About Western Christian Academy

From the Founder:

Thank you for your interest in Western Christian Academy.  As we come alongside parents, in the education of their children, we appreciate the opportunity to work with you in providing an exceptional and personalized academic program. Providing the right educational program is paramount to helping your student maximize his/her academic potential.

As the founder of Western Christian Academy, I am pleased to see the fruit of what God intended when He gave me this vision over 30 years ago. I have 45 years of expertise in the field of education, serving as teacher, principal, curriculum writer and editor, testing specialist, seminar speaker, and instructor for teacher training seminars. I have graduate training in learning disabilities and understand the importance of identifying learning styles and assigning appropriate curriculum to meet the needs of the student. I wholeheartedly embrace differentiated learning and appreciate the uniqueness of each learner.

Please review our website information.  Feel free to use the Contact page to ask questions. You can also call us at 800-868-5839 between 7am-4pm PST.

Clint Kneeland
Western Christian Academy Founder

Mission Statement

Western Christian Academy is dedicated to assisting families, by providing quality academic programs from a Christian worldview, through individualized instruction, and affordability.

Christian Worldview

Every person has a worldview. A worldview, constructed by influences and experiences in life, provide a lens through which the world is viewed and processed. We all believe something, but “why” do we believe it?

The Christian Worldview is a Biblical worldview, whereby life is filtered. It determines how we interact with people by setting a standard of serving others (Romans 12-15; Galatians 5: 22-26; Luke 10: 25-37), and it is the integral part of all we do, and who we are, at Western Christian Academy (WCA). It provides purpose and an anchor in the process of fulfilling our mission. The Christian Worldview is interwoven into all of our curriculum at all grade levels. Therefore, learning at WCA is not just academic, but spiritual as well, developing the whole individual.

Individualized Instruction

This foundational principle of Western Christian Academy (WCA) sets us apart from the ideological theories of education and gets to the heart of education: developing life-long learners, one student at a time. We do not look at an entire class to determine what is best for that class. We look at the individuals of each class and think critically about how we can support that student right where they are, not where they should be. WCA has 4 courses of study for high school students: Basic, General, College Prep, and Honors. Therefore, any student can graduate from Western Christian Academy.

Students are given a Placement Test in Math and English upon entering. The results inform us of the capability of the student by identifying “learning gaps” in their academics. This is critical for Mathematics as it builds upon itself. Students are given curriculum at their functional level, which may or may not be at their academic level. This does not mean students are held back, but allows students to build confidence through individualized instruction as they strive to master their learning gaps, which helps to accelerate their learning. High School students are still earning credit towards graduation, even though they may have a course that is below a high school level.

The Individualized Instruction Pillar of WCA has been a sustaining pillar for over 30 years. It has proven itself repeatedly through the lives of our students and families.

Affordability

The vision behind this pillar of Western Christian Academy (WCA) was to provide an affordable private school education for those families that desired to attend a private school, but could not afford it. For over 30 years, this core value has been nonnegotiable with WCA administration.

Budgets can be tight for many families. This is just one reason why WCA believes in consistency when it comes to tuition. Our goal is to maintain the tuition costs consistently for a minimum of 2 years, thereby helping families to plan ahead for their students education.

Methodology

“How do children learn?” The answer to this question can open the door of success for your child. Recent studies indicate that children:

• Have different learning styles and learn at different rates
• Were created with varying talents and academic potential
• Must master specific development skills
• Learn best through a focus/mastery learning approach
• Increase mastery and retention through repetition and review
• Differ greatly in their abilities to learn through auditory, visual, and kinesthetic/tactile stimuli

Western Christian Academy uses distinctive, individualized, multi-media software from grades 3-12 that specifically addresses their learning style.

• Since children learn with varying learning styles, at different rates, Western Christian Academy provides placement assessments and designs a personalized educational plan for your child.
• Placement testing reveals the developmental skill levels attained. Specific skills are prerequisite to “learning to read,” such as sequencing, left-right coordination, color and shape recognition, and auditory and visual discrimination.
• Children process information differently in varying stages of physical and cognitive development. Our curriculum emphasizes the development of critical thinking skills, deductive reasoning, and logical thinking to better prepare the students for college and success in life.
• Children gain mastery and understanding of academic concepts through different modalities. Some children are strong visual learners, but others learn best through auditory processing. Others are hands-on/tactile learners.
• Western Christian Academy provides curriculum that best meets all learning styles.