The House System is modeled historically from English boarding schools and has come to be a common structure of culture in classical Christian schools. At JCCS, we start the House System in Logic School (Middle School) and maintain it all the way through Rhetoric School (High School). Each student is placed in a “house” named after a famous martyr, saint, or keeper of the faith, along with other students from different grades. For competition and team spirit purposes, JCCS will have at least two houses but possibly more depending on enrollment.
The House System provides a natural opportunity for leadership, service, and encouragement for each upper class student.
The House System vertically integrates students from different grades. Without this integration, each grade level often develops its own identity and culture. While this is natural, grades can develop different identities and cultures from the rest of the school. These identities spring from the individual personalities and group dynamics of each grade and can lead to both good and bad results. Good benefits of grade and class identity are encouraged but the House System is very effective at blunting negative group behaviors. The House System provides both good followership opportunities for lower class students and good leadership opportunities for upper class students. Experienced classical Christian educators have found that the House System is very effective at blunting the instances of bullying and the negative effects of peer pressure.
With this said, while students bond together vertically, they maintain a separation by grade level. This provides a natural opportunity for leadership, service, and encouragement for each upper class student, and yes, even critique from elder leaders of younger followers. This also provides an opportunity for older students to emulate Christ-like qualities in front of their younger siblings and schoolmates.
The Mission of Jabez Classical Christian School is to partner with parents to provide families with an affordable classical Christian education so that students can lead change for the glory of God.