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Posts Tagged "roots"

28 Faithful Years of Life Together

October 23, 2024
By Sonmin Crane, Communications Manager with Roy Griffith, Headmaster

Mr. Roy Griffith, our headmaster, started his journey at Rockbridge Academy in 1997 as a 5th grade teacher joining this start-up classical Christian school. That marked the third year of the school and already it had grown from 23 students the first year to nearly 100. Few people had ever heard of classical education and even fewer of classical Christian education (CCE). Rare indeed were those willing to stake a career on it when no Rockbridge graduates even existed, and we had never taken a Grand Tour before. 

Did this educational methodology actually work? We know the answer today is a resounding, yes, as CCE is now a fast-growing movement. But what was Mr. Griffith thinking 28 years ago? What led him to change careers from an architect to 5th grade teacher? What changes has he seen in CCE, and how is Rockbridge Academy poised to approach the next 30 years? Mr. Griffith shares his story, some of the challenges of the early years, and some words of advice to those just starting their classical Christian educational journey at Rockbridge Academy.

What were you thinking 28 years ago when you changed careers from an architect to a 5th grade teacher with four young children? 
When I came to Rockbridge Academy, my wife, Donna, and I were chasing our first two of eventually, four kids and were deep into learning how to parent as Christians. Ever since we had brought our oldest home from the hospital, one thing persistently tugging on our souls was the conviction that if Ephesians was telling us to bring up our children, "in the fear and admonition of the Lord," it required us to be all in.  We quickly awoke to how central education would be to forming not just their minds but the heart convictions our kids would carry into adulthood. So when I visited Rockbridge Academy during their opening year in 1995, I walked in thinking about an eventual school for my boys, but walked out personally captivated by the classical Christian vision. A thoroughgoing K-12 discipleship of the mind and heart anchored in the sovereignty of Christ and embracing the role of the whole family resonated in my soul. Months later, I couldn't get that vision out of my head, and I really believed the Lord gave me a burning desire to be part of that mission as a teacher. It wasn't an easy decision, as it meant long hours and a significant pay cut. When I proposed the career change to my wife, she responded wryly, "Well, we can try anything for a year." It was a defining moment. God has His ways, as one tentative year turned into twenty-eight.

So when I visited Rockbridge Academy during their opening year in 1995, I walked in thinking about an eventual school for my boys, but walked out personally captivated by the classical Christian vision. A thoroughgoing K-12 discipleship of the mind and heart anchored in the sovereignty of Christ and embracing the role of the whole family resonated in my soul. 

How did you experience God's faithfulness as you took these steps of faith?
The early years were hard but rewarding. I had never before thought I would be a teacher, or thought I had a knack for it. But the Lord hollowed out a little space just for me, and I flourished in the classroom. At the same time, like many start-up Christian schools, all the teachers at Rockbridge literally worked below the poverty line, which had its own stresses. Meanwhile, God surrounded us with a precious school community who cared for our family. Food would show up at our door unannounced. Families took us along on their vacations. I remember one Christmas, a Rockbridge family left a gift anonymously at our front door each night for two weeks leading up to the holiday. We tried hard to catch them in the act, but they were really stealthy. It was both hilarious and heartwarming, and while we had our suspicions, we never found out who it was. My kids were spellbound by the surprise each night. Through it all, both the rewarding moments and the times of greatest stress and difficulty, we look back and see the Lord's hand. As I've come to realize, when God called us to this, He began a discipleship not just of my kids, but of our whole family.

 Through it all, both the rewarding moments and the times of greatest stress and difficulty, we look back and see the Lord's hand. As I've come to realize, when God called us to this, He began a discipleship not just of my kids, but of our whole family.

What were some of the challenges you and those early teachers and administrators faced?
The greatest challenges by far came because none of us had been classically educated. While we were standing on the shoulders of a few slightly older schools trying to do the same thing, everything had to be built from scratch. From curriculum and lesson plans to traditions like feasts and history parades, to figuring out how to shape distinctively classical and Christian music and athletics programs, teachers and administrators were constantly trailblazing. Pioneering is tiring, often hard on relationships, and always fraught with mistakes. We look back on lots of mistakes. (We still make mistakes.) I think the Rockbridge Academy Core Values we articulated distilled from many hard-fought lessons in those early years and helped define who Rockbridge Academy has always aspired to be. 

Have you seen the classical Christian education model change over the last 3 decades?  
I would say that the classical Christian model itself has not fundamentally changed in three decades. Rather, I think our collective understanding of this education, one that had to be recovered from the distant past, has grown tremendously. In light of that fact, I think we have learned to approach the act of educating classically far more humbly than we used to.   

