all of their heart, soul, mind and strength
Reason wisely, listen carefully, think precisely and articulate persuasively
Lovingly engage and influence culture with a Christ-centered worldview
Have a dedication to and love for learning and scholarship
Possess the tools to live and think with truth, wisdom and independence
1.3Core Values
Our core values form the foundation for all we do and may be summarized as follows:
- ECA Statement of Faith (See paragraph 1.5.)
- An environment where school operates in loco parentis with the parents having the primary authority and responsibility for a student’s spiritual, academic, and social training. We serve during the day in a role delegated by parents. We understand we are not their primary authority.
- The use of the Seven Laws of Teaching; proven teaching techniques based on a Biblical world view.
- Biblically rooted, academically challenging courses and supportive environment.
- Christian role models provided for students through teachers and staff.
- Non-discrimination in the administration of policies, admissions and programs.
- A tailored approach, working in light of each student’s strengths and weaknesses.
1.4K-12 Goals
Our K-12 goals inform the decisions we make and define the school we want to be:
Students will love God with all of their hearts, souls, minds, and strength
Students will know the Gospel and that it is the framework for processingall things.
Students will encounter God through both general (nature) and special(Bible) revelation.
Students will learn better who they are in Christ and develop faithfulness to Him.
Students will learn to acknowledge God as the source of all that is true, good, and beautiful.
Students will learn to honor and pursue the virtuesevident in Christ’s model.
Students will possess a view of creation and life as created good, beautiful, true and holy, but brokenat the Fall and only to be fully enjoyed through knowing and following Christ.
Students will reason, listen, and think wisely and articulate persuasively
Students are able to lead and participate in gracious and meaningful conversations.
Students possess and use a framework to order, prioritize, and express thoughts well.
Students will think logically and creatively.
Students are gracious listeners, able to entertain a thought without necessarily accepting it.
Students are able to express clearly, creatively, winsomely and persuasively.
Students will lovingly engage culture with a Christ-centered worldview
Students will take initiative and act courageously.
Students are able to discern between Christian and non-Christian worldviews.
Students can identify humanistic thought and understand the futility of secular ideals.
Students exhibit empathy and charity in engaging others.
Students are actively and redemptively engaging culture.
Students will have a dedication and love for learning and scholarship
Students understand all studies as a gift from God.
Students value hard work, learning, and leisure.
Students possess a desire for learning and can learn independently.
Students pursue deeper learning in areas of interest.
Students are on their way to becoming life-time learners.
Students will develop tools to think with truth, wisdom, and independence
Students have and make use of a biblical, intellectual and moral framework in order to discern between truth and error and to make decisions.
Students can formulate the right questions to find meaning and purpose in all of life.
Students view all learning and life as integrated and unified in and through Christ.
Students will possess foundational and core knowledge in the major discipline areas.
Students will be exposed to the great ideas of civilization.
Students will have formed aesthetic skills and sensibilities.
Students will view every subject in terms of its historical narrative.
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1.5Our Statement of Faith
The statement of faith adopted by ECA is limited to those primary Christian doctrinescentral to all Christian denominations, and which sets Christianity apart from other faiths. Portions of the following statement of faith areborrowed with permission from the National Christian Foundation for Education and the ArtsBy-Laws.
- We believe that the God of the Bible is the source of all truth.Thus, all genuine intellectual pursuits lead logically to God. This one God reveals Himself as three persons (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) and is self-existent, eternal, unchanging, omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent, holy, righteous, and loving (2 Cor. 13:14; Col. 1:15-20).
- We believe in the verbal, plenary inspiration of the Bible. That is, it is the infallible Word of God,written by men ‘inspired’ by the Holy Spirit. As such, it, and not man, is the standard of truth (Jeremiah 9:23-24; Colossians 2:8; 2 Tim. 3:16-17). It is the ultimate source of knowledge about God and the only definitive guide for our daily lives.
- We believe the primary goal of life and educationto be the glory of God which comes about byliving a life that uses all our talents while pointing to Jesus Christ.
- We believe the gospel that, a) The only Son of God (Jesus) came in the flesh to take the sins of the world, was crucified, died, was buried and on the third day was raised from the dead (Romans 5:8; 1 Cor. 15:1-3), and that b) All who believe on His name are forgiven and granted eternal life (John 1:11-13, 5:24; Romans 4:5; Titus 3:5).
- We believe that every believer in Christ is inhabited by the Holy Spirit, and called through Him to “do greater works than (Jesus) did” (John 14:12). We believe that Christians need to learn to walk in the Spiritso they reflect the fruit thereof (Gal. 5:22-23).
