Though it was the only school of its kind in the Oklahoma City metropolitan area when it began in 2004, Providence Hall is part of a larger movement—classical Christian education—that is enjoying somewhat of a resurgence nationwide. The Association of Classical and Christian Schools (ACCS), through which Providence Hall will seek accreditation, has 140 member schools teaching approximately 32,000 children. (Regent Preparatory School in Tulsa is an ACCS member school.) ACCS does not have a body of school-performance data for its schools, but as Gene Edward Veith, Jr. and Andrew Kern wrote in their book Classical Education: The Movement Sweeping America (Capital Research Center, 2001), “By all available measurements, the ACCS program is an astonishing success.” Information collected in an informal telephone survey from the following five ACCS schools confirms that observation.
Regents School of Austin (www.regentsschool.com) has been an ACCS member since 1994. In Classical Education: The Movement Sweeping America, Veith and Kern reported that Regents School created a stir when its class outscored by 44 points the SAT national average for high school seniors. But the Regents students were not seniors—they were eighth graders. Regents has now graduated nine classes. One hundred percent of graduates have gone to college, including Duke, the University of Texas, Texas A&M, Pepperdine, and others. The Class of 2004 has 21 seniors, of whom three are National Merit Finalists and seven are National Merit Commended Students. The SAT average for the class of 2004 is 1318.
Cambridge School of Dallas (www.cambridgedallas.org) has been an ACCS member since 1998. According to the school’s website, “Cambridge takes average to above-average students based on ISEE performance, places them in an above-average curriculum and seeks to maximize the potential of every student.” Cambridge has now graduated nine classes. One hundred percent of Cambridge graduates attend college, with 90 percent attending their first-choice college or university. Graduates have been accepted to Vanderbilt, the University of Texas, the London School of Economics, Kenyon College, the University of Virginia, and others. The Class of 2003 had 13 seniors, of whom two were National Merit Finalists and six were National Merit Commended Students. The Class of 2003 received scholarship offers totaling more than $500,000. Over the last four years, the SAT average is 1292.
Logos School (www.logosschool.com) of Moscow, Idaho, has been an ACCS member since 1994. In Classical Education: The Movement Sweeping America, Veith (an OU letters graduate who is now a college professor in Wisconsin) recalled a recent visit to Logos School. After chatting informally with students and reading their papers, he came away asking himself, “These are high school students?” He said they seemed far more accomplished than most of his college students. “The main problem for Logos graduates seems to be the intellectual letdown when they go to college,” he added. The Class of 2003 had 13 seniors, for which the ACT average was 26 and the SAT average was 1141. The Class of 2002 had 21 seniors, of whom two were National Merit Scholars. The ACT average was 27.7 and the SAT average was 1277. The school won the Knowledge Bowl state championship in 2002, and has won the Mock Trial state championship five times.
The Bear Creek School (www.tbcs.org) of Redmond, Washington, has been an ACCS member since 1995. The school has now graduated eight classes, with students going on to Vanderbilt, Penn, the University of St. Andrews, Emory University, and others. The Class of 2004 has 30 seniors, of whom three are National Merit Finalists and three are National Merit Commended Students.
Westminster Academy (www.westminsteracademy.net) of Memphis, Tennessee, has been an ACCS member since 1996. Westminster has now graduated nine classes, with students going on to the University of Chicago, Georgetown, the University of Texas, the University of St. Andrews, and others. The Class of 2004 has 13 seniors, of whom one is a National Merit Semifinalist and two are National Merit Commended Students. The SAT average for the class of 2004 is 1214.
