MISSION & VISION

​

MOTTO

​

“Leading students to Reverence Truth, Desire Goodness, and Rejoice in Beauty”

 

​

SCRIPTURAL INSPIRATION

​

“Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy – meditate on these things.” Philippians 4: 8 (NKJV)

 

​

​MISSION

​

St. Timothy’s Classical Academy equips children of faithful Christian families with the classical tools of learning through an exceptional education rooted in the deep cultural and Christian heritage of Western civilization, enabling them to understand the past, engage the present, and form the future to serve God and neighbour to the best of their abilities. 

 

​

​VISION

• students that are excited and challenged by learning, who are inquisitive and generous in mind and heart, and healthy in body, and who are growing to be fully alive to the Glory of God;

• faithful Christian families and teachers from diverse churches and communities, and cultural and financial backgrounds, seeking to pray and work together to educate their children and renew their communities with a common core commitment to historical orthodox Christian faith; 

• a community of learning that seeks to intelligently and compassionately engage and serve the world, according to Christ's teaching to love one’s neighbour.

 

​

​PHILOSOPHY

​

St. Timothy's aspires to be a joyful community of educational excellence that supports parents as primary educators in raising children to realize the essential summons to "love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength and with all your mind," and to "Love your neighbour as yourself" (Luke 10:27). As an interdenominational Christian initiative, we emphasize those truths that Christians have believed in for centuries, across boundaries of time, place, race, tradition, and culture, while leaving unique practices not common to all Christians to home and church. Through a classical curriculum, we engage a tradition of excellence in thought, word, and deed, where students may grow in fullness of life to "reverence truth, desire goodness, and rejoice in beauty; so that all may come to know and worship God, the giver of all that is good" (Collect from the Anglican Book of Common Prayer).

 

We assert that the best way to prepare children for life in the contemporary context is by following the classical approach to education, which derives from the medieval curriculum known as the Trivium or "three-fold way." Instruction in the Trivium involves equipping students with the essential tools of learning: the ability to retain facts easily, to think logically, and to express ideas eloquently. Children educated in this way are best enabled to understand and engage the rich intellectual and artistic heritage upon which Canadian society was built. A St. Timothy's education applies the classical approach to learning English, French, and Latin; reading the great books; studying history, mathematics, and the sciences; and growing in artistic and musical skill and physical fitness.

​​

​​

​

FOUNDATIONAL PRINCIPLES​ & PRACTICES

​

St. Timothy’s mission and vision is further outlined below in a series of principles and practices.  We believe these principles are a necessary outworking of the mission and vision as outlined above and that the practices are a logical means of embodying those principles into daily life.  As such both the principles and practices represent the essential embodiment of the mission and vision of the school.

 

​

​PRAYER & FAITH PRACTICE

​

St. Timothy’s is an interdenominational Christian school united by confession of Jesus Christ as Lord, the Nicene Creed, and the school’s Statement of Faith. We believe in the importance of regular prayer as the necessary means of ensuring that we remain faithful to our vision.

​

St. Timothy’s will begin and end all meetings related to its business and operations with prayer.

​

St. Timothy’s will have a prayer team and prayer network that prays regularly for the purposes of founding the school’s work on God’s direction.

​

To maintain our inter-denominational Christian character, the school’s daily common worship focuses on historically important and theologically common hymns and prayers, and the recitation of Scripture.

​​

​

​BOARD & STAFF

​

In order to maintain the mission and vision of our school it is imperative that our Board andsStaff are fully committed to our orthodox statement of faith, our inter-denominational character, and our commitment to an excellent classical education.

 

The Board and staff will be practicing, theologically orthodox Christians who exhibit leadership in the Christian community and are in full agreement with the school’s Statement of Faith. They should be knowledgeable and passionate about classical Christian education.

 

Both Board and staff are required to develop and be able to articulate an understanding of the classical approach to education.  

 

St. Timothy’s will seek to have a diverse mix of the major Christian churches represented at both the Board and staff level.

 

A goal is to have the board consist of a good representation of current parents, former parents, and members of the wider Christian community.  

 

The school will seek to employ teachers with a mature subject-knowledge, natural teaching ability, experience with and love of children, and who are intentional about fostering a culture of learning and excellence in the classical tradition.

 

St. Timothy’s will strive to provide classical teacher training to teachers on a regular basis.

 

​

FINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

​

St. Timothy’s will seek to keep per-child tuition costs affordable through focusing on doing the basics of education very well.

 

St. Timothy’s desires to pay our teachers a fair wage.

 

St. Timothy’s is committed to avoiding debt.

 

St. Timothy’s will not sacrifice its basic identity or accessibility for the purposes of revenue and will continue to trust in God’s provision.

