PETRA'S ACADEMIC PROFILE

Now in our 27th year, Petra Academy is Montana’s oldest and Bozeman’s only five-day-a-week classical Christian school. With over 250 Pre-K through 12th-grade students and 40 full- and part-time faculty and staff engaging on a scenic 20-acre campus on the ever-growing west side of town, Petra is uniquely positioned to help parents in the Gallatin Valley teach and reinforce to their students truth, beauty, and goodness. And those three things are at the heart of our mission:

The mission of Petra Academy is to partner with parents to cultivate faithful Christian students who delight in truth, beauty, and goodness in their worship, work, and service.

Recognizing our need for God’s grace, Petra Academy strives to awaken love and wonder in our students by teaching them to observe with humility, think with reason, and articulate with charity for the flourishing of humanity and the renown of Jesus the Christ. We seek to have our purpose interact with our mission, directing all we do; allowing us to hold true to the values that we strive for.

SCHOOL PROFILE

Petra Academy is the largest and oldest classical school in Montana, serving the Bozeman community and greater Gallatin Valley with quality education students ages Pre-K through 12th grade. Petra Academy is a cross-denominational Christian school. All of our board members as well as our administrative staff and faculty ascribe to the historic creeds of the Christian Faith. We acknowledge Jesus Christ as both source and goal of all creation and history, and the center of any discussion of truth, beauty, and goodness. That said, ours is an open enrollment, meaning we do not require profession of faith from student or parent(s) to be considered for admission.

Year established: 1995
Total student enrollment: 261
Number of families involved: 150
On-time graduation: 100%
Class of 2021: 8
Average ACT score: 26
Local churches represented: 30

Year established: 1995

Total student enrollment: 261

Number of families involved: 150

On-time graduation: 100%

Class of 2021: 8

Average ACT score: 26

Local churches represented: 30

ACCREDITATION

Petra Academy is a member in good standing and accredited by the Association of Classical and Christian Schools, “organized for the mission of promoting, establishing, and equipping member schools committed to a classical approach to education in the light of a Christian worldview grounded in the Old and New Testament Scriptures, commonly known as the Bible.” ACCS offers an extensive array of services and provides accountability through accreditation.

STATEMENT OF FAITH

Petra Academy is committed to the authority of Scripture as the Rule of Faith (2 Tim. 3:16-17; 2 Pe. 3:15-16). We believe that the primary tenets of the Christian faith are clearly taught in the Bible; moreover, Christians throughout the two-thousand year history of the Church have held these primary tenets as definitive of that which distinguishes orthodox Christianity from cults or other religions. These tenets will be affirmed in various ways throughout all grade levels as they are considered primary doctrines that unite the body of Christ. We recognize that genuine Christians have differences over non-primary doctrines; when such doctrines arise, students will be referred back to their families and churches for final authority.

As a summation of the “primary tenets” of the Christian faith, we use the Apostles’ Creed as a creed that we did not create, but that comes to us from those who preceded us in the Faith. Students at Petra will also become acquainted with the Nicene Creed and portions of the Westminster Confession of Faith and the Heidelberg Catechism, which affirm the primacy and inerrancy of Scripture (2 Tim. 3:16-17), the depravity of man (Ps. 14; Rom. 3:23), and that salvation is received by faith alone in God’s grace (Eph. 2:8-9) given through the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ (Heb. 2:14-17).

STATEMENT OF ADMISSION

Petra Academy welcomes students of all backgrounds to our community. We do not discriminate based on race, sex, color, or national origin. Petra reserves the right to deny admission to a student if his or her ability, behavior, or emotional development indicates that he or she could not be best served by our school program. We seek to make each admission decision dually based on what is best for the child and for Petra.

PORTRAIT OF A GRADUATE

To the ends set forth in our vision and mission, and to the empowerment of every student who attends Petra Academy, we desire our graduates to possess the following character, wisdom, and community ideals:

VIRTUE AND MATURE CHARACTER

Through the grace of Christ, students learn to love the right things in the right way as they prayerfully study Scripture and thoughtfully read the great books of western civilization. This right loving of the right things is the classical, Christian definition of virtue. Rightly ordered loves enable our graduates to live always in the presence of God, to honor Him, to serve their neighbor, and to labor for the growth and glory of His Kingdom.

SOLID FAITH AND SOUND REASON

Our graduates have a unified Christian worldview, with Scripture as the measure of Truth. Their faith in the revealed Word of God corrects and guides their thinking and reasoning, enabling them to wisely sort through complex issues and to discern the consequences of actions and ideas.

MASTERFUL ELOQUENCE

Language is foundational to all knowledge. Without a strong command of language, we cannot think, know, act, or even love rightly. As the people of the Incarnate Word, Christians must be highly accomplished in their use of language. Our graduates learn to eloquently employ vocabulary, grammar, usage, style, and persuasion through the study of English, Latin, Spanish, and rhetoric.

SKILLS OF A COMPETENT AND PASSIONATE CULTURE-MAKER

The goal of Christian education is not to produce overly narrow specialists, but to create well-rounded culture-makers with a broad field of competence. Our graduates develop this competence through their study of humanities, math, logic, science, drama, music, fine arts, physical education, and athletics. Our graduates are therefore equipped to image Christ in whatever vocation God gives them.

LITERACY THROUGH BROAD AND DEEP READING

Petra graduates are well-read and able to discuss competently and compellingly the central works of literature, history, theology, philosophy, science, and art. They are well-versed in the important literature and ideas of Christian theology and western civilization.

AESTHETIC WISDOM

Educated people have good taste. They are sensitive to beauty, protecting and preserving it without becoming antiquarian. They understand that truth, beauty, and goodness are interrelated and interdependent. Our students develop aesthetic wisdom as they experience, analyze, and imitate great masterpieces of visual, verbal, and auditory art.