Informational Meeting

If you were not able to attend PCA's first informational meeting, we have posted the audio from that event in three parts below. Be sure to check out John Hodges's remarks on the relevance of classical Christian education today.

Note: The volume during Marcus's remarks is low initially, but it improves about one-third of the way through the talk.

Introduction of John Hodges- Holley Peters



Classical Christian Education- John Hodges



Classical Christian Education in Little Rock- Marcus Moody

Three Views of the Trivium

Classical education is a conscious return to the ancient goal of education: teaching children to think and learn for themselves by imparting to them the tools of learning. It is an approach to education that is rooted in the ancient medieval concept of the Trivium. The Trivium is comprised of three basic tools of learning: Grammar (the tool of knowledge), Logic (the tool of reasoning), and Rhetoric (the tool of communication and expression). The Trivium can be viewed as 1) an approach to subjects, 2) an approach to students, and 3) a set of subjects. See the chart below for a brief explanation of the Trivium according to each of these views.

Trivium Category	An Approach to Subjects	An Approach to Students	A Set of Subjects
Grammar	Mastery of fundamental facts and rules.	Elementary Age: Concrete thinkers; Information sponges; Memorization comes naturally.	Formal study of word usage & language structure. Studied in English & Latin.
Logic	Training in comprehension and sound reasoning skills.	Middle School Age: Beginning to think abstractly; Growth of analytical thinking abilities.	The study of the science of sound reasoning and argumentation.
Rhetoric	Development of communication, expression and application skills.	High School Age: Abstract thinkers; Interest in self-expression; communication and creativity.	The study of the effective use of language in speech and writing.

PCA Hosts Its First Public Meeting

On Tuesday, October 27th, Pinnacle Classical Academy hosted its first public informational meeting in the fellowship hall of Covenant Presbyterian Church. We entered the evening with nervous anticipation, wondering who would come and what kinds of reactions we would have towards starting a new private school in Little Rock. We left the evening with excitement and enthusiasm over what God is doing through the birth of Pinnacle Classical Academy. The Lord blessed us with a great crowd of interested, like-minded individuals who are bearing the responsibility to train their children to love the Lord their God will all their heart, soul, mind, and strength.

We are thankful for the many generous women who provided delicious desserts for the evening! We were also blessed by our keynote speaker, Mr. John Hodges - founding board member of Westminster Academy in Memphis, TN. Mr. Hodges clearly expressed the need for change in modern education, and he explained how classical, Christian education trains a soul to love that which is worth loving and to become eternal students of the person of God - not just intelligent individuals suited for a temporal vocation here on Earth.

PCA's Chairman of the Board of Directors, Dr. Marcus Moody, shared how he and his wife, along with board members David and Mary Peery, arrived at the decision to begin founding Pinnacle Classical Academy. He also shared the many ways that the Board has already seen God opening doors for PCA and blessing its efforts. His talk was a great reminder of the providence and sovereignty of God.

Overall, PCA's first public meeting was a wonderful night, full of excitement and anticipation. If you were unable to attend the meeting but are interested in PCA and in classical, Christian education, we will soon be posting the audio recording from Tuesday night's events. Check back soon to listen to Mr. Hodges' and Dr. Moody's talks.

PCA will be hosting other opportunities to share its vision for classical, Christian education in Little Rock. We plan to host another public informational meeting early in 2010, and we will have other gatherings scheduled between now and then. Keep checking our blog for up-to-date information on these events. And, as always, please feel free to contact us if you would like to talk individually about classical, Christian education. We would love to meet you!

If you are a new reader of Pinnacle Classical Academy's blog -- welcome! We're glad that you are curious about classical, Christian education and what God is doing with PCA. If you've been visiting our blog for a while now, we thank you for your continued interest and support! We are excited to see you all at our public informational meeting and to share with you personally how God is blessing us through this adventure.

If you're wondering about some of the distinctives of classical, Christian education - but you are not quite ready to read a whole book about it - click on the links below. Perhaps these summary articles will whet your appetite, giving you a desire to dig deeper.

Jonathan Edwards Classical Academy opened this fall in Nashville, TN. Here is a link to their summary of CCE: http://www.jecanashville.org/index.php/about/what-is-classical-education

Our Savior Lutheran School in Houston, TX, has been around since 1946. Click here to read their explanation of CCE: http://www.oslschool.org/index.php?pgid=7&subid=31

"Good Search" for PCA

PCA thanks its blog visitors for their support and encouragement. Since the 1st of September we have had 113 new blog visitors - nearly as many new visitors as we had in the months of July and August combined! Your interest in the work God is doing through Pinnacle Classical Academy is incredibly encouraging to us, and we hope that you'll continue to dialogue with us about the mission of classical, Christian education and the vision of training wise and eloquent young men and women.

Many of you have asked about ways that you can help us in the task of building this school. One of our greatest areas of need is simply the financial funding to get an institution like this off the ground. We are completely trusting God to provide for our financial needs, and we recognize that he has given us some earthly resources to work with. One of these resources is called "Good Search." Good Search gives non-profit organizations (like us) a portion of the proceeds from internet searches (an $8 billion/yr. industry). Simply put, you can earn money for PCA by simply searching the internet, as well as shopping on the internet - it costs you absolutely nothing to help us in this way. To begin earning money for PCA, go to http://www.goodsearch.com/ and in the blank that says "Who do you Good Search for?" type Pinnacle Classical Academy. Then, every time you search the internet, or shop on the internet, go through the http://www.goodsearch.com/ home page and money will be automatically donated to our school. Go to their website to learn more about how this works, but it really is that easy. Even small organizations like ours can earn $2,000 (or more) a year just by using Good Search. Please feel free to spread the word to all of your friends and family. We would love to have as many people using this resource as possible!

Thank you again for your continued support - we are excited for the opportunity to serve the Little Rock community through the formation of a classical, Christian school!

Employee Highlight

In a previous blog, I referenced an organization called The Association of Classical & Christian Schools (ACCS). This group was founded during the early 1990s in response to the book Recovering the Lost Tools of Learning by Douglas Wilson. ACCS provides oversight to many classical, Christian schools throughout the country and has been a great resource for us as we have followed God's calling in founding Pinnacle Classical Academy.

With the growing number of classical schools, there have been several other organizations that have formed for the purpose of aiding schools in developing and strengthening their leadership and teachers. One such group is the Classical School Foundation (www.classicalschoolfoundation.org). It was very exciting to see last week on Classical School Foundation's website an article about our director of development, Holley Peters.

Check out the article on www.classicalschoolfoundation.org/graduate_profiles.php#peters

to read how Holley's life has been impacted by classical education. Congratulations Holley!

Location Search

Please pray with us and for us as we begin to search for an appropriate school location. We are excited to begin this search, though we know that it may be a long process. We are fully trusting God to provide for us, as He does in every way. Also, if you know of any leads on facilities available for lease, please feel free to send us an email.