North Raleigh Christian Academy

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Coordinates: 35°52′47.18″N 78°32′35.30″W / 35.8797722, -78.5431389

Location
North Raleigh Christian Academy

School Seal
7300 Perry Creek Road Raleigh, NC, 27616 USA
Information
Religion	Protestant Christian
Denomination	Non-denominational
Superintendent	Dr. Sonny L. Sherrill
Staff	135
Students	1,300
Type	Private
Tuition	$7,116
Grades	K–12
Campus	Suburban, 30 acres
Athletics conference	NCISAA (level 3A), TISAC (varsity), and TMSC (middle school)
Accreditation(s)	SACS, ACSI, CITA
Mascot	Knights
Established	1996
School colors	navy, white, and gold
School verse	Ephesians 6:11
Homepage	www.nrcaknights.com

North Raleigh Christian Academy is a private, Christian, coeducational, primary and secondary day school located in Raleigh, North Carolina, United States. Also known as North Raleigh or simply NRCA, the school seeks to educate students in a traditional Christian environment.

1 History
2 Campus
3 School Mission
4 Academics and Curriculum
5 Fine Arts
6 Athletics
7 Student Life
8 References
9 External links

[edit] History

North Raleigh Christian Academy was founded in May 1996 by Dr. Sonny L. Sherrill and a group of teachers from Friendship Christian School in Raleigh, North Carolina.

The original site of the school was Mt. Vernon Baptist Church located in Raleigh, NC. In its first year, NRCA had 400 students in K–12th grade at its "Falls campus" at Mt. Vernon. In 1998, the school began a second campus with K-6th grade at Open Door Baptist Church where over 140 students arrived its first year. Open Door Baptist supported the "Durant campus" as it grew to over 250 students in three years. Total enrollment at both campuses reached 868 by 2001.

With the purchase of 30 acres on Perry Creek Road in 1999, the school's Board of Governors began plans for the "Perry Creek campus." Ground was broken in the fall of 2000 for the new campus. On August 17, 2002, the K–12th grade "Perry Creek campus" was dedicated. Two days later on August 19, 2002, over 1,100 students entered the doors of the academy. Today, the school continues to grow with nearly 1,300 students.^[1]

[edit] Campus

[edit] School Mission

North Raleigh Christian Academy defines its mission as follows:

[edit] Our Mission

"NRCA is a community Christian school assisting families by providing excellence in academics, fine arts, and athletics while instilling biblical principles in students' lives that they might impact their society for Christ."

[edit] Our Vision

"NRCA stands as a lighthouse to those seeking a Christ-centered place of excellence with a loving and caring environment where students can launch into adult life equipped with the character and skills to navigate successfully for God's service."

[edit] Our Faith

"The general nature and object of North Raleigh Christian Academy shall be to conduct an institution or institutions of learning for the general education of youth in the essentials of culture and its arts and sciences, giving special emphasis to the Christian faith and the ethics revealed in the Holy Scriptures; prepare young people academically and spiritually to impact society; unqualifiedly affirming and teaching the divine inspiration of the entire Bible; the creation of man by the direct act of God; the incarnation and virgin birth of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ; His identification as the Son of God; His vicarious atonement for the sins of all people by the shedding of His blood on the cross; the resurrection of His body from the tomb; His power to save mankind from sin; the new birth through the regeneration by the Holy Spirit; and the gift of eternal life by the grace of God."

The school verse is Ephesians 6:11: "Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil."^[2]

[edit] Academics and Curriculum

North Raleigh Christian Academy is an accredited, state-approved, college-preparatory school. The school’s accreditations include: SACS (Southern Association of Colleges and Schools), ACSI (Association of Christian Schools International), and CITA (Commission on International and Trans-Regional Accreditation). The school’s elementary students average 2-4 years above the national average on the Stanford 10, and middle school students score 3 to 4 years above the national average on the SAT 10. Senior classes have consistently averaged above 1150 on the SAT, and have been accepted to some of the top universities in the country. NRCA is also a member of the National Honor Society and the National Junior Honor Society.

The elementary grades use the A Beka curriculum, Shurley Grammar, A Reason for Science, ACSI Bible, ACSI Spelling, and additional supplements. Electives offered on the elementary level include: computers, Spanish, art, physical education, choral, band, and library. A system of academic field trips for elementary through 12th grade accents the classroom experience.

