Christ Preparatory Academy

Christ Preparatory Academy is a University model School. University-Model Schooling (UMS) was developed as a result of two guiding concerns: to offer students the opportunity to acquire a high degree of academic achievement and to preserve and strengthen the God-ordained family relationships in which the Christian faith is most effectively fostered. The structure in which these two concerns are brought together, University-Model Schooling, provides an academically challenging education while integrating the home and school in the common goal of discipling children.

In 2000, a group of home school families met together to discuss the need for classes to enhance their academic experiences. Together they founded a home school co-op in Johnson County, Kansas. The ministry significantly expanded when, in 2001, the “University Model© School” concept was discovered through articles in World Magazine. While individual schools had adopted a similar model, it was the work of a group of Christian families in Texas that formalized the concept of the University Model© school in 1992. They agreed to work together to start a new school that would be developed with the care and attention needed to produce not only a local institution, but also an educational model that could be effectively utilized by others also seeking for better ways to educate their children. In 1993, that decision resulted in the formation of Grace Preparatory Academy, a Christian University Model© school in Arlington, Texas.

Leaders within the Johnson County group began to research and study the efforts of Grace Prep to learn from their experiences and utilize the University Model© to meet the needs of their families. Christ Preparatory Academy was founded in Johnson County, Kansas, in 2002 with that vision in mind. In 2005, Christ Prep became one of the five charter schools of the newly- formed National Association of University Model Schools.

The University Model© school is built on three interlocking pillars: academics, character development, and activities. At Christ Prep, these three are worked out within the following framework of partnership between the school and the home:

The school takes the lead on academics, with professional teaching staff evaluating and selecting curriculum, providing direct instruction to students three days a week, developing lesson plans and objectives, and determining daily assignments to be completed both in school and at home. Parents partner with the school in that process, providing additional instruction or repetition, oversight, and guidance that varies as the student gets older.
Parents continue to take the lead in the Biblically-mandated requirement to knead into their children the values and character qualities of a Christ-follower. One of the foundational concepts of the University Model© school is to provide parents with additional time to “…train a child up in the way he should go….” – time not as available in the traditional five-day school model. The school tries to come alongside parents who have agreed with the statement of faith and are operating with a similar mindset.
The provision of extracurricular activities is truly a joint effort at Christ Prep. While the school offers a wide variety of athletic activities (with varsity-level competition in nine different sports) and a variety of other participation or membership possibilities, the University Model© schedule offers families the opportunity to choose from the myriad of activities available in Metropolitan Kansas City. Christ Prep students have been highly active in numerous drama, music, and athletic organizations across the city.
The University Model© schedule has most students in classes at the school on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, while they work under the direct supervision of a parent at home on Tuesday and Thursday. Not a three-day-a-week program, the school gives students the opportunity to prepare academically for the post-secondary experience of their choice while, at the same time, developing life skills like time management independent learning strategies that will assist them as life-long learners.