- We agree with the Nicene Creed and the historic tenets ‘by Scripture alone’, ‘by the cross alone’, ‘by grace alone’, ‘by faith alone’, ‘Christ alone’, and ‘glory to God alone’.
- We seek to promote unity and charity among those who affirm these truths but have differing convictions withinsome areas of Christian life. We teach and apply dogmatically and unapologetically these truths, but acknowledge that sincere Christians hold differing views on certain non-essential issues.
1.6Secondary Doctrines
For less central, less foundational, doctrinal issues (such as mode of baptism, eschatology, church governance, etc.) that are not covered in the ECA Statement of Faith, our faculty will follow the following guidelines:
Classroom discussion of secondary doctrine should be on an informative, non-partisan level; ECA employees must be careful not to speak to the students in a manner that would cause offense to the secondary doctrinal positions of parents;
On discussion of secondary doctrine issues, presentation of various perspectives of an issue is expected. Teachers should encourage active Biblical dialogue on these issues but not to promote their personal convictions;
The employee should encourage the students to follow up any questions they have with their parents and pastor.
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1.7Controversial Subjects
Eukarya Christian Academy seeks to respect the convictions of parents and teachers in various academic subject areas, while at the same time maintaining our goal of teaching all subjects in the light of a comprehensive biblical, Christian worldview. There are some subjects that many consider divisive. When such a subject comes up in class, and discussion of it is not part of the goals of the class, the teacher will not allow class time for discussion of that topic.
However, in the event that the controversial topic is a part of the class goals (e.g., defining marriage in a course on world civilization), the teacher will guide the discussion by a) exhibiting and expecting students to exhibit charity and respect to others as perspectives are discussed, b) by instructing students to respect the teaching from their parents and church, and c) by directing the students to examine each perspective on the issue from what the Bible says about a matter. The goal is to teach students to understandcommon divergent views, to know and understand what God says about it in His Word, and to develop thoughtful convictions for themselves - without engaging in adversarial relationships in class.
1.8Our Community
Eukarya partners with parents in raising children to know and live for Christ. Every staff and Board member must be a professing Christian and each parentagrees to support the school’s philosophy and methodology. Key elements of classical Protestant Christianity, as expressed in our Statement of Faith, are taught throughout the curriculum. Parents who choose ECA are expected to cooperate willingly with the philosophy, policies, and curriculum of the school.Our goal is to provide an engaging academic environment that also nurtures our students in our Christian faith and heritage.
The phrase Soli Deo Gloria means “to God alone be glory.” Our desire is that the entire orientation of the community, mission and work of ECA would be to the glory of God.
1.9Non-discriminatory Policy
ECA admits students of any race, color, national or ethnic origin to all rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the school. It does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national or ethnic origin in administration of its educational policies, admissions policies, or any other school- administered programs.
1.10Organizational Structure
ECA is an independent, board-governed school. The overall responsibility of the Board is to advance the school according to our statement of faith, under the school’s by-laws in accordance with its stated mission.
The Headmaster is appointed by the Board to be the chief executive of the school, responsible to fulfill the school’s mission through all aspects of the school’s administration and program. All employees of the school are responsible to the the headmaster for the performance of their duties.
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2 Parents at Eukarya Christian Academy
2.1. Parental Support
The family atmosphere and efficiency of Eukarya thrives on the extensive involvement of our parents. Parents are expected to be actively involved in their child’s education at ECA.
2.2.In Loco Parentis (“In the place of parents”)
Webelieve in the priority of the family as instituted by God. No other institution is given the high calling of raising and nurturing children. ECA serves in loco parentis; that is, teachers stand ‘in the parents’ place’ during the school day, training students as we anticipate Christian parents do at home. Weseek a partnership with parents in educatingyour children.
2.3.Classroom Visits
All campus visitors are required to sign-in at the office. We encourage volunteer involvement and parent participation in the classroom. To minimize disruption, parents should contact the teacher or Principal in advance of visiting a classroom and should check in and out at the office at the beginning and end of the visit.
2.4. Communication between Parents and Teachers
A student’s successful experience at ECA depends in part on open communication between the parents and school. This requires persistent effort on both sides combined with mutual trust and respect.Parents wishing to contact faculty may email their teacher directly or leave a message in the office. Please try when possible to contact teachers directly via phone or e-mail in accordance with each teacher’s expressed availability, something you will learn at the back to school night.Regular communication between teachers and parents is critical for the success of the student and for building a supportive relationship with the family. Teachers will do whatever is reasonable to foster open and helpful communication between the home and classroom.