By Daniel David Black
Daniel David Black shares the journey of Rochester Classical Academy, a new classical Christian school in Rochester, New York.
“In the Association for Classical Christian Schools (ACCS), about 80 percent of classical schools grew in 2020–21, while fewer than 10 percent declined . . .
The bigger factor is startups,” ACCS president David Goodwin said. “We presently have 91 startups we’re working with, on a base of about 310 members. Normally, we have 30 or so at this time. A threefold increase in ‘normal’ is great. But even better, that’s almost a 25 percent increase in overall membership if all of the startups were to launch . . .
Finding Classical Education
In July 2017, when my oldest child was almost 3, I came across the article “The Exponential Growth of Classical Christian Education” by Sarah Eekhoff Zylstra, published by The Gospel Coalition. Although I have a doctorate and at the time, I had been teaching at the college level for three years, I had never heard of classical Christian education, nor that it was growing—let alone at a significant rate.
After finishing the article, I felt a surge of electricity—the same way I feel when I begin a great book and I’m drawn into the author’s world before the end of the first page. I felt like I stumbled on a secret. I wanted to learn more, and I wanted to tell others. As I researched, I found the classical school movement compelling for several reasons . . .”