 

St. Timothy’s will, on an annual basis, seek to establish a balanced budget. Should a deficit budget be deemed necessary, St. Timothy’s will ensure that sufficient funds are available to cover any shortfall. In other words, St. Timothy’s will avoid taking out loans to make up for revenue shortfalls, except in the case of reasonable loans for building ownership and development.

 

St. Timothy’s will provide fair wages for its teachers.

 

St. Timothy’s will provide affordable classical, Christian education.  

 

St. Timothy’s goal is that most families pay full tuition. However, the school will aim to provide financial assistance to families with demonstrated need.

 

Families at St. Timothy’s are expected to honour financial commitments to the school. 

 

The tuition model will seek to accommodate large families.

 

St. Timothy’s will seek to partner with other Christian organizations when possible to keep costs down. 

 

​

FAMILIES & THE HOMESCHOOL COVENANT

​

St. Timothy’s recognizes parents as the primary educators of their children. St. Timothy’s does not function above parental authority, but rather with delegated authority from the parents.  

 

We recognize that the ability of the school to provide the education we aspire to, depends on a shared commitment between the families to re-inforce in the home, both in word and deed, our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and the same dedication to the classical approach to education rooted in the Bible.

 

St. Timothy’s will accordingly consult with and welcome parents into school discussions and actively seek feedback. Parents are likewise expected to support teachers and those in positions of school authority and to reinforce what is being taught in school.

 

Families of children at St. Timothy’s are expected to ground learning at the school with daily family prayer and devotions, creative play, developing good work habits, limiting the amount of time using electronic media, encouraging healthy eating and activity, and being active and responsible community members and stewards of financial and material resources. 

 

In order to recognize parents as the primary educators of their children, St. Timothy’s commits to an early end to the school day. While we recognize that not all families will be able to take full advantage of this, we are committed to guarding that time for families to be together when possible.

 

All families whose children attend St. Timothy’s must agree with the school’s Statement of Faith and be practicing Christians. 

 

As believing Christians, Board members, parents, and staff are expected to demonstrate, and strive to model, Christian virtue in their interactions with each other.

 

All families are required to volunteer for a set number of hours per year.

 

Families will pray regularly for St. Timothy’s.

 

​

​STUDENTS

​

St. Timothy’s is committed to ensuring an academic standard that challenges most children without overwhelming them.

 

As a result of this principle, while we continue to have split grades and limited staffing, the following practices are necessary in order to ensure that our staff are able to maintain the academic standard.

 

Children at St. Timothy’s will be academically able. 

 

Children who have been diagnosed with a learning disability will be required to meet the same academic standards as all the other children in their grade level.

 

Children who have been diagnosed with a learning disability will be given as much individual instruction and encouragement as their classmates, and extra resources to the extent that it can be reasonably accommodated.

 

Children who are not able to keep up will either be held back a year or may be denied admittance the following year.

 

Children with a severe learning disability will not be admitted to St. Timothy’s without adequate staff, funding, and facilities.

​​

​

ACADEMICS

​

​The teaching of subjects and academic content will be guided by the classical methodological approach to teaching and instruction.

 

St. Timothy’s will maintain high academic standards, and seek to regularly review and evaluate the program in order to assess its quality. This applies primarily to methodology and content but also to grade expectations and student achievement.

 

St. Timothy’s will always seek to do the basics of education well: ensuring that the foundations of learning in all subjects are very solid.

 

Courses will include: Bible, Mathematics, Science, History, Geography, English, Reading, French, Latin (formally beginning grade 4), Music (theory and choral), Physical Education, Logic (grade 7 and 8), Art, and Virtue (regular talks on classical and Christian virtues).

 

​

​CLASS SIZE

​

St. Timothy’s will seek to have grade class sizes that allow our teachers to have time not only to teach but also mentor their students “in the way they ought to live”.

​

St. Timothy’s seeks to have a maximum single–grade class size of 20 students per teacher. Combined-grade classes should not have more than 15 students, and should only be kept for as long as absolutely necessary.

 

​

​APPEARANCE

​

St. Timothy’s will make efforts to exhibit classical beauty and order, simplicity and elegance. People should sense a tangible “difference” when entering St. Timothy’s.

 

​

UNIFORM & BRANDS

​

St. Timothy’s seeks to encourage students to see each other as equally valuable and beloved in the sight of God. We believe that a uniform helps in this endeavour by removing opportunities for superficial points of comparison.

 

St. Timothy’s supports a “media-brand” free environment in order to minimize the impact of mass-media brand names in the school and on student attitudes.

 

All students at the school will wear a uniform. The uniform will: 

• maintain order in physical appearance to better focus minds and hearts on the school’s program

• simplify the organization of clothes for parents

• be modest in style

• be affordable

• balance the principles of smartness, comfort, practicality, and affordability

 

​

ORDER & DISCIPLINE

​

The school demands a high level of respect and discipline from students and teachers. 

 

Some examples of this include: students lining up to go into or out of the school should stand still and quietly; students sitting in their seats should sit straight and not slouch; students should rise at their desks when a visitor from outside the school enters the classroom.

 

​

SAFETY

​

The board will enact and enforce health and safety policies, in accordance with applicable laws and insurance requirements, to protect students, staff, volunteers, and visitors.

​​

​

MEDIA

​

St. Timothy’s strongly encourages that all St. Timothy’s families limit the amount of time their children spend with television, video games, and computers, especially the internet. Emphasizing reading, creative play and the arts, and physical activity at home is an important complement to strengthen the school’s program goals of the strong moral, intellectual, and emotional development of its pupils.

 

​

PLAY

​

Free play is very important for children. Unfortunately, fear about any injury or possible litigation has caused many schools to severely restrict play on their premises. St. Timothy’s will seek to be a place where play is encouraged, and will be careful to restrict aspects of play only if there is a clear possibility of serious or repeated injury. 

​

Because of the importance placed by St. Timothy’s on play, students will have one “non-academic” afternoon each week, consisting of games and/or sports.

 

​

ATHLETICS & FITNESS

​

St. Timothy’s believes that exercise and fitness are very important for a healthy mind and are essential to a proper education. 

 

St. Timothy’s will aim to have a focused time every day of high-intensity fitness (at least 15 minutes), with extended athletics (at least 40 minutes) at least twice per week.

 

St. Timothy’s will also seek to enlist the assistance of volunteers and parents for school sports. 

 

St. Timothy’s will also encourage physical activity during recess and lunch breaks.

 

​

AIMING FOR EXCELLENCE

​

St. Timothy’s encourages healthy competition as a means of spurring on students to do their best. 

 

St. Timothy’s will formally recognize excellence in student accomplishment in areas including, but not limited to, virtue and character, academics, athletics, and the arts. Such recognition will be focused on a humble acknowledgment of God’s gifts and emphasize the importance of character development through the practice of virtues such as diligence, charity, and hard work.  

 

HOMEWORK

​

It is not St. Timothy’s intent to overwhelm children with homework. Much homework is often erroneously believed to characterize “good” schools. We believe that at a young age (to grade three), homework is largely unnecessary and may be academically counter-productive. 

​

Families can support their children through such activities as memorizing scripture, reading aloud, and reinforcing math facts. 

 

Students in all grades will complete at home any work that was reasonably expected to be done in class through efficient use of time. 

 

Beginning in grade five, students will be given increasing amounts of homework as their workload increases.

​​

​

MEDIA TECHNOLOGY

​

St. Timothy’s believes that media technology in elementary and middle school classrooms is generally a distraction from learning the basics in a strong liberal arts education.

 

​

SCHOOL CALENDAR

​

St. Timothy’s calendar will recognize the principal historical religious days (i.e. Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, Theophany, Lent, Easter, and Pentecost) on the Catholic, Protestant, and Orthodox calendars.

​

For the purpose of allowing teachers to advance their planning, the Academy will have one Professional Development (PD) day per month when there is not an extended holiday in the same month.

​

Holidays will generally be the following: two weeks at Christmas (Protestant/Catholic calendar), one week in February, one week either during Holy Week or Easter Week (Protestant/Catholic calendar), a long weekend to coincide with the public school March break, and school will end the second last week of June and begin again after Labour Day.

 

​

COMMUNITY OUTREACH

​

St. Timothy’s will seek to serve and engage with other schools, community projects, and the broader non-Christian community in order to instill in students a strong sense of civic service, participation, and responsibility.

 

​​
 

APPENDIX A: OUR MENTOR ORGANIZATIONS & RESOURCES

​

St. Timothy’s models itself on several schools and resources that have demonstrated a high degree of Christian and classical academic excellence, and makes significant use of their resource materials:

• The Logos School, Idaho (Reformed, founding charter school of the Association of Christian and Classical Schools)

• The Highlands Latin School, Kentucky (Interdenominational Christian, associated with Memoria Press)

• The Angelicum Academy, California (Catholic, Great Books Programme, associated with Mortimer Adler’s Great Books Academy)

• The Well-Trained Mind by Susan and Jesse Wise Bauer

• The Case for Classical Christian Education by Douglas Wilson

• The Lost Tools of Learning by Dorothy Sayers​

​

​​

​

APPENDIX B: HISTORY

​

In September 2003, several Ottawa families decided to explore the possibility of opening a Christian primary school in west-end Ottawa that followed the classical method of instruction, with an emphasis on learning the great ideas of western civilization. The school was inspired by the educational approach of Augustine College, a one-year Christian liberal arts post-secondary school programme. St. Timothy’s opened its doors in 2004 to thirteen students in grades one to four, employed one full time staff person, and was located in Bromley Road Baptist Church.

​

​