Some would argue that true classical education cannot exist without Christ. What are your thoughts? 
At the risk of losing any of our aforementioned humility, I'd say, "absolutely!" But to back up, answering this question requires us to think historically. Certainly, the educational model of ancient Greeks and Romans developed in a pagan context, and those societies raised some of the greatest philosophers and statesmen in Western History. Early Christians saw what a powerful tool the Greco-Roman culture had developed. But they also realized that all good things only come by the common grace of the Creator, and that Jesus Christ is sovereign over all knowledge. So what we know today as classical education with all the beautiful trappings is something brought to its fullness in the Christian Middle Ages, which purposely threaded the model with deeper truths of the Scriptures. So, while it's possible to just teach classically, we need to remember how empty the wisdom of the world can be. 

How do you see Rockbridge Academy growing and poised to contribute in the next 30 years? 
We are in an exciting time in classical Christian education. The resiliency of this model of education compared to others became very apparent during COVID, so classical Christian schools and homeschool tutorials are now popping up everywhere and flourishing. Because Rockbridge Academy has almost 30 years of trial and error in this space, God has positioned us to have a leading impact on this part of God's kingdom. In many ways, that is already happening through our Summer Teacher Training Conference, hosting classical Christian student teachers, and our semi-annual spring ACCS Auxilium conference for start-up schools. We are actively collaborating with greater organizations like ACCS (Association of Classical Christian Education) and SCL (Society for Classical Learning) to expand upon that influence. But as we too experience growth within, our campus is only so big. I tell people, I never want our campus to grow so big that I can't eventually learn everyone's name. So that means further growth could take many forms, including supporting the classical Christian homeschool movement, planting a satellite campus, or expanding specialized programs for both neurodivergent students or students with more profound disabilities. This is why we must remain prayerful. I'm confident the Lord will lead in a way that causes Rockbridge Academy to continue to accomplish its mission to Christian families.   

What advice do you have for young families and teachers starting their CCE journey at Rockbridge Academy?
Go to church. Study God's Word. Actively pray. Raise your kids in the fear and admonition of the Lord with intentionality. Love on your children's teachers and get to know them. Walk humbly before God as you figure out who your kids are, and once you think you have, prepare for them to change as they grow. Know that doing all of these things, including sending your child to a Christian school is not a formula for success; it is simply acting as obediently as you can. So finally, trust God with the results of each day and each decade they are under your roof.  

Roy Griffith joined Rockbridge Academy as a 5th grade teacher in 1997. He transitioned to grammar school principal in 2012 and then in 2015 took on the role of interim headmaster to headmaster in 2016. Roy's wife, Donna, has served in various roles in Rockbridge history and today uses her gifts in multiple areas of coaching and care coordination for the elderly. Roy and Donna's four children are Rockbridge alumni: Elyse (2019) living locally and finishing her business degree at UMD, Grace (2018) married to Nathan Harrison (2017) and living in Charlotte, NC, Drew (2015) married to Anna (Krauss, 2015) living in Phoenix, AZ, and Nate (2013) married to Emily (Comeau) and teaching upper school science at Elizabeth Seton High School in Bladensburg, MD.  

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Great Is Thy Faithfulness....A Constant Refrain

September 05, 2024
By Mr. Roy Griffith, Headmaster

Because of the Lord’s great love, we are not consumed. His compassions never fail. They are new every morning. Great is Thy Faithfulness! 
Lamentations 3:22-23

Nine years ago, September 2015, the Lord dropped me into the headmaster role at Rockbridge Academy. That first day of school happened to mark the school’s twentieth anniversary. I had been privileged to be a curious by-stander when Rockbridge Academy began as a start-up with only 23 students in 1995. When the Lord navigated me onto the faculty a couple of years later, I took my place among countless folks who have, through the years, labored at this school with the belief that God is doing something inconspicuous but mighty in this small corner of His kingdom. 

I look back now as we approach 450 students and celebrate some 425 alumni from graduating classes spread out over more than two decades and can testify yet again that it is only by God's faithfulness that the doors have opened each day since the very beginning. Only by God’s faithfulness has Christ remained the central focus of our education and discipleship of children, and by His faithfulness, alumni are bringing the lordship of Christ joyfully into their families, their churches, their communities, and their workplaces. 

Though I could point to recent enrollment growth, a history of terrific faculty, the Belvoir property story, or the campus we now inhabit on Evergreen Road as mile markers of God's faithfulness, I think it is the people, continually transformed by the Gospel, that represent God's faithfulness most clearly. Each precious soul that has been part of this community leaves an eternal testimony proclaiming that we have a faithful God. 

