Core ViRTUES

Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity (1 Timothy 4:12).

Seattle Classical Christian School believes education should aim to cultivate wisdom and virtue, not merely transmit knowledge and skills. Part of educating a human, an image of God, includes training in virtue which we define as a disposition which inclines us to the good for which we are made. Or, in other words, a good moral habit. SCCS has four core virtues:

Honor

Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. (Romans 12:9-10)

To honor means to regard and treat someone with respect and dignity. We can do this with our words, our actions and with our heart attitudes. When we honor someone, we are recognizing that another person is created in the image of God. Students are expected to honor God; teachers and staff; and other students.

Self-Control

For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control. (2 Timothy 1:7)

A man without self-control is like a city broken into and left without walls. (Proverbs 25:28)

When God created humans, he gave us many gifts: bodies to move, mouths to express, ears to hear, and emotions to respond. All of these things can be used to worship God, or they can be used for desires that are selfish and destructive. God can empower us to use these gifts to His glory. Self-control is the means by which we do this. Students are expected to practice self-control with their bodies, emotions, words, and listening.

Stewardship

As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace. (1 Peter 4:10)

Stewardship is the careful and responsible management of something that has been entrusted to one’s care. Everyone is a steward of something. While this virtue grows with age and practice, even young students can be capable stewards. Students are expected to be careful stewards of themselves, their relationships, their education and their physical surroundings.

Wisdom

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; all those who practice it have a good understanding. (Psalm 111:10)

But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. (James 3:17)

Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you. (Hebrews 13:17)

Each of us lacks wisdom. But with a humble heart, we each have the opportunity to grow in wisdom. We want SCCS students to understand that they lack wisdom, and that they need it. Even more so, we want them to know that their teachers have wisdom to offer and that it is prudent for them to listen. We want students to recognize that Scripture provides us with wisdom, and we should look to it often. And we want them to know that God promises to give wisdom to those who seek it.