Providence Classical School is a vision taking shape in Newnan, Georgia; a classical Christian school built on the conviction that every subject, every habit, and every love should point to Christ.
Picture an eighteen-year-old who can read a difficult book and understand it, stand before an audience and speak with confidence, and sit across from someone they disagree with and hold a conversation with grace. A young man or woman who knows what they believe, knows why they believe it, and can defend it without arrogance. This is what we are building.
We aim to graduate students who love the truth, who possess the tools to teach themselves any subject, the wisdom to discern what matters, and the character to serve God and neighbor with confidence and humility. We believe this kind of education produces:
A mind trained to distinguish truth from error, grounded in Scripture and the historic Christian faith. Our graduates will not be tossed by every wind of doctrine because they will have been taught to think theologically from childhood.
Graduates who welcome hard questions without fear. A classical education trains students to engage with the strongest versions of opposing arguments and wrestle with them. Confident faith is not fragile faith.
Christians who carry themselves with conviction and grace in every room they enter. Our students will be trained in rhetoric, the art of wise and beautiful persuasion, so they can speak the truth in love wherever God places them.
Men and women who possess the tools of learning and can master any subject they encounter. A Providence graduate will not need to be retaught; they will know how to teach themselves.
Every school, whether it recognizes it or not, answers fundamental questions about what is real, what is true, and what a human life is for. The Greeks had a word for this: paideia (παιδεία), the process of shaping a child's soul to be a citizen of a specific kingdom. No education is neutral in this work. Every classroom is forming students toward something.
This is why we reject the use of "Christian" as a flavor added to an otherwise secular base of knowledge. A faithful Christian school is not a secular institution with a chapel service and a Bible class bolted on. Jesus Christ is Lord over every square inch of the curriculum, from algebra to art. Fathers are commanded in Ephesians 6:4 to raise children in the "paideia of the Lord," and as educators we exist to help fathers fulfill that command.
At Providence, we will surround students with a culture where Christ is the recognized Sovereign over all things, forming students who love the truth and live as distinct citizens of His Kingdom.
It is the God-given authority of parents to educate their children. Thus, we will operate under the delegation of the family, believing the Bible instructs them, and not the state, to be the primary educators of their children. Our only authority to educate is in loco parentis.
We will not apply for or accept federal or state funding, vouchers, or state-sponsored accreditation. The freedom to teach Biblical truth without compromise requires freedom from government entanglement. Providence will be funded by tuition and generous giving, not by taxpayers, because the authority to educate belongs to families and the churches that serve them, not the state.
All knowledge is interrelated. God's character is revealed in His Word and creation and thus connects every subject. As J. Gresham Machen wrote, "The Christian cannot be satisfied so long as any human activity is either opposed to Christianity or out of all connection with Christianity."
God commands us to love Him with our minds (Matt. 22:37). The classical method teaches students how to learn, not only what to learn. It's a method that has endured because it works.
Providence is a Protestant school rooted in the historic Christian faith. All faculty, board members, and families affirm the Apostles' Creed and subscribe to a distinctly Protestant statement of faith. We welcome families from many denominations who share these convictions.
We named this school Providence because we want the name itself to be a confession.
"The providence of God is the almighty power of God everywhere present, whereby He does, as it were, by His hand uphold and govern heaven and earth, with all creatures therein, so that those things which grow in the earth, as likewise rain and drought, fruitfulness and barrenness, meat and drink, health and sickness, riches and poverty; in a word, all things come not rashly by chance, but by His fatherly counsel and will."
An Orthodox Catechism (1680), Q&A 26
Every time we speak the name, it is a reminder that everything, whether in our school, at home, or in nature, is under the Father's hand. We want to graduate students who live with that settled confidence: patient when things are hard, grateful when things are good, and grounded in the knowledge that nothing in their lives is left to chance.1
1 An Orthodox Catechism (1680), Q&A 27
When we use the word "Classical," we are not referring to old books or nostalgia. We are referring to a proven way of forming a human being.
We teach students how to learn. By mastering the tools of language, logic, and persuasion, students are equipped to tackle any subject they encounter for the rest of their lives.
Students enter into the "Great Conversation" of Western Civilization. They will encounter works like Homer's Iliad, Augustine's Confessions, Shakespeare, C.S. Lewis, and Tolkien across the arc of Western civilization. By studying the Great Books, history, and art, students understand their heritage and learn to engage with the greatest minds of history.
We provide a "Liberal" education, derived from the Latin term liber (free). This is not a political statement; it is the basis of an education designed to train a free man or woman to think clearly, judge rightly, and live freely in service to God and neighbor.
