History

Grace Academy was birthed in August 2008, from a unilateral desire for parent-driven, academically rigorous, and financially affordable Christian education for students in the High Country.

While not affiliated with any particular church or denomination, Grace Academy's founders determined it would be distinctly Christian because of its worldview and its doctrinal commitments, consistent with the reformed faith. It also began as a classical school because its curricula was taught according to the time-proven model of education known as the trivium. These two values continue to this day!

The school’s college model structure combined the best aspects from conventional public, private, and home schools by pairing professional instruction with caring parents at home. It gave time and access, often robbed from parents by the very structure of traditional schools, back to parents in exchange for their commitment to be academically and relationally involved with their students outside of class. This was accomplished by the implementation of a class schedule comprised of two essential parts — the “school classroom”, where professional teachers presented lessons on a once or twice-per-week basis in each subject, and the “home classroom”, where parents oversaw the expansion and completion of the assignments during the remainder of the school week.

Such a structure provided tremendous benefits and opportunities for both conventional and homeschool families in the High Country. This good-faith partnership between parents and teachers made school and home integration both possible and practical, resulting in a family-strengthening, quality education. A cooperative organization of “Extended Learning Days” was established for families whose work schedule required additional educational oversight beyond the school classroom defined above. This “collaborative” value still guides Grace Academy!

Grace Academy began the 2008-2009 academic year with 32 students in kindergarten through eighth grade. Enrollment, over a decade later, has consistently eclipsed 100 students (K-8). An expansion to high school grades is planned for the fall of 2023.