CLPS Mission: Partnering with Parents

Our mission as a Christian educational institution is to partner with like-minded parents to form their children – heart, soul, mind, and body – as defined in our Profile of a Graduate.

        At Christian Life Preparatory School, we recognize and affirm the unique role of parents as primary educators in the life of their child. Here, we understand “educator” in the broadest sense of the formation of the child in his/her entirety, including but not limited to spiritual, academic, physical, and emotional development. Further, we affirm that the purpose of raising a child, recognized as a great responsibility entrusted to parents by God, is to cultivate within the child the two great commandments given by our Lord to love God with all of your heart, soul, and mind and your neighbor as yourself as faithful disciples of Jesus Christ. Finally, we affirm that the primary relationship in this pursuit of raising children exists within the nexus of the family and their Church community.

        Within this context, Christian Life Preparatory School recognizes the unique role it has to play as an educational institution in the lives of students and families as well as our inherent limitations. Fundamentally, we seek to partner with parents in supporting the education of their child in pursuit of the two great commandments. Further, we seek to offer our expertise as academic educators in service to the family, offering a vibrant Christian culture in which students may be academically formed and families may carry out their God-given purpose in the raising and educating of a child.
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​         We offer this profile of a graduate as a statement of what we affirm as our purpose within the broader context of family and church. We believe these qualities of a graduate properly reflect the role of a Christian academic institution in preparing students to be servants of Jesus Christ, church members, spouses, parents, sons and daughter, citizens, and employees as God wills in each student’s life. Thus, as a Christian academic institution, we recognize that academic formation is in part to prepare students for the possibility of a place in the future workforce; however, we want to emphasize that the workforce is only a part of the purpose of academic formation and extends into every aspect of a Christian’s life.

Christ-Centered Relationships

At the core of a flourishing Christian life are relationships – a person’s relationship with God and his  neighbor (Matt. 22:36-40). We hold this aspect of the profile of the graduate as the most basic and important part of the  graduate’s formation. Further, we recognize Christian growth is a life-long process (II Peter 3:18).  As such, the CLPS  graduate will be in a process of growth and maturation as a Christian in relationship to God and his/her  neighbor.
By graduation the student already:
  1. is regularly dedicating time each day to be with the Lord in cultivating a relationship with Him.  (Psalm 46: 10)
  2. understands that his/her primary identity in life as being a Christian within the context of a Christian community of believers.  (Col. 3: 4; John 15: 5; I Cor. 12: 27)
  3. has established a bond of trust, care, and love with his/her family. (I Tim. 5: 8)
  4. has chosen and established meaningful friendships. (Proverbs 12: 26; Proverbs 18: 24)
  5. understands how to properly relate and respond to authority. (Ephesians 6: 1-2; I Thess. 5: 12-13; Hebrews 13:7; I Tim. 5: 17; Romans 13: 1)
  6. understands and is acting on his/her recognition to care for those in need. (Matt. 25: 40; Proverbs 19: 17) 
  7. is growing in the ability to deny oneself and “love one’s enemy.” (Matthew 5: 43-48; Matt. 16: 24)
  8. is aware of and acting on his understanding as a steward of God’ creation. (Gen. 2: 15)
(Relationships included above:  God, self, church, family, friends, authority, those in need, enemy, environment)

Effective Communicators

Effective communication with God and our neighbor are basic to a flourishing Christian life.  Here, communication is understood as prayer, verbal, written, visual, physical appearance, and body language.  As such, we affirm the full breadth of ways in which humans communicate as vital to loving God and our neighbor within the context of healthy relationships. 
By graduation the student already:
  1. understands that prayer is vital to the Christian life and acts daily on this understanding.  (I Thess. 5: 16-18)
  2. understands and is growing in how to effectively verbally communicate within various contexts, recognizing that words are powerful and should be used with discretion and thoughtfulness at all times. (Proverbs 18: 21; Matt. 12: 36-37; Ephesians 4: 29; Col. 4: 6)
  3. is maturing in their ability to write effectively in such a way that he or she can express that which is in his/her mind and heart.
  4. understands that God is the source of all beauty and that visual communication as witnessed to in the arts is a powerful medium of communication that should always reflect the beauty of God.  Within this context, the graduate values and has cultivated a love for the visual arts (Psalm 139: 14; Ecclesiastes 3: 11)
  5. presents him or herself in a pleasant way and with modesty, recognizing that the adornment of the soul is eternal where as outward adornment will pass away.  (Genesis 1: 27; I Peter 3: 3-4; I Tim. 2: 9-10; I Samuel 16: 7)
  6. carries him or herself with poise and a positive presence, recognizing that body language communicates much about a person. (Romans 12: 1-2; I Cor. 6: 20)​

Critical Thinkers

​The mind is a wonderful gift that we are called to cultivate in service to God and our neighbor. Within  this context, we affirm that critical thinking is fundamental to the growth and strengthening of the mind  with an academic institution that reaches across disciplines and academic skills. 
Critical thinking can best be understood through the following definition.  
        Critical thinking is the intellectually disciplined process of actively and skillfully conceptualizing, applying, analyzing, synthesizing, and/or evaluating information gathered from, or generated by, observation, experience, reflection, reasoning, or communication, as a guide to belief and action.  In its exemplary form, it is based on universal intellectual values that transcend subject matter divisions:  clarity, accuracy, precision, consistency, relevance, sound evidence, good reasons, depth, breadth, and fairness.
        It entails the examination of those structures or elements of thought implicit in all reasoning:  purpose, problem, or question-at-issue; assumptions, concepts, empirical grounding; reasoning leading to conclusions; implications and consequences; objections from alternative viewpoints; and frame of reference.  Critical thinking – in being responsive to variable subject matter, issue, and purposes – is incorporated in a family of interwoven modes of thinking, among them:  scientific thinking, mathematical thinking, historical thinking, anthropological thinking, economic thinking, moral thinking, and philosophical thinking  (Micahel Scriven and Richard Paul.  8th Annual International Conference on Critical Thinking and Education Reform, Summer 1987).

By graduation the student already:
  1. is maturing in the ability to understand the logical connections between ideas.
  2. is maturing in the ability to identify, construct, and evaluate arguments.
  3. is maturing in the ability to detect inconsistencies and common mistakes in reasoning.
  4. is maturing in the ability to solve problems systematically.
  5. is maturing in the ability to identify the relevance and importance of ideas.
  6. is maturing in the ability to reflect on the justification of one’s own beliefs and ideas.   (http://philosophy.hku.hk/think/critical/ct.php)
  7. is maturing in the ability to raise vital questions and problems, formulating them clearly and precisely.   (http://www.criticalthinking.org/pages/defining-critical-thinking/766)