MORE THAN JUST A SCHOOL
At ACS, we aim to be so much more than just a school! We like to use words like innovative, street smart, entrepreneurial, and courageous to describe ourselves.
But don’t just take our word for it—we asked on Facebook for people to choose one word to describe ACS and here’s what they came up with:
| Family | Prepared | Fun | Amazing |
| Warm | Blessing | Relational | Fruitful |
| Caring | Involved | Community | Shine |
| Intentional | Shaping | Love | Light |
In Their Words
“I feel so blessed to go to such an unreal school like Abbotsford Christian School. Thank you for your care through out the years. It was more than just a high school for me.”
Jun, Grade 12 student
MIND. HEART. SOUL.
The mission of Abbotsford Christian School is simple, but clear: “Engaging minds, nurturing hearts, and shaping God’s world.” It might not be a lot of words, but it is sure packed with meaning for us. So what do each of these phrases mean? What does this mission look like in real life? Here’s the answer:
ENGAGING MINDS means that teachers create an environment where students become naturally curious to interact with their learning, their discoveries, and the solving of real world problems. Students don’t just fill in worksheets about Medieval Times. They design and create castles and put on a Medieval fair for the whole community. Now that’s engaging!
NURTURING HEARTS means that we are interested in developing the inside of our students. We do this through significant adult-student relationships, with the big picture view of developing character traits like responsibility, empathy, integrity, courage, and respect. Students won’t just be given a Bible verse to learn, they’ll be challenged with a driving question to ask how God’s truth can affect the work they are doing or how the truth will be revealed.
SHAPING GOD’S WORLD means we don’t just prepare students to impact the world after graduation, we do it now—in real time, with real learning. We believe in being agents of Christ in this world—coming alongside our Saviour in the process of renewal. There is no greater calling!
WHY WE’RE DIFFERENT
Project-based learning is involving students in real work, with a real need, for a real audience. Often it is multi-disciplinary (like the real world), it includes 21st Century skills (like collaboration and use of technology), it includes a significant entry event, it answers a driving question, it connects students to adults in industry, it stretches their inquiry, it has a social justice component, and it requires a presentation. One project included the secondary foods and biology classes combining to host a banquet of sustainable seafood for parents, community members, and professionals. All of this occurs in the context of what it means to SHAPE GOD’S WORLD in this 21st Century.
As image bearers of our King, we believe that in partnership with parents, our responsibility as educators is to develop students from the inside out. So in age appropriate ways: we focus on their faith and identity as a Christian, we seek to develop original thought, and we teach students how to think as opposed to just what to think. It’s not about academic excellence that will determine the quality of life of the child (although important); it’s a whole-person perspective that builds a strong Christian worldview to equip them to SHAPE GOD’S WORLD and live into His vision for them.
There is a considerable amount of risk and innovation involved in being an entrepreneur. We believe this type of person SHAPES GOD’S WORLD and we set up our education to reflect attaining this in age appropriate ways (see project-based learning). Entrepreneurs are not only book-smart, they are also street-smart, think outside the box, and have a high level of Emotional Quotient (EQ). We don’t just study about Africa in a textbook, we research a particular industry in a particular culture, we study how to make a business plan, and we execute the business plan for a real world micro-loan organization that supplies money to a single mom for a start-up business in Uganda…and all of this in grade six!
We believe that every child deserves to have their full potential realized. Every child is unique and has a different set of strengths. We want to pattern our structures, our teaching styles, and our strategies to tailor to the needs of each individual student. As a community, we do this through relationships as we seek to know each child. We want each student to feel they belong so they feel safe and secure to learn and realize their potential.
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