Since 1996, Cary Christian School has sought to provide an excellent classical education founded upon a Biblical worldview. But what does that really mean, and what does it look like?
To celebrate our 25th year, we are highlighting 25 unique characteristics of CCS that will give you a glimpse into what sets us apart from other schools. Read on to see how our values shape every aspect of our school culture, including academics, athletics, fine arts, extracurriculars, and much more.
In 1994 a small group of Christian families, troubled by the fact that there were no Christian schools in Cary, decided they needed a better option for educating their children. Eager to provide an education that was both Christian and academically robust, they began meeting together to discuss the formation of a new school. Like…
Since the beginning of the classical Christian Education movement, Latin has been a distinctive of schools that seek to study God’s Word and the great tradition of learning in the West. As Dorothy Sayers claimed in her seminal essay “The Lost Tools of Learning,” “a rudimentary knowledge of Latin cuts down the labor and pains…
Why can’t we just have all students sitting in front of computers, learning information through the internet? Surely it’s more efficient. There would be no teachers to pay and more students could be taught at once. Well, I can personally attest that that sounds like a terrible idea, especially for the younger students. In elementary…
Partnership, by definition, is the relationship between two parties working toward a common interest. Merriam-Webster describes partnership as a business relationship. The teacher-parent partnership that Cary Christian School has nurtured for twenty-five years can be compared to a construction business. This partnership is a representation of a team of builders, hand-picked by a single, reigning…
A teacher was telling me about her class’s enthusiasm for learning. She said, “I announced it was time to classify a sentence, and the students responded with, ‘Yay!!!’ and ‘Hooray!’” New teachers to our school remark how extraordinary it is that the students genuinely love being in school and enjoy learning. It is my experience…
Photo: Girls Varsity Tennis facing adversity drill (bear crawl and reverse bear crawl) “I want your child to fail. I actually want your child to fail a lot.” Those were some of the first words I spoke to an audience of parents who heard me speak for the first time. Without context or explanation…
In half a dozen classrooms they gather then,—here to follow the love song of Dido, here to listen to the tale of Troy divine; there to wander among the stars, there to wander among men and nations,—and elsewhere other well-worn ways of knowing this queer world. Nothing new, no time-saving devices, simply old time-glorified methods…
Something magical happens when our ladies and gentlemen arrive at school for Snowball, Protocol, and even Hoedown. As they trade their uniforms for formalwear (or western wear), they step into a tradition even older than Cary Christian School. Historically, dances were anticipated as a central social event. They fostered a sense of community, offering participants…
At first glance you probably did a double take when you read the title. You may have said “Did he mean to put those words together in that sentence?” There is no doubt that this is a tremendous undertaking. My children were educated in a classical school, so I am very aware of the concept…
Cary Christian School is not a college prep school. Wait, what? Now, before any of you begin to question the robustness and efficacy of our academic program here at Cary Christian School, let me explain. A plethora of college prep schools exist here in the Triangle area. Each of these institutions, through the implementation of…
I would like to bet you a crisp fiver—if I were the kind of teacher who made bets—that you could walk into my classroom on any given day, ask “Would anyone like to volunteer to read aloud for us?,” and then see hands go up all over the classroom. Once the words, “Would any one…
The Senior Service Practicum has been a capstone of the Cary Christian School experience since 2005. Our desire is to give students an opportunity to step outside of their comfort zones, experience other cultures, serve others, and witness the body of Christ at work in our world. In the past, we have partnered with Churches in Missions in Costa Rica, the…
“The human impulse to create reflects our being created in the image of a Creator God.” – Francis Schaeffer Who we are and how we view the world is often shaped by unexpected struggles, interruptions to our life, things that remind us we are not in control. Our lives and our plans are in God’s…
Did you love science class as a student? Or, did you find it tedious, difficult, or even just plain boring? I will admit, I did not always love science class as a student. I spent many an hour engaged in what felt like meaningless memorizing and busy work, but despite that, I continued to fall…
During my first year as a teacher, there was this moment. We were discussing The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, and the students were trying to prove they were smarter than Edmund. They were adamant that they would not have fallen for the lies of the White Witch. They were all confident that her…
“By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” – John 13:35 One Building One of the first things people notice when they visit Cary Christian School is that all our students, from kindergartners to high school seniors, are in one building. As an alumna, the structure of our community is…
The Presidents Song The Capacity Song As the introverted-est of introverts, I never once answered the question of “What do you want to be when you grow up?” with anything that would require me to do anything in front of anyone. I wanted to be a mailman or a librarian. Furthermore, the last thing I…
What is Knights’ Fest? Field Day? Spirit Week? A study of medieval history? A time of fellowship and fun? The answer is yes . . . all of the above! For about twenty years, Cary Christian School has celebrated Knights’ Fest with a week-long event that includes games and costumes. Knights’ Fest occurs during the…
“You teach logic to middle schoolers???” This question is the most common response I receive when I tell people that I teach eighth grade logic. Others include, “Isn’t that a contradiction?” “They’re too young and wild to study logic!” and my favorite, “That’s got to be a fallacy.” The answer to these questions is another question. I am…
The Association of Classical Christian Schools (ACCS) was started in 1994 to meet the growing demand for information and instruction for the thousands of families who began choosing classical Christian education for their children following the release in 1991 of Douglas Wilson’s book, Recovering the Lost Tools of Learning: An Approach to Distinctively Christian Education. This distinctively Christian education establishes a biblical foundation for all truth, teaches the skills that…
There is perhaps no more misunderstood or misused liberal art than rhetoric. As a “subject” taught in classical schools it is a mystery for those looking in from the outside. What could possibly even be taught in such a class? In a world where the term “empty rhetoric” is a redundancy, why would you ever…
As a lower school teacher, you must be an expert multitasker. In the span of one minute, you may be helping one student with a math problem, opening a thermos for another, and spelling a tough word on a scrap piece of paper, all while keeping an eye on an evolving argument at the back…
As a young girl growing up in a small North Carolina town, I loved playing school and having the complete and total attention of the many stuffed animal students that filled my living room classroom. I knew at seven years old that I wanted to be a teacher. God graciously allowed that dream to become…
“The thesis is there to prove that we are no longer just students, absorbing information from other people. In the thesis project, we find our own sources and reach our own conclusions…we truly have to create something.” This, according to one of our graduates, was the highlight of Cary Christian School’s senior thesis project. After…
