We have a home!
We are thrilled to announce a confirmed location for our 2023-2024 school year! We will be meeting in the newly renovated Sacred City Church building at 1811 18th St in Bettendorf. We are grateful to have a place to call "home" for our school year. Join us in prayer as we praise God for His providence and thank Him for his graciousness to us through the leadership and staff of Sacred City Church.
A Word About Curriculum:
Students at NCCA will pursue the study of Latin beginning in 3rd grade, and continue the study of the language into their Upper School years. Why do we seek to study Latin? Several reasons! To:
Instruct the students in vocabulary and grammar to increase their fundamental understanding of English, the history and writings of Western Civilization, and the Romance languages.
Reinforce the students’ understanding of English grammar.
Cultivate study and logical thinking through the study of Latin.
Encourage delight, curiosity, and attentiveness in students by teaching them to see the world through the eyes of another language.
Provide students with the tools necessary to access original texts of our classical and Christian heritage.
MEET OUR COMMUNITY
The Van Soelens
We are the Van Soelen family, Andy, Karlie and our three children Jasper, Anna, and Naomi. Andy chose Psalm 145 to be our family Psalm and it says in verse 4 “one generation will declare your works to the next generation and will proclaim your mighty acts,” and in verse 7 it says, “they will give a testimony of your great goodness and will joyfully sing of your righteousness.”
We desire our children to be singing to God at their school and learning every subject with Him at the center of it. Truth, goodness, and beauty are talked about a lot in classical Christian education. Our family has begun to use this language with our young kids also, as it helps give a framework for God at the source of the truth, goodness, and beauty in His world. Let’s teach our kids about Jesus, the source of Truth to stand against the world’s definition of “be your own truth,” while also seeing Him hold together the truth of 2+2=4 in math, the goodness that God is the only one who could have come up with gravity and the beauty of all of the different species of butterflies in science class.
The Lord has always placed Christian education close to our hearts to fulfill the Deuteronomy 6 commands in Scripture. We both went through Christian education from preschool through college and have appreciated the foundations of our Biblical worldview that we have today. Alongside our parents providing a loving and Biblical home and family, we feel that Christian education was an extension of the home, where Christian teachers, coaches, friends, and mentors surrounded us to continue learning about God and His world. We feel called to serve alongside the families of New City Classical Academy, by sending our oldest child, Jasper, to 1st grade at NCCA.
“I advise no one to place his child where the Scriptures do not reign paramount. Every institution in which men are not increasingly occupied with the Word of God must become corrupt . . . I am much afraid that schools will prove to be the great gates of hell unless they diligently labor in explaining the Holy Scriptures, engraving them in the hearts of youth.” - Martin Luther
Book Recommendation:
“Classical Me, Classical Thee: Squander Not Thine Education” by Rebekah Merkle. Merkle’s audience is classically educated Upper School students, but we have found that reading this as parents has helped further our understanding of and continued to fuel our passion for the importance of classical Christian education. Giving it to our Upper School aged children to read for themselves has created fruitful conversation. NCCA’s Upper School students will spend time reading through and discussing the content of this book at the beginning of our school year. Grab a copy for yourself, it’s a quick read, and quite helpful! Don’t take our word for it, hear directly from the author, here.
Other Notes:
Fundraising! We have immediate fundraising needs as we round the final corner to training our teachers, preparing our classrooms, and developing our curriculum plans. Gifts to NCCA can be made via our website [here] or scan the QR code.
Current families and faculty: Keep an eye on your e-mail, we have an update ready for you with all of our summer connection points and upcoming events!
Enrollment: Our grammar classrooms are not yet full. We are currently still accepting enrollment for the 2023-2024 school year. Find the forms [here].
Questions about NCCA? Email us.
