Shades Mountain Christian School

Shades Mountain Christian School is a ministry of Shades Mountain Independent Church with an enrollment of approximately 400 students in grades K3 through 12. The school, founded in 1974, is fully accredited (Kindergarten through 12th grade) by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS), is a member of the Association of Christian Schools International (ACSI), and the Alabama High School Athletic Association (AHSAA), Class 1A. The school provides a strong academic program within the context of the biblical worldview. The Educational Therapy program provides support programs for students with learning differences.
 
The school is located atop Shades Mountain just south of Birmingham, Alabama. Students commute from Jefferson and Shelby counties. Our student body is comprised of individuals from over 100 local churches. Students are admitted on the basis of interviews, placement tests, previous school records, recommendations from teachers and pastors, and parental and student commitments. Students have the opportunity to explore and develop their talents in a variety of areas such as music, art, and athletics. On average 95% of our graduates go on to college. Click here for a list of colleges and universities our graduates have attended or are currently attending.
 
The faculty for the 2010-2011 school year is composed of 33 committed Christians. Collectively, the faculty holds 13 graduate degrees and average 14 years of teaching experience with a combined teaching experience of 453 years.


History

In 1974, Pastor Dick Vigneulle realized his vision of establishing a Christian school as his first official act following acceptance of the full-time pastorate of Shades Mountain Independent Church. That same year the Church Board approved to spend $20,000 to start a Christian day school composed of 22 students and 2 teachers. The following year there were 80 students, 5 teachers, 1 administrator, and a volunteer bookkeeper. By 1978 we had 310 students through 6th grade. In 1980 the student body selected the "Eagle" as our mascot and we built our first athletic field. In 1981 we began our band program. Our first graduating class was in May of 1985. We completed the requirements for accreditation with the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools in 1989. In 1991 our athletic program joined the Alabama High School Athletic Association. In 2001 a new building was added which included a large band facility. In 2005 we added football to our athletic program and in 2008 we began adding eInstruction technology to our elementary classrooms and SMART Board technology to our secondary classrooms.

Purpose, Mission, and Vision
Our purpose as a school is to assist Christian parents in providing a quality Christian education for their children. We desire to see every young person come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ, to mature in his relationship with Him, to care about the needs of others in his community and the world around him and to meet those needs, and to stand firm on Biblical principles for life’s decisions.
 
The mission of Shades Mountain Christian School is to assist Christian parents in their responsibility to equip their children with spiritual, academic, physical, and social excellence in order to serve God effectively in fulfilling His will in their lives.
 
SMCS has a vision that extends to the entire Birmingham Metropolitan area and community. SMCS exists to equip and empower young champions for Christ...young men and women who will be change agents for the Kingdom of God and servants in the community of men. It is our desire to partner with parents to raise up a generation of inspired, transformed, truth-based, and mission-minded young people who know what they believe, why they believe it, and how to live it out in love. We measure success of our vision through these core criteria:

1. Christ - Do our students know Him and are our students living for Him, becoming like Him and communicating Him?
   
   
2. Competitive Competence - Are our students competitive in the marketplace? Are they prepared and equipped for excellence?
   
   
3. Character - Do our students understand and manifest Biblical character? Do they have Kingdom virtues?
   
   
4. Christian Coaching - Are our students receiving personal Christ-like coaching and mentoring that advances a Christian worldview and the values of Christ in the classroom and in athletic competition?
   
   
5. Community - Do our students connect with, have a heart for, and serve the community? How well are they loving right now?

Education at SMCS is based on the principles of God’s Word as the ultimate authority and guide for life. A Christ-centered education continually views areas of knowledge through the perspective of God’s Word, magnifies the Lord Jesus, and leads students into conformity with His image.
 
God’s Holy Spirit is our Schoolmaster at SMCS, and we seek His leading and direction in all matters. He indwells all believers and leads them to understand spiritual truth and to act according to God’s will. Spirit-controlled education is exemplified in the Christian school by first ministering to the students’ spiritual needs and then to their growth academically, socially, and physically. Training at SMCS encourages students to act in harmony with their study of the Scriptures and their personal relationship with our living Savior. The training is geared to prepare and equip each student in sound, quality academics, with the ability to stand against evil and to reach his own generation for Jesus Christ. The ministry of SMCS is the extension of the primary educational responsibility of Christian parents to train up their children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. SMCS works in close cooperation with the Christian home; yet the school ministry and those serving in it carry out their duties under the auspices and authority structure of Shades Mountain Independent Church.
 
We believe that obedience to parents prepares students to obey God Himself. SMCS teaches students to positively respond to the authority and leadership of the teacher. This also reinforces the student’s response and allegiance to his parents as God’s authority in the home and family.
 
SMCS’s educational program, methods, and techniques of instruction are based on Scriptural principles and philosophy in order to provide the general background, viewpoint, truth, and basic principles for interpreting the facts encountered in the study of any subject.
 

Concepts of a Christian Educational Philosophy
1. God is the Creator and Sustainer of all things and the Source of all truth.
 
2. God maintains control over His entire universe.
 
3. The Bible is the Word of God and is the integrating foundation for all truth, whether revealed, reasoned, or researched.
 
4. Because of sin, man exists in a fallen or lost state, thus failing to relate himself and his knowledge to God, the Source of all wisdom.
 
5. Restoration of man’s relationship with God comes by faith in Jesus Christ.  True meaning and values can be ascertained only in the light of His person, purpose, and work.
 
6. God generally reveals Himself in His world, the universe, human conscience, and in specific ways in His Word, the Bible, and in the person of Jesus Christ.
 
7. The home, the church, and the school complement each other in cultivating and encouraging the student’s spiritual, academic, social, and physical growth.
 
8. The teacher holds delegated authority in the place of the parent.
 
9. Each student has God-given abilities, gifts, and talents.  Teachers are responsible to challenge and work with each child according to his abilities and to seek to teach him at his academic level.
 
10. The Christian relates to life from a Biblical perspective and is not conformed to society’s lifestyles and values.
 
11. The student’s experience and training at home, in the church, and at school would be a preparation for a life of fellowship with God and a total commitment to serving Him in whatever vocation the student enters.
 
12. Truth and reality exist in two vitally integrated dimensions of the physical and the spiritual.