Upper Room Christian School is committed to provide a spirit-controlled, disciplined academic environment, conducive to learning, in a Christ-centered atmosphere that is educating students in grades Pre-K-12, according to the Word of God and the learning standards that have been defined and set forth by the State of New York.
Upper Room Christian School has been established as a Christian alternative to secular, humanistic public education, in which our students can "grow up in Christ, in spirit, soul and body". We purpose to give our students an education that is superior, to secular, public education.
Upper Room Christian School believes that each student is a unique creation of God, and should be given the opportunity to come to know Him, through the Person of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Upper Room Christian School is committed to teaching and training its students in the Word of God, for the purpose of instilling in them a Christian world-view, so that they might be trained and taught to become Christian leaders of tomorrow in all areas of human society, and in every field of human endeavor.
Our goal is also to instruct students in the CORE subjects of Bible, Reading, Writing, other English Language Arts, Mathematics, Science, Social Studies, as well as such electives as: Foreign Language, Computer and Technology Education, Art, Music, Physical Education, Health Education, Business Education and various other electives. We intend to provide a well-rounded college preparatory education for our high school students; a developmentally appropriate early childhood and elementary education for students in grades K through 5th, and a sound, balanced middle school education for students in grades 6-8, to prepare them for the demands and expectations of high school.
Our philosophy of education demands that Christ and the Word of God be taught as the center of all human history, all science and technology, all language and communication skills, all mathematical abilities, all of the arts, all philosophy and religion, and all physical education. Our students must be taught by dedicated, professional Christian teachers who know and understand the importance of a Christian world-view, which will shape and mold everything they teach, and everything that our students learn. We believe that "in Christ are hidden all of the treasures of wisdom and knowledge"(Col.2:3). It is to the glory of God to conceal them, but it is to our glory to find them out (Prov.25:2).
Upper Room Christian School teachers must profess to be "born -again" Christians (Jn.3:3), and attend a Bible-believing local church with Pastoral ministry to their life. These professionals must be highly qualified to teach in their subject areas. Although they are not required by the New York State Board of Regents to be state certified in their subject areas, the overwhelming majority of our staff is NY-state certified. Although the overwhelming majority of our teaching staff is licensed to teach in the public school arena, they have chosen to use their talents, abilities and a gift of teaching to serve God by laboring to educate His children in a private, Christian school setting, knowing the pay scale is generally higher in public education.
Upper Room Christian School's goal is to teach our children to think and see the world from God's point of view, as revealed in His Word, and to learn how to apply that Christian world-view to bring good success in every field of endeavor. We do not view the world as "secular" and "sacred", as seen in much of traditional religious theology. Instead, we see Jesus Christ as Lord of all, who has commissioned us to "go into all the world" - which also means going into EVERY world - and preach the Gospel. To us, this includes bringing the knowledge of Christ and the Gospel into the educational world, the political world, the business world, the arts, into the music world, into sports, into the entertainment world, and into the world of science and technology.
We firmly believe that it is the will of God that His children should be excellent in all that they do, and that they live in the forefront of all avenues of human achievement. God's children should become the very best doctors, lawyers, scientists, engineers, artists, musicians, dancers, entrepreneurs, businessmen and businesswomen, educators, politicians, as well as the best law enforcement officials, carpenters, plumbers, cab drivers and sanitation workers. God wants to be glorified in and through His people who learn to work heartily, as unto Him (Col.3:23).
We acknowledge that God is no respector of persons (Acts 10:34), and that neither should we, His servants, be. Therefore, racism, prejudice or an elitist philosophy has no place at Upper Room Christian School. Students from all nations, all races, all national origins, all socio-economic backgrounds and all Christian denominations may attend Upper Room Christian School. While our academic focus is on the average to above average student, our goal is to educate students across the educational spectrum, that run the gamut from learning disabled students to gifted students, as our staffing, space and resources enable us. Our school is a reflection of our multi-cultural, multi-racial church, which is a microcosm of the Kingdom of God before his throne, as described in the Book of Revelation (seeRev. 5:9 and Rev. 14:6).
We believe that we are called by God to "train up a child in THE way he should go" (Prov.22:6), so that even when he or she is old, they will not depart from that Way. God's way of teaching and training is not the world's way. His way places God at the center of human life, activity, purpose and destiny; not man. It is this revelation and understanding that we wish to convey to our students, so that they may fulfill their calling and destiny as Christian leaders in the 21st century.