The middle and high school use a combination of A Beka, Bob Jones University Press, Prentice-Hall, Scott Foresman, and other texts. Middle and high school Bible curriculum is an assortment of Bob Jones University Press, A Beka, Summit Ministries, ACSI, and current authors such as James Dobson and Henry Blackaby. All 7th and 8th grade students are required to take Latin I and II. In addition to the three track adacemic system of general, college-preparatory, and honors tracks for high school students, advanced placement classes for college credit are also offered. Current advanced placement classes inclued: biology, chemistry, physics, computer science, calculus, European history, American history, psychology, and English. Honors classes are available in college math, Spanish III, advanced math, economics, and English. Computer and science labs also help prepare students academically.^[3]

[edit] Fine Arts

NRCA students may partipate in 54 concerts and recitals each year. Students may participate in the nation’s largest ACSI fine arts festival hosted by NRCA. Over 1500 students from a three state area representing close to 30 schools compete in a one-day event where the groups showcase their talents in music, art, and piano competitions.

[edit] Music

Music and band are offered on the elementary level. Middle and high school students are offered participation in several choral and instrumental groups (including auditioned ensembles and jazz and marching bands). NRCA also offers piano and strings lessons during the school day. These lessons are offered by professional instructors at a per lesson fee.

Middle and high school students are offered participation in drama, dance, set design, art, photo journalism, speech, video broadcasting, and yearbook.

NRCA also participates in the ACSI math league, math olympics, spelling bee, speech competition, and science fair.

[edit] Drama

Students are lead through many aspects of drama including acting, improvisation, theater history, technical theater and more. Two major theater productions and several chapel performances take place each year.

Drama classes are open to students in grades 6-12, including an Honors Theater class for high school students having successfully completed Drama I.

Every year the theater department produces two large scale, Broadway style shows. Past presentations have included Sound of Music, At the Table, OKLAHOMA, A Night to Remember, The Wiz, Journey of a Dreamer, West Side Story, ONE, Singin’ in the Rain, Little Women, Thoroughly Modern Mille, Pride and Prejudice, and Beauty and the Beast.

[edit] Dance

Dance classes at NRCA include barre training and conditioning as well as choreography in various styles of liturgical, ballet, and contemporary dance. Students perform in chapels, theater productions, and in an annual dance recital in the spring.

[edit] Visual arts

NRCA claims their goal in the Visual Arts program is to provide each student with:

An awareness of their God-given gifts and abilities;
A sensitivity to God's creation and a means to respond to what they see;
The opportunity to express ideas visually, by developing skills in drawing, painting, sculpting, designing, and crafting.
A fundamental knowledge of artistic heritage and how art history relates to the present.
The opportunity to make qualitative visual judgments as they learn to appreciate diverse expressions of creativity.

[edit] Publications

A yearbook is published annually, a school newspaper is published monthly, and the students of the fine arts department produce a weekly news broadcast entitled The Knightly News.^[4]

[edit] Athletics

North Raleigh Christian Academy offers competitive sports for males and females beginning in the 6th grade. The school states its athletic program's primary mission is to "assist students in improving and developing physically, personally, and spiritually so that they can apply these skills in all areas of life." Boys' sports include: basketball, baseball, cross country, football, golf, soccer, swimming, tennis, and track. Girls' sports include: basketball, cross country, soccer, softball, swimming, track, tennis, volleyball, and cheerleading.

NRCA is a member of the North Carolina Independent Schools Athletic Association (NCISAA). Since joining the NCISAA in 1997, NRCA teams have won two state championships and have been the state runner up five times. Varsity teams compete at the 3A level in the NCISAA and are members of the Triangle Independent Schools Athletic Conference (TISAC). Middle school teams are members of the Triangle Middle School Conference (TMSC).^[5]

[edit] Student Life

In addition to opportunities in athletics and fine arts, students at NRCA participate in a number of other extra-curricular activities. Some of these include:

student led prayer groups where students meet together for prayer prior to the opening of each school day,
student council where elected class representatives from each class in grades 6-12 engage in self-governance,
community service projects where students of all ages take part in service projects for several organizations including Samaritan's Purse, House of Hope, and the Raleigh Rescue Mission,
junior/senior banquet where the junior class hosts a formal banquet for the senior class,
junior/senior retreat where each fall, the junior and senior classes travel for a weekend rafting and leadership training event,
senior trip where each year the senior class travels to Europe for 10 days,
winter ski getaway where each winter students travel for a spiritual renewal time accompanied by skiing and fellowship, and
ACSI middle and high school leadership conference where teachers select leaders from grades 6-12 to attend this trip for the encouraging and training student leaders.^[6]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

School website