Pinecrest Academy

Pinecrest Academy is a private, Pre-K through 12, college preparatory Catholic school. We provide an atmosphere of academic rigor and critical thinking, while offering personalized attention in a Christ-centered environment of faith and reason.

We believe that a complete education must address the formation of both the student’s mind and character. The rich content of our liberal arts-based curriculum allows our students to discover the world around them, think critically about it, and meet the challenges of life. By implementing the pedagogy of the Legionaries of Christ and the Regnum Christi Movement, which includes a diverse athletics program and a rich experience of the fine arts, our program of personal formation in the Catholic tradition cultivates the character and personal development of our students in parallel with their academic development. The end result is a complete human being who actively seeks what is true, possesses the tools to discover it and the integrity of character to put it into action.

Pinecrest Academy was founded by a group of Catholic educators, businessmen and women and lay leaders, working in collaboration with the Legionaries of Christ and the Regnum Christi Movement. Pinecrest Academy opened in 1993 offering grades kindergarten through eight. In 1998, Pinecrest moved to the current 68-acre campus on Peachtree Parkway in Cumming. The High School opened in 2003.

Pinecrest Academy was named #2 Catholic High School in the State of Georgia by Niche.com and has been designated a 2014 National Blue Ribbon School by the United States Department of Education, the only PreK-12 in the State of Georgia to receive this honor. The school has been recognized for the eleventh consecutive year as a School of Excellence by the Cardinal Newman Society Catholic School Honor Roll. Pinecrest is one of just two Catholic high schools in the State of Georgia to receive this honor. Pinecrest Academy is fully accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS), and the Southern Association of Independent Schools (SAIS). We are also affiliated with the following associations: Georgia Independent School Association (GISA), National Catholic Education Association (NCEA), and National Consultants for Education (NCE).

We prepare our students to become committed Christian leaders, eager to transform a global society. We accomplish this in a gender separate environment on a co-ed campus. Following the educational philosophy of the Legionaries of Christ, we implement Integral Formation® to develop the spiritual, intellectual, human, and apostolic dimensions of the whole person.

We challenge our students to identify and use their gifts in service to others. Recognizing the parent as the primary educator of the child, our mission embraces the entire family. We provide a safe, moral, and spiritual environment which leads to positive peer groups and joyful, caring, confident students. We are here to serve the Archdiocese of Atlanta, our local parishes, and the regional Christian and civic communities.

Fundamental and distinctive to the Pinecrest Academy educational philosophy is Integral Formation®. This proven method involves the concentrated, systematic and directed way of educating a child who becomes capable of projecting God’s love into the wider community and culture around him. It lays the foundation and provides the opportunity for the Holy Spirit to work in the essence of the human person: the intrinsic powers of intellect and will. We view Integral Formation® as four pillars: Intellectual, Human, Spiritual and Apostolic Formation.

• Intellectual Formation is the formation of the well-formed mind. A well-formed mind achieves the essential purpose of the mind: the discovery of what is true. Your child will be encouraged to exercise each facet of his intellect through analysis, synthesis, relation and expression. At Pinecrest, we educate students to have the mind of a leader: one who not only discovers truth but can also communicate, convince and lead others to the truth.
• Human Formation focuses on forging integrity of character, which is the true foundation of joy. This is done through developing leadership skills, forming habits of virtue, and fostering personal responsibility and internalized discipline. Human formation is intended to make your child a man or woman of principle, a true leader, an asset for today and a necessity for the world of tomorrow.
• Spiritual Formation will guide your child to recognize the work of God in his life and encourage a close and personal relationship with Jesus Christ. This formation occurs in a spiritual environment that encourages the life of grace through daily prayer and practice of virtues, opportunities for sacraments, and theology classes that study the fullness of Catholic faith in all its richness.
• Apostolic Formation