Abbotsford Christian School

Abbotsford Christian School is an innovative thought leader in Christian education that blends a unique custom-fit approach with project-based learning. We integrate a Christian worldview to develop each child as a whole person, nurturing their unique potential from the inside out. We operate within an enriching community based on the belief that it takes a village to raise a child. We enter into a relationship with each parent to foster within the child a strong sense of identity and faith in God that aims to last a lifetime.

ll ACS students will achieve maximum potential through a learning process that is appropriate to the students’ abilities. Each student will feel valued, secure, and challenged to explore God, His creation, and their place in it. ACS will attract, retain, and develop staff members who are dedicated, creative, passionate, and who model Christ in their actions. Individually and collectively, staff will feel engaged, value, and respected. ACS will be an employer of choice.

ACS will have an innovative, multi-faceted funding structure that provides financial strength and stability to support our annual and long-term objectives, in a stewardly manner that honours God. ACS will be known as a school that fosters a culture of Christian service and character in our community. Our supporting community will be ambassadors for the school and be able to articulate our Mission so that we will be a sought after educational environment for Christian families.

All of life and learning at ACS will celebrate and explore the truth that, “The earth is the Lord’s and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it.” Students will learn to discern the culture in which they live and how they can positively influence it for God’s kingdom. ACS will invest in attractive, effective, and stewardly facilities that support optimal enrollment, contribute towards our sense of identity and support our vision for Christian education.

Abbotsford Christian School was founded in the early 1950’s by a group of Christian parents deeply committed to educating their children from a biblical perspective. The doors opened in 1953 as an elementary school (K-7). The campus was located on the Mission Highway in Abbotsford on the site of First Christian Reformed Church.

In 1960 a new school was erected due to rapidly growing numbers and throughout the 1960’s the school facility continued to grow by necessity. In the early 70’s due to continued growth, the school purchased another property on Old Clayburn Road and built another facility to house its growing enrolment. It was during these years that adding secondary schooling became a reality, and in 1981 Abbotsford Christian School experienced its first secondary school graduation commencement.

We truly believe that education is an adventure! Kids were never meant to sit in desks all day. They were meant to explore, discover, build, question, and of course play! A typical classroom at ACS includes all those things. We don’t just learn about Africa—we create a desert biome and raise money for clean water. We don’t read a textbook about the history of Canada—we develop our own “Canada,” working in groups founding colonies, choosing a delegate, and negotiating policies for creating a country. Because that’s the way education was meant to be.

In order for kids to learn, we believe kids “in the middle” need to be actively engaged in their learning! Learning needs to have purpose and relevance to their lives; students want to know why the lessons they are learning is important and to know that they have a positive impact in the world in which they live. Our learning is structured by essential/driving questions that allow students to see the relevance of what they are learning to their own lives. Learning stretches beyond factual learning. It results in students creating real products through which they apply and demonstrate their deeper learning.

This means students create products for market day in conjunction with their global awareness unit, create perfect civilizations to tie in their learning about ancient civilizations, and take stands on social justice issues as part of a head, heart, hands project to culminate their middle school experience.

Our christian secondary school is a place to explore, experience, and evaluate all of life under god. Our talents and abilities are gifts from god and we help our students to unwrap them, so that they can give them away to others. All of us are good at some things, but none of us are good at all things. And, our limitations are gifts too, so we celebrate them as well, because it means we need someone else, and that’s a good thing. We strive to lead by example as we teach our students how to love god, love people, and do extraordinary stuff! We live in community and we work hard to develop one in which every person feels a part of something bigger than themselves. We believe that god gives everyone an opportunity to build his kingdom with real work, for a real need, and a real audience. We teach our students how to do it.