Hillcrest Philosophy

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HILLCREST VISION STATEMENT

Hillcrest students will be:

Equipped to acquire and nurture knowledge.
Encouraged to have a biblical perspective on the world and their stewardship role in it.
Encouraged to practice discipleship and service.
Encouraged to have a personal relationship with the Lord Christ.

HILLCREST MISSION STATEMENT

Hillcrest School will provide high quality Christian education primarily for children of our cooperating bodies thereby supporting the advancement of the Gospel in West Africa and the world.
Hillcrest School will continue to maintain high academic and spiritual standards providing the best possible staff, facilities and resources.

A CHRISTIAN PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION
FOR HILLCREST SCHOOL

The Philosophic Basis:
God, Humankind, and Environment

We believe that a philosophy of education is founded on the Bible as the written truth of God:

The life of a person is lived in three basic relationships, all of which are within the context of God's claim upon all people. These are:

Relationship to God, Relationship to neighbors, and Relationship to the environment.
Of these, the most basic relationship is to God, whom Christians know as Father through Jesus their Savior and Lord. This relationship is first of all that of creature to Creator. God created people in His image with special gifts and potentialities. For these gifts they are accountable to God and at all times responsible to Him.

Secondly, they are related to God as sinners. Rebellion against God, selfishness, destructive tendencies - - these are realities in the life of all people.

Thirdly, a person may be related to God as one redeemed, through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. God offers the prospect of new life, hope and power which through faith individuals can experience by the power of the Holy Spirit. As a redeemed individual, a person is responsible to God.

People are also related to their neighbors. God created them as social creatures who cannot live in isolation. They have a responsibility to their neighbors with whom they live in a multitude of distinct relationships. In these social relationships people should recognize the needs of others and love their neighbors as themselves.

A person also lives in the context of the larger world - the environment which God created, and over which humans exercise dominion, thus providing numerous opportunities and awesome responsibilities.

In education a person learns about these relationships with a view to living responsibly by them. Learning is not confined to formal education; it is a continuous process involving one's total experience. Whatever influences a person's thinking and living contributes to that person's education.

In formal education learning is to be directed, channeled, and stimulated. At school students are guided in understanding and integrating their experiences of the world in which they live. They are encouraged to participate intellectually and actively in God's world.