In her essay The Lost Tools of Learning, Dorothy Sayers argues that education should follow the natural grain of a child's development. We match instruction to these God-given stages.
Aligns with a child's love of memory and imitation. Instruction focuses on songs, chants, catechisms, and observation to build the fundamental vocabulary of every subject.
Aligns with the awakening of argument. Instruction focuses on formal logic, Socratic dialogue, and understanding cause-and-effect relationships.
Aligns with the desire for self-expression. Instruction focuses on wise and beautiful persuasion, speech, debate, and thesis defense.
History and Literature will be paired chronologically so that students read the Great Books in their historical context, immersed in the world that produced them.
Latin lives on in English and across Western languages. It provides access to original texts of our classical heritage and trains disciplined, logical thinking.
God called the universe into existence out of nothing and instilled it with intrinsic order. Our program trains students in disciplined observation and discovery of that order.
Students will read the whole of Scripture in historical context, trace God's story of redemption from creation to consummation, and study doctrine and apologetics.
We will carefully vet every curriculum we adopt to ensure it faithfully reflects a Christian worldview and the classical tradition. We will not import secular assumptions under a Christian label.
We aspire to be members of the Association of Classical Christian Schools (ACCS) and will use their training resources for our faculty.
Data from the University of Notre Dame "Good Soil" study on ACCS alumni.
In college grades among all school types surveyed, including private preparatory schools.
Attend church at least three times per month, nearly double their peers.
Life satisfaction scores of any group: thankfulness, purpose, and trust.
Divorce rate among all groups surveyed.
More likely to read regularly. 2.6x more likely to pray alone.
Formation is about more than worldview. It is about shaping affections. A student acts according to what they love, not just what they know. At Providence, we will disciple the imagination and habits of our students, training them to love what is true, good, and beautiful.
Our teachers will be the living curriculum. The quality of a school never rises higher than the loves of the teacher. We will seek faculty who model intellectual rigor fused with humility, who love their subjects deeply, and who see teaching as a vocation. All faculty will affirm our statement of faith.
Providence will operate a five-day academic schedule with ample time for deep immersion in academics, fine arts, and daily physical education. Kindergarten will be a half-day program. Students will wear uniforms to reinforce modesty, unity, and focus. We view athletics as part of the curriculum, not a competitor to it. Our fine arts program will develop music, visual art, and drama as expressions of the creativity of the Creator.
Our discipline will focus on repentance and restoration. We will shepherd the heart rather than manage behavior. When a student stumbles, the goal is reconciliation with God, with the community, and with the truth.
Technology in our school will be purposeful and active, never pervasive or passive. We will prioritize formation over addiction. Technology will assist learning but will never replace the relational formation that only a human teacher can provide.
In the Secondary school, students will be sorted into Houses where they remain for their entire tenure. Older students will mentor younger ones, and Houses will compete year-round in academics, athletics, and service through the House Cup. Houses will be organized as brotherhoods and sisterhoods, providing mentorship in Biblical manhood and womanhood. Boys will be challenged to lead, compete, and take risks. Girls will be disciplined in eloquence, hospitality, and the moral courage required to uphold truth. Protocol programs in dining etiquette, ballroom dancing, and formal social skills will train young men and women to carry themselves with dignity.
We believe our students deserve a campus worthy of the vision. We aspire to build an academic village modeled after Thomas Jefferson's design for the University of Virginia: smaller buildings arranged around a central lawn of grass and trees, using classical architecture that speaks a language of order, balance, and beauty. This design allows us to build in phases as funding is received.
Concept rendering of academic village
Concept rendering of indoor building
Concept rendering of track and field
Our plan is to grow organically, adding one grade per year to ensure our culture matures along with our students.
We are in the early stages of building something we believe God has led us to. Providence Classical School is a vision held by families and churches who want to glorify God with the education of their children and raise them in the paideia of the Lord. We believe God is providentially bringing this school into being, and we invite you to be part of it.
We are in the vision-casting and interest-gathering stage, and we are looking for pioneer families, faculty, and partners who share this conviction.
Interested in enrolling your children? We are gathering a list of founding families.
Parent Interest FormCalled to teach? We are looking for faculty who see teaching as a vocation.
Faculty Interest FormBuilding an institution that outlasts us requires sacrificial partnership. We are currently establishing our non-profit status and will announce when tax-deductible giving is available. The return on this investment will not be financial. It will be measured in generations.
Contact UsWe plan to offer needs-based variable tuition to help families access a classical Christian education.
Providence Classical School
Newnan, Georgia
Contact: Zach Miller
[email protected]
