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Purpose of Camden Christian School
The purpose of Camden Christian School is to provide an education with biblical perspective. We believe that an education, which includes the truth of God and the Holy Scriptures, is a more complete education. Therefore, it is our goal to provide an education that offers not only quality academics but also scriptural understanding of the worlds, mankind, and God himself. To accomplish this goal, we will apply the truth of Scripture to every subject and situation and make Christ the center of every interest and action.
Camden Christian School is a K-4 through grade twelve private, Christian school operated by Bible Baptist Church of Camdenton, Missouri. The K-4 program was added for school year 2006-07.
Camden Christian School began as a ministry of Bible Baptist Church in 1981, the church having been established a year earlier. The church knew there were parents in its congregation and in the community who desired an alternate education system for their children. They desired a school that held the Holy Scriptures to be the ultimate revealed truth of God to man. They wanted a school that would not only instruct its students in the traditional academic subjects, but also instruct them in the Bible. They believed that the Bible spoke to all men in all areas of life and felt that it should not be excluded from the academic life of their children. They also desired a school that afforded to Jesus Christ His rightful place as the Lord and Savior of the world. They knew the scriptures instructed that Jesus Christ was to have preeminence in all things and felt that included their child’s classroom. Out of the desire to provide this type of school, Camden Christian School came into existence.
Camden Christian School has completed twenty-five years of ministry to the community. The school’s purpose at the beginning remains the same today; to provide a school, which integrates the Bible into all aspects of its work, and to provide an educational opportunity that upholds the truth of the Bible and the deity of Jesus Christ.
Because the sponsoring church is a Baptist church, the nature of the school’s Christian teaching is distinctly Baptist. The school teaches the Bible, as Baptists understand it. This is not to imply a better understanding than other denominations. Children from any denomination are welcome at Camden Christian School. We have had children in our school from many of the churches in the lake area. Church membership is not a requirement, and we do not require our students to adhere to Baptist doctrine in their private life of faith. The school does have a policy of cooperation, which requires students to respect the holiness of scripture and the fundamental teachings concerning Jesus Christ and the church.
The organizational structure of the school includes the pastor of the church as the administrator of the school. The Deacons of the church form the School Board. All staff members of the school are members of Bible Baptist Church.
The school operates in the facilities of Bible Baptist Church and the church provides all utilities for the school. The school operates financially from tuition and three fundraisers each school year. The majority of these funds go to supply the salaries of the school staff, who are paid employees of the church. With the benefit of church supplied facilities and utilities, the school is able to offer their service to the community through a very reasonable tuition. Our tuition is below average when compared to similar Christian schools in Missouri. We realize parents must sacrifice financially to send their children to our school and we desire to keep our service within the reach for those families that desire to participate.
The school’s educational emphasis is on foundational skills, with special attention to the core subjects of Bible, reading, English grammar (including spelling and writing), and mathematics. We are also able to offer the vocational skills of foreign language, typing, and computer science at the high school level.
The school is not accredited by the state of Missouri, but the school does have membership in the American Association of Christian Schools and the Missouri Association of Christian Schools. Both of these organizations offer accrediting status in which the school may participate on a yearly basis.
The school’s curriculum and the majority of its text materials are obtained from two Christian publishers: A Beka Publisher, the publishing house of Pensacola Christian College in Pensacola, Florida; and Bob Jones University Press in Greenville, S. C.
The teaching staff of Camden Christian School currently consists of six full time teachers. Teachers are not certified by the state of Missouri; however, the American Association of Christian Schools does offer a means of certification for our teachers. The school does have a qualified and proficient staff.
The structure of the school utilizes classrooms of combined grades with instruction in a traditional manner conducted by the teacher. The combined classroom used by the school is similar in approach to the historical schoolhouse used in the formative years of our country and still used in some rural settings today. In the elementary school there are two grades to each classroom, with the exception of K-4 . In the junior high and high school there will be two or three grades per classroom depending on the subject being taught. The teacher alternately lectures the grades within his classroom. When lecturing one grade the other grade works on assignments designed to increase proficiency. Especially in the elementary grades we use a great deal of rote memorization to teach Bible verse, math facts, as well as English and phonics rules. We also incorporate some individualized self-instructional material in the junior high and high school grades.
Because of the combined classroom approach, our school limits enrollment to approximately twenty students per classroom. This does greatly limit the overall size of our school, but in the process has the beneficial effect of a low student to teacher ratio, which allows us to emphasize individual attention. Because our school mainstreams all students in the individual classrooms, we are not able to make provisions for students with major learning or behavior disabilities.
The school’s academic program has been very successful for the majority of its students during its years of operation. The American Association of Christian Schools, of which we are a member, typically ranks 1 to 1 ½ years ahead of the national average on the Stanford Achievement Test. Our graduating seniors, on the average, score above the Missouri norm on the college ACT. We have graduated seniors attending colleges and universities across the country including Missouri State in Springfield; the University of Missouri in Columbia; Southwest Baptist College in Bolivar; Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia; Bryan College in Tennessee and Pensacola Christian College in Pensacola, Florida
Parent volunteers, who assist the school in a variety of areas, help the school accomplish its goal of education. To name a few, we have parents who are nap time monitors for the kindergarten classes, parents who come and pray weekly for the students and teachers, parents who assist with our library, parents who conduct an elementary art program, parents who assist with field trips, parents who grade papers, parents who come and listen to elementary reading groups, and parents who organize and operate our fundraisers.
A few years ago, the church built a full sized high school gymnasium, since that time the school has been able to have not only an adequate physical education facility, but also we have a junior high and high school sports program. We offer volleyball and basketball for our girls and basketball for our boys. Through the years our boys have taken the Championship in 1A basketball, runner-up in 2A, and the Sportsmanship trophy at the MCSAA (Missouri Christian School Athletic Association) tournament in Joplin, Missouri. Our girls have placed in the top three spots several years running and have also received the sportsmanship trophy in volleyball and basketball.
Thank you for the opportunity to familiarize you with Camden Christian School. It is a pleasure to be a part of the Camdenton educational community. We appreciate the labor and work of the other educational providers in our area and have profited greatly by their helpfulness through the years. We look forward to many sustained years of ministry in Camdenton. If you have any questions regarding our school, I invite you to contact us by phone or in person at your convenience. Thank you.
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