When we consider the founders, former faculty, and past administration, and even so many people recently who have gone on to glory, the names are simply too many to list. But it is God who used each one to leave an indelible mark, not merely on the institution of Rockbridge Academy, but more importantly, on His kingdom. The current generation, therefore, is simply the next reverberation of God being God, providing a community that remains unwaveringly about Jesus transforming lives through academics and culture. It is the people—imperfect though we may be until heaven—that continue to be the trophy of God's faithfulness and glory at Rockbridge Academy.

As this September turns to autumn, and the holidays then usher us into 2025, we will turn our attention once again to planning some serious celebration in gratitude. The Rockbridge Academy that will open its doors, Lord willing, a year from now in September of 2025 will officially mark its thirtieth anniversary, and we want that school year to be memorable. There will be celebrations, times to gather old and new folks together, and of course lots of remembering. Remembering is a rehearsal of His faithfulness, and as such, an act of worship.

Remembering is a rehearsal of His faithfulness, and as such, an act of worship.

We want to remember the fact that our school began as an idea the Lord planted in the heart of one couple who, after stumbling upon a book about classical Christian education, could not get this idea of a gospel-saturated, thought-captivating education for their children out of their heads. Gathering a small group of friends, those first board members laid their time, prayers, and credit cards on a kitchen table, expecting, in faith, that God would grow something from the vision He had planted in their hearts.

We want to remember those first teachers…three young women who loved the Lord and loved the prospect of shepherding children; who desired to see their students take every thought captive for Christ.  This was not without risk. At times that first year, they were unsure there would be a paycheck in their box at the end of the month.  

We want to remember those first parents who caught the vision of a thoroughgoing discipleship of children, who signed up their kids for a tiny school that made big promises but, as of yet, had no track record, no traditions, no athletic program, and no students past third grade… therefore no dual college credit program, no graduating classes, and no impressive college acceptances.

We want to remember the generous giving of donors, and a community determined to fund a home on Evergreen Road, not only for their children, but for future generations. And even today in 2024, we both look back and reach forward, giving generously to see the flourishing of a program that has become a haven for Christian families in a greater culture sorely needing reformation. 

In the coming season, we will ready ourselves to remember 30 years-worth of faculty, staff, and administrators, many come and gone, students and families who have moved in and out of the community, grandparents pouring out gifts and prayers, as well as past history parades, Christmas concerts, soccer and lacrosse seasons, sports finales, musicals and soirées, graduations and Grand Tours. At thirty years in 2025, we look forward to glorying in how the Lord, ever faithful, has used young and old faces for long and short seasons to accomplish a remarkable vision, despite our inevitable failings.  His vision. His gospel. His school. His ongoing accomplishments by His faithfulness. 

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The Roots of Rockbridge Academy

January 24, 2024
By Olivia Reardon, Class of 2022

Like most great things in this world, Rockbridge Academy was born out of a problem. In 1994, a few like-minded couples with children reaching school age began to ask the question, “How are we going to educate our kids?” These parents desired a Christ-centered education for their children, yet as they surveyed Maryland's education landscape, they found it severely lacking. Not willing to settle when it came to their children, and especially their children’s relationship with the Lord, these couples set out upon a journey that led to the founding of the school we know and love today. Out of prayerful consideration, dedicated work, and God’s faithfulness, Rockbridge Academy came to be.

Out of prayerful consideration, dedicated work, and God’s faithfulness, Rockbridge Academy came to be.

Rockbridge Academy was founded by Rob and Laura Tucker, Dave and Kim Hatcher, and Mark and Kathy Lease: six parents with strong faith and a clear mission. One of these founders and mother of two Rockbridge graduates, Laura Tucker, says she and the other parents “desired to have a Christ-centered education for [their children] and godly training that reflected their training at home.” Tucker imagined a situation in which the training her children received at home and at school flowed seamlessly together, all pointing toward Christ. Jana Trovato, a parent of five Rockbridge graduates who became a part of the Rockbridge family in its third year, explains that this would look like “subjects taught under the Word of God, from teachers and staff that love God, who loved what they taught, who were aiming to live faithfully to him and to encourage their students in their relationship to Christ.” Clearly, an education in which Christ is foremost was important to Rockbridge founders and early families.

Clearly, an education in which Christ is foremost was important to Rockbridge founders and early families.

With this mission in mind, these parents began to prayerfully consider their options. Trovato cites Recovering the Lost Tools of Learning by Douglas Wilson as a resource that greatly influenced the start of Rockbridge. Recovering the Lost Tools of Learning provides a practical approach to the principles of classical education as outlined by Dorothy Sayers in her essay “The Lost Tools of Learning.” Trovato explains that Rockbridge is “classical in the sense of teaching all subjects via the Trivium: grammar, logic, and rhetoric stages, consistent with the ages of the children and their development stages, in giving the students tools of learning, a love for learning, for life-long learning.” These concepts come straight from Sayers’ essay. Additionally, classical education is focused on educating the students’ hearts and minds. Heidi Stevens, who began teaching at Rockbridge in 1997 and is now a board member, says that “the emphasis on human formation that runs through classical education's content-rich curriculum invites students to seek wisdom and virtue while maturing as whole and able people.” Here was the model of education that would both teach their children academics and nurture their character in submission to God. Now that these couples had their mission and their plan, all that was left to do was pray that if it be His will, God would provide the means to build a school.

Here was the model of education that would both teach their children academics and nurture their character in submission to God.

As one might imagine, starting a school from nothing and no money takes much time and hard work, and the path to establishing Rockbridge was far from straight. Nonetheless, God provided at every turn. Tucker explains that “in July before Rockbridge Academy opened, God provided three teachers with one as a Head of School, and they knew they were not promised a paycheck. Nonetheless, they were convinced that classical Christian education was crucial, and they desired to be a part of it.” One of these teachers was Jen Schingeck, who was convinced to join forces with these founders by reading Recovering the Lost Tools of Learning. In addition to teachers, the founders were searching for a building to house their school. Schingeck explains that the Baldwin Educational building was willing to rent the bottom room of their building to Rockbridge, but it needed renovations. So Rockbridge met at Riva Trace Baptist Church until the renovations were complete. Tucker says, “God provided everything just in time for the doors to open in September 1995. It was truly His work, and He made it clear by keeping the six founders on their knees until the last minute asking Him to provide.” Through the hard work of these founders and God’s faithful hand, Rockbridge Academy opened its doors in 1995 with 23 students K-4th grade.

Through the hard work of these founders and God’s faithful hand, Rockbridge Academy opened its doors in 1995 with 23 students K-4th grade.

Although this was a momentous occasion, it did not mark the end of difficulty and hard work. The first year proved exhausting for these teachers as they taught many subjects and grade levels and developed curriculum. And the teachers were not the only ones sacrificing time and energy for this school; it truly was a community endeavor. Tucker comments that “throughout the first year, [parents] volunteered to sweep the floors and clean the classrooms because they were grateful and delighted to watch their children learn in this classical Christian setting.” But in the midst of these hardships, God continued to provide. He provided people happy to serve their children and their community, the resources needed for the students to continue learning, monthly paychecks for the teachers, and enough students to keep the doors open. In fact, by the second year, God had tripled student attendance. And Rockbridge only continued to grow from there.

Now, 29 years later, it is easy to look back and see God’s faithfulness throughout the life of Rockbridge Academy. The Lord faithfully provided our own campus where over 400 students now learn and fellowship together. Trovato echoes the six founders' vision when she says, “From the beginning, the desire and vision was to build a school that would be for generations, not only for our children, but for our children's children; for generations to come.” Mr. and Mrs. Trovato are able to see the beginnings of this vision as they have a grandson currently in 3rd grade at Rockbridge. Additionally, the Lord continues to provide amazing faculty and staff who all desire to train up the next generation in submission to Christ, of which Jen Schingeck and her husband, Bob, are still a part. The Schingecks’ five children now attend Rockbridge, and Jen notes that “one of the sweetest most amazing things was realizing that in those years that I sacrificed my time and resources to the Lord by working at Rockbridge, the Lord’s plan was for my children to eventually benefit from that work.” God’s faithfulness is always at work, often in ways that we cannot even imagine.

 “From the beginning, the desire and vision was to build a school that would be for generations, not only for our children, but for our children's children; for generations to come.” 

These founders’ vision, mission, and hard work as upheld by God’s faithfulness are the roots of Rockbridge Academy. Although the founders’ idea began as a little mustard seed, their tender care and God’s providence sent its roots down deep and branches high. As our branches continue to soar heavenward, as Rockbridge continues to minister to God’s people, it is my prayer that we never forget the roots that uphold us, for without them this school would never be. In the midst of the Lord’s abundant blessings, let us remain on our knees forever, thanking and praising God for His faithfulness.

 As our branches continue to soar heavenward, as Rockbridge continues to minister to God’s people, it is my prayer that we never forget the roots that uphold us, for without them this school would never be. In the midst of the Lord’s abundant blessings, let us remain on our knees forever, thanking and praising God for His faithfulness.

 

Olivia Reardon, class of 2022, currently attends Messiah University where she studies English, education, and dance. When she is not tutoring at the Writing Center or performing with Messiah's dance ensemble, she can be found reading, spending time with friends, and eating ice cream.

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