Our Mission & Core Values

Our Mission is strengthen Christian homes by sowing wisdom and harvesting delight by bringing God’s feast and family together. Our organizational core values are celebration, service and excellence. We want to celebrate all of what God has done with joyful hearts, serve his kingdom with ready hands and love him with active minds. Beyond our vision, mission or core values our chief hope is to usher God’s kingdom into every home.

Our curriculum

RCA is proud to utilize the Alveary Curriculum as the foundation of our Community Days. The Alveary is a complete and comprehensive curriculum and teacher training program for homeschools, co-ops, and schools. Their aim is to provide a robust and modern course of study that is both true to Charlotte Mason’s model of education and relevant for 21st-century students living in the United States and Canada.

Our community calendar:

The calendar is designed to reflect our mission and values. Our hope is to design a school calendar that would have times of learning together and times of rest in-between with extended holiday breaks. There are a total of 33 weeks of programming starting at the beginning of September and ending at the end of May with 2 weeks off for Christmas. Community days are Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9 am-3 pm (arrival begins at 8:30 am).

Community Days:

RCA provides two full days of programming entitled Community days.

Community Days on Tuesdays are designed for all students to study American History, Geography, Science, Literature (including Shakespeare), Music and Art Instruction according to the Alveary curriculum. It also includes art and handcraft projects which will be experienced in the afternoon.

Community Days on Thursdays are designed for further study in American History, Geography, Science, and Literature, incorporating hands-on activities in science and geography, adding a Science Lab (Grades 4th on), World History, & Citizenship. It also include Music, Folk dancing, and an extended time of Nature Study.

Community Days are designed so that lessons missed will not cause a student to be behind in class. Students will have no need for lessons at home in these subjects. (except Form 3).

The goal of community days is to experience as much learning together in class as possible with no outside work needed by parent or student.

AT HOME: BIBLE, MATH, WRITING & READING, *ANCIENT HISTORY, *WORLD HISTORY, *SCIENCE

*starting in 7th grade and beyond, single lesson in each led by parent at own pace according to the Alveary Curriculum.

The Community Role:

As a homeschool organization, we operate En Loco Parentis, meaning we get our authority from the parent.  Parents who choose to enroll their children at Redwood Classical Academy are tacitly agreeing to our form of educational instruction and conduct.  While we welcome input, we are transparent about our mission.  Parents are expected to accept our program as a whole.  At the same time, we make reasonable accommodations, when acceptable to our mission, to ensure and expect that parents remain responsible for their child’s education.  

Redwood Classical Academy looks to Scripture to shape its ideals. Fostering godly friendships and building a trusting community of Christian believers is of the utmost importance.  By enrolling your child(ren) in RCA, you are affirming these values and are committing to pursue them with us. 

We neither mandate personal fundraising benchmarks nor do we require a certain number of volunteer service hours.  That being said, we all would agree that community is what we make of it.  While RCA is structured as a drop-off program, it is assumed that all enrolled families understand that relationships are formed and deepened as we do “life together” as a school.  RCA is not a product to be consumed (or a service to be rendered), but an extension of your personal homeschooling aspirations and rhythms. Investing in Redwood Classical Academy’s community is investing in your own home.

OUr Atmosphere:

As a vital part of our programming, RCA takes seriously the atmosphere in which we engage our students. We strive to cultivate an environment accentuated by the grace of Jesus expressed through kindness, respect, and encouragement. More specifically, we expect older students to care for younger students. Girls are to respect boys and boys are to protect and honor girls. All our students should be quick to obey mentors and staff. We discourage exclusive groups of friends per grade. Rather, we promote a more inclusive family-style environment.

In order to create a space that is conducive to learning, RCA seeks to elevate the learning experience with a measure of class and dignity. We desire to expose our students to classic literature - and through great authors, to introduce children to rich characters and engaging stories. We expect children to have active minds characterized by self-control, respect, and graciousness, all of which are necessary to having fruitful discussion in a group setting. We believe that cultivating this kind of learning environment will have a profound impact on the next generation of believers.

Our expectation is for parents of RCA to understand and get to know the learning atmosphere we desire to create. We encourage parents to help shepherd their students in the habits needed to engage in a classroom setting and to encourage staff to do the hard job of cultivating and protecting this effort.

OUr history:

Redwood began with a homeschooling mom in need.  In the spring of 2021, after homeschooling her four children at four different levels she was exhausted and discouraged.  However, the exhaustion that she felt was due to an overwhelming sense that she was failing in every area of her life.  She was not the teacher or mother that she longed for her children because she was pulled in so many different directions and committed herself to an unrealistic and unsustainable level of rigorous academics.  Where was the joy in learning?  Where was the delight in being together?  Why was she homeschooling in the first place?  She had lost her way, her vision, and felt alone.  Her children were disgruntled and stressed.  She knew something had to change but she did not want to give up on her ideals for her children or her home.  Is there a way to make homeschooling more sustainable?  Is there a way to bring peace back into her home?  If homeschooling was her calling, which she believed was from God, she knew she needed to ask for help from others.  As a Christian, she knew that most things in life work best in concert with the body of Christ.  Was there a way to utilize the giftings of others to share the load of homeschooling?  Was there a way to design a community of people to help build accountability?  Did other mothers feel the same way and have the same needs?  From this place of searching, Redwood Classical Academy was born.  

Redwood launched in the fall of 2021 with 45 students and five dedicated parents who wanted to help each other bring rest to their homes.  Redwood spent the first two years working hard casting vision.  In the spring of 2023, RCA made strategic decisions in order to create the sustainability that was needed.  Many hard decisions were made with protecting the christian homes and bringing rest to the home educator in mind.  Organizationally, Redwood spent many hours working to bring clarity to its vision and teaching methods.  Practically, RCA found partnering with the Charlotte Mason Institute for their development of curriculum and pedagogy, dedicating significant resources to their own building space, and committing to a “no homework policy”  was most impactful. 

As RCA continues to grow, their ultimate desire is to procure community partnerships for financial longevity, continue to develop a beautiful physical space for students to flourish, and provide an joyful educational atmosphere of delight-based learning filled with living books.  Most importantly, RCA desires to create a community of like-minded families who are committed to teaching the next generation of believers to honor their Christian heritage, delight in God’s created order, and celebrate the virtues of being made in his image. 

OUr hope:

Our hope is to love the Lord with all of our heart, soul and mind by serving two generations of people. RCA serves two generations of believers (parents and students).  We want to strengthen and serve the home educator's (first generation)  unique calling to equip their students. 

Our hope is to see the first generation become: 

Sustained in their calling, Supported in community & Strong in the Lord.  

Our hope is to see the second generation become: 

Wise in God’s ways, and delighting in God’s world, responding through joyful service while celebrating with God’s people.