History
Providence Christian Academy (PCA) opened its doors in September 1994 with seven students, two classrooms, one office, and five part-time teachers. Under the direction of the three founders, including Liz Kuntz who remains our Kindergarten teacher, PCA would become the first classical Christian school in St. Louis.
At that time the founders had high school aged students and found the educational options available to them unsatisfactory. They wanted a deeper and more challenging curriculum than either private or public schools had to offer. They wanted their children to see how God works in the affairs of men and nations. They wanted their children to read from the original authors of the great books and not from pre-digested textbooks. They wanted their children to be challenged in ways that would develop their character and give them the tools to discern differences between worldviews. As they came to understand classical education they saw the parallel to their own desires for the education of students at PCA and therefore incorporated the classical methodology into the school's curriculum.
As the demand for classical Christian education grew, in 1998 PCA added a primary school (K-6th) to the existing upper school (7th-12th.) PCA developed its classical curriculum under the direction of the board members and the headmaster of eight years, Laura Dickmann. Staff training at classical seminars, research, and curriculum writing by the teaching staff at PCA have played a critical part in that development. Mr. Klousia, teacher at PCA since its founding, has written a paper outlining the importance of studying the ancient languages, titled The Importance of Classical Language Study.
In 2001 the school moved to its current location on South Lindbergh in St. Louis County, Missouri. PCA leases space from Christ Community Church, the owners of the building.
PCA has grown to 126 students, including 38 in the upper school. The organization includes more than twenty faculty, five staff members and six board members. The current administrators, Rev. Todd Wagenmaker, Headmaster, and Mr. Brandon Booth, Dean of Dialectic and Rhetoric, continue the vision of a well-rounded classical Christian school that the founders began.
While PCA graduates consistently score well above average on college testing and attend the colleges of their choice, more importantly they enter the world with a thorough biblical worldview, understanding the sovereign work of God in all things.