Raleigh Christian Academy (RCA) is a

private Private or privates may refer to: Music * "In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorded ...

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

coeducation Mixed-sex education, also known as mixed-gender education, co-education, or coeducation (abbreviated to co-ed or coed), is a system of education where males and females are educated together. Whereas single-sex education was more common up to ...

al,

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and secondary

day school A day school — as opposed to a boarding school — is an educational institution where children are given instruction during the day, after which the students return to their homes. A day school has full-day programs when compared to a regular s ...

located in

Raleigh Raleigh ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, second-most populous city in the state (after Charlotte, North Carolina, Charlotte) ...

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. Also referred to as simply Raleigh Christian, the school seeks to educate students in a traditional Christian environment.

History

In the fall of 1977, 17 students and 2 teachers met together in the facilities of Beacon Baptist Church (then named First Free Will Baptist Church) in the inaugural year of Raleigh Christian Academy. Pastor Emeritus Randy Cox chose Richard and Gwen Tippett to come and help start the school. With both teaching (and Dr. Tippett doubling as the academy principal) the school began simply with combination classes of kindergarten four- and five-year-olds and first and second graders. Each year, another grade was added, as well as a teacher for that grade. Adding growth slowly and deliberately was by design so that the church could adjust to classroom and faculty needs in a gradual manner. In 1987, under the leadership of Dr. Tippett, Raleigh Christian Academy produced its very first graduating class with 11 seniors receiving diplomas from the school. Since then, hundreds of students have graduated from Raleigh Christian Academy. Today, RCA has an enrollment in preschool through 12th grade of nearly 350 students, a faculty of 35, and a total staff of 60.

Academics

Preschool

RCA offers a

preschool A preschool (sometimes spelled as pre school or pre-school), also known as nursery school, pre-primary school, play school, is an school, educational establishment or learning space offering early childhood education to children before they ...

program for children aged four. They are introduced to

phonics Phonics is a method for teaching reading and writing to beginners. To use phonics is to teach the relationship between the sounds of the spoken language (phonemes), and the letters (graphemes) or groups of letters or syllables of the written ...

cursive Cursive (also known as joined-up writing) is any style of penmanship in which characters are written joined in a flowing manner, generally for the purpose of making writing faster, in contrast to block letters. It varies in functionality and m ...

writing, language development skills, and the

Bible The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) originally writt ...

. Raleigh Christian Academy's stated goal is to provide essential academic skills and character traits that will prepare them for kindergarten and elementary school.

Kindergarten

In the

kindergarten Kindergarten is a preschool educational approach based on playing, singing, practical activities such as drawing, and social interaction as part of the transition from home to school. Such institutions were originally made in the late 18th cen ...

program, students are taught the phonics approach to reading. In math, students count up to one hundred. Using the

A Beka Book Abeka Book, LLC, known as A Beka Book until 2017, is an American publisher affiliated with Pensacola Christian College (PCC) that produces K-12 curriculum materials that are used by Christian schools and homeschooling families around the world. ...

Curriculum, RCA's kindergarten students are taught cursive writing, adding, subtracting, telling time, recognizing and counting money. Science, social studies, health, and the Bible are also taught in the program.

Elementary school

RCA's

elementary school A primary school (in Ireland, India, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, South Africa, and Singapore), elementary school, or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ...

students are taught in a classroom setting focusing on the basics. Each elementary grade has daily classes in Bible, math, phonics/language, spelling, writing, as well as health, history, science, and foreign language. First graders learn sentence structure, while multiplication and division skills are taught in second grade.

Parts of speech In grammar, a part of speech or part-of-speech (abbreviated as POS or PoS, also known as word class or grammatical category) is a category of words (or, more generally, of lexical items) that have similar grammatical properties. Words that are as ...

are introduced in third grade, and students learn to diagram in grade four. Fifth grade students do a complete research paper in preparation for their middle school years.

Middle school

Students have the option to enroll in the academy's accelerated math program. RCA's

middle school Middle school, also known as intermediate school, junior high school, junior secondary school, or lower secondary school, is an educational stage between primary school and secondary school. Afghanistan In Afghanistan, middle school includes g ...

includes changing classes, lockers, and more prominent field trips. With the academy's curriculum, students also prepare science projects, research projects, take computer classes, and participate in physical education daily.

High school

High school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., ...

students are offered honors courses as well as accelerated math program. The school has a small teacher-student ratio in order to keep instruction personal and allow for more individual attention. Raleigh Christian Academy is accredited by the North Carolina Christian School Association (NCCSA) and is in the final stages of gaining accreditation through the

American Association of Christian Schools The American Association of Christian Schools (AACS) is an American fundamentalist organization based in Chattanooga, Tennessee, that unifies individual conservative Protestant schools and statewide Protestant school associations across the count ...

(AACS). The stated goal of the academy is to meet the needs and challenges facing students as they prepare for college. During the last fifteen years, RCA's

SAT The SAT ( ) is a standardized test widely used for college admissions in the United States. Since its debut in 1926, its name and Test score, scoring have changed several times. For much of its history, it was called the Scholastic Aptitude Test ...

results for graduating seniors has averaged 150 points higher than the North Carolina average and over 100 points higher than the national average. SAT scores average between 1150 and 1250.

Fine arts

Music

Weekly music classes are taught to all students beginning in kindergarten. Students may try out for choirs beginning in fourth grade. The senior high

choir A choir ( ), also known as a chorale or chorus (from Latin ''chorus'', meaning 'a dance in a circle') is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform or in other words ...

chorale A chorale is the name of several related musical forms originating in the music genre of the Lutheran chorale: * Hymn tune of a Lutheran hymn (e.g. the melody of " Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme"), or a tune in a similar format (e.g. one o ...

, and ensemble have received numerous awards and recognized nationally for their performances. Students may join one of RCA's three

band Band or BAND may refer to: Places *Bánd, a village in Hungary * Band, Iran, a village in Urmia County, West Azerbaijan Province, Iran * Band, Mureș, a commune in Romania * Band-e Majid Khan, a village in Bukan County, West Azerbaijan Province, ...

programs and begin individual lessons starting in fourth grade. Individual

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

lessons are offered before, during, or after school. The school offers a

strings String or strings may refer to: *String (structure), a long flexible structure made from threads twisted together, which is used to tie, bind, or hang other objects Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Strings'' (1991 film), a Canadian anim ...

program after school four days each week. Students may take private

voice lessons Vocal pedagogy is the study of the art and science of voice instruction. It is used in the teaching of singing and assists in defining what singing is, how singing works, and how singing technique is accomplished. Vocal pedagogy covers a broad r ...

that are taught by the academy's music faculty. Two

handbell A handbell is a bell designed to be rung by hand. To ring a handbell, a ringer grasps the bell by its slightly flexible handle – traditionally made of leather, but often now made of plastic – and moves the arm to make the hinged cla ...

choirs are offered to students in middle school and senior high.

Art

Weekly

art Art is a diverse range of cultural activity centered around ''works'' utilizing creative or imaginative talents, which are expected to evoke a worthwhile experience, generally through an expression of emotional power, conceptual ideas, tec ...

classes are available to all academy students beginning in kindergarten. Art electives are offered to students at RCA beginning in the middle school grades and continuing into senior high school where students can take art courses for credit.

Speech and oratory

Senior high students at Raleigh Christian Academy are required to take a half credit

speech Speech is the use of the human voice as a medium for language. Spoken language combines vowel and consonant sounds to form units of meaning like words, which belong to a language's lexicon. There are many different intentional speech acts, suc ...

and

public speaking Public speaking, is the practice of delivering speeches to a live audience. Throughout history, public speaking has held significant cultural, religious, and political importance, emphasizing the necessity of effective rhetorical skills. It all ...

course as a part of their graduation requirements. Students participate in regular speech and oratory activities on campus and participate in fine arts competitions during the spring semester.

Athletics

RCA offers a range of sports for both middle school and high school students. Girls' sports include

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

cheerleading Cheerleading is an activity in which the participants (called cheerleaders) cheer for their team as a form of encouragement. It can range from chanting slogans to intense Physical exercise, physical activity. It can be performed to motivate s ...

, and

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

Soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

, and

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

, are offered for the boys.

Corporal punishment controversy

In 1984, RCA assistant principal Dwight Ausley was found guilty of

child abuse Child abuse (also called child endangerment or child maltreatment) is physical abuse, physical, child sexual abuse, sexual, emotional and/or psychological abuse, psychological maltreatment or Child neglect, neglect of a child, especially by a p ...

, after he paddled a ten-year-old student who failed to complete a homework assignment. School officials stated the paddling was due to the child's defiant behavior when confronted by the teacher and not due to the missed homework assignment. When the child's mother complained to then RCA principal Richard Tippett about the punishment of her child which left bruises for three weeks, Tippett responded by giving her a taped sermon by Pastor Randy Cox (then pastor of the church associated with Raleigh Christian Academy). In the sermon, Pastor Cox (retired) paraphrased a passage from the Bible by stating, "Better a son dead than disobedient." This account has been disputed by the school. During the trial, District Attorney Deborah Shandles stated that "the child lost his breath and lost his balance and he (Ausley) was so engrossed in the beating he did not notice.... He chose to beat a 10-year-old child to teach him a lesson he would not forget for a long time, all for a homework assignment. That is not an accident, that is malice." On appeal, Ausley was found not guilty by an 11–1 vote. During the appeal, it was discovered that the noted bruising was in fact caused by corporal punishment administered post-incident at home by the child's own father. The superior court judge subsequently dismissed the case. The state appealed the dismissal which brought the case to the court of appeals. The appeals court upheld the superior court's decision to dismiss all charges. The school no longer uses employee-administered corporal punishment. None of the involved parties are still involved with the school leadership.

References

External links

School websiteBeacon Baptist Church website
{{authority control Baptist schools in the United States Christian schools in North Carolina Private schools in Raleigh, North Carolina Private high schools in North Carolina Private middle schools in North Carolina Private elementary schools in North Carolina Schools using the Abeka curriculum