TIFTON, Ga. — A new private Christian, called Providence School, is scheduled to open in Tifton in 2020, The Tifton Gazette reports.
Enrollment has already opened and the school is taking applications for students for its first school year in fall 2020.
Providence School describes itself as a classical Christian school and follows an educational model which, according to the Association of Classical Christian Schools’ website, “establishes a biblical worldview (called Paideia) by incorporating ancient methods of student development.
Paideia is defined as:
In the culture of ancient Greece and later of the Greco-Roman world at large, the term paideia (also spelled paedeia) (/paɪˈdeɪə/; Greek: παιδεία, paideía) referred to the rearing and education of the ideal member of the polis or state.
Paideia, Wikipedia
This teaching method includes the cultivation of the seven Christian virtues, training student reasoning through the Trivium (grammar, logic, and rhetoric), and interacting with the historical ‘Great Books.’”
Providence is focused on shaping the entire person, so they become 40-, 50- and 60-year-old men and women that are successful in anything they do rather than being trained to be prepared for college or a specific career doing a specific thing. The goal is to teach the students how to think critically, with the general thrust being that they learn how to think, not learn how to think about a specific topic.
Providence School will start accepting students for junior pre-K through sixth grade with the goal of 50 students for the first year, and adding one year thereafter until they reach 12th grade.
Students will be able to participate in athletics and clubs as well as creative and musical arts.
Providence is part of the Georgia Tax Credit Scholarship program, which allows people, families and businesses to redirect money they owe the state of Georgia to the school, creating a “prepayment” of their taxes.
Providence will use the “Golden Dome Scholarship Fund,” which accepts the prepayment on their behalf; the individual, family, or business gets a dollar for dollar tax credit, giving the community a way to partner with families by giving them another option for education.
The Tifton Gazette reported that they have a donor who has agreed to match dollar for dollar up to $50,000 to meet the school’s goal of $150,000 which would fund 50 half-scholarships.
An informational event is planned for Jan. 21 at 5:30 p.m.. Another event sset for Jan. 23 at noon is aimed at partnering with the community to provide options for local families through the Georgia Dome Scholarship Fund. Those interested in attending either may RSVP to vharris@providencetift.com or 229-445-8190.
