Our Philosophy of Education
Education at Knox Classical Academy is intentionally ordered, communal, and mastery-oriented. Through a cohort model, we support mastery rather than mere progression. Students advance in learning through deep understanding, sustained practice, and demonstrated competence, not simply by age or calendar year. Instruction prioritizes deep understanding rather than age-based advancement. This continuity enables teachers to know students well, address gaps, and ensure that foundational knowledge and skills are firmly mastered before moving forward.
Classrooms are marked by hospitality, gratitude, discipline, and purposeful instruction, where learning is patient, cumulative, and formative.
Our academic approach is rooted in the classical liberal arts, structured around the Trivium and Quadrivium. Through the Trivium—Grammar, Logic, and Rhetoric—students are taught how to think clearly, reason wisely, and communicate truthfully. Through the Quadrivium—Arithmetic, Geometry, Music, and Astronomy—students encounter the order, beauty, and harmony of God’s creation, developing wonder alongside disciplined inquiry.
Knox Classical Academy is committed to the formation of virtue, respect for rightful authority, and responsible participation in family, church, and community life. All learning is directed toward life in Christ, preparing students to steward their gifts faithfully and to serve with wisdom and courage in a complex world.
Humanities
Humanities
Humanities
The study of Humanities at Knox Academy is a pursuit of truth, goodness, and beauty through the exploration of God’s image bearers—the good, the evil, the sinful, and the redeemed. Ordered toward the formation of students who understand the human story in light of God’s redemptive work, the humanities are rooted in the Christian liberal arts tradition and intentionally integrate Scripture, history, literature, and writing, with God’s Word serving as the ultimate standard of truth and the lens through which all human thought and culture are rightly understood. History is taught as a coherent account of God’s providence over time, while literature gives voice to humanity’s hopes, fears, and longings, shaping the moral imagination as students encounter beauty, brokenness, wisdom, and the need for redemption. Through the careful reading of great works and engagement with enduring ideas, students are formed to be innocent but not naïve, cultivating discernment, empathy, and sound judgment.
Math
Humanities
Humanities
At Knox Academy, mathematics is understood as the study of God’s ordered creation, revealing the beauty, logic, and harmony embedded in the world He has made. Instruction emphasizes deep conceptual understanding rather than rote memorization, guiding students to grasp the why behind mathematical principles. Through patient, mastery-based instruction within a stable learning community, students build strong foundations and progress according to demonstrated understanding. The integration of language and number through problem-solving and word problems cultivates careful reasoning, attention, and perseverance. Our aim is to form students who approach mathematics with confidence, clarity, and wonder, recognizing it as a disciplined pursuit of truth that equips them to steward knowledge faithfully in God’s world.
Science
Humanities
Language
At Knox Academy, the study of science fosters the pursuit of truth, beauty, and wonder as students come to recognize the harmony between God’s Word and the created world. Science is taught as a valuable tool for understanding creation, but not as the ultimate source of truth; it is rightly ordered and integrated with mathematics, philosophy, and the liberal arts. Mastery in science goes beyond the acquisition of facts to a deep and applied understanding of God’s ordered world, cultivated through careful observation, thoughtful discussion, and hands-on investigation. Through this integrated and disciplined approach, students develop humility, curiosity, and discernment as they explore creation and steward knowledge faithfully.
Language
Language
Language
At Knox Academy, the study of language is approached as both a disciplined art and a cultivated love, forming students to read, speak, and write with clarity and purpose. Building on a strong foundation in English grammar, students study Latin to strengthen linguistic precision, deepen logical thinking, and expand vocabulary, recognizing Latin as the root of legal, medical, and Romance languages. This ordered study forms careful and attentive minds while connecting students to the language of the Church and the historical foundations of Western civilization. Through language instruction, students gain not only technical mastery but also a deeper appreciation for the power of words to convey truth, shape culture, and serve faithful communication.
Art
Language
Music
At Knox Academy, art is understood as a visual rhetoric that communicates truth, beauty, and goodness in ways words alone cannot, training the eye to perceive God’s glory in the created world. As image-bearers, students are formed as faithful “sub-creators,” learning to observe carefully and replicate the beauty and order found in creation. This disciplined practice deepens appreciation for God’s wisdom and craftsmanship, sharpens discernment between good and evil, and reinforces biblical truth. In a visually saturated culture, art serves as a powerful apologetic, calling students not only to appreciate beauty but to create works that glorify God and direct others toward His transcendent glory.
Music
Language
Music
At Knox Academy, music reflects God’s order and beauty through rhythm and harmony, revealing truth, goodness, and beauty while directing the heart toward Christ. As a singing people, we recognize music as both a gift from God and a means of glorifying Him, shaping the affections, calming the mind, and awakening the soul. Music is taught as both a language and a disciplined skill, equipping students to hear attentively, sing joyfully, and read music with understanding. Through the cultivation of a strong choral program, Knox Academy seeks to form a joyful and unified community that worships God thoughtfully and faithfully through song.
Who was John Knox?
John Knox was a highly educated man who viewed the Bible as a divine revelation and searched its contents for an understanding of God and His creation. He was a man of incredible vision and courage and, like all the Reformers, he stood against great political and cultural pressure in order to proclaim the truth and purity of the Gospel and Biblical doctrine. He was exemplary in his understanding of the great responsibility that comes with preaching the truth.
In 1547 he was presented with his first call into ministry as a preacher for the Scottish Protestant movement. The weight of this responsibility descended upon him with such force that he broke down and wept and retired to fast and pray for three days before accepting. Such was his understanding of the importance of the pulpit that when he ascended the platform to deliver his first sermon it was to make his loyalties, and his enemies, clear. Preaching forcefully from Daniel seven, Knox drew comparisons between the Pope and the Antichrist, and made clear his allegiance to Scriptural authority alone and his understanding of justification by faith alone.
So strong was his denouncement of Rome that in short order, the French Navy would storm the walls of St. Andrews Castle and take John Knox, along with many other Scottish Protestants and nobility, captive as galley slaves, subject to the French Catholic crown. He spent a full 19 months in the open weather rowing ships, and his health was never fully restored. But Knox’ faith was not shaken.
He would spend the rest of his life striving with the ruling political forces of his day, denouncing not only the papacy but also the divine right of kings. Knox believed in a society where an educated population determines democratically how they are to be governed and where a leader is subject under God to the very laws that they would seek to apply to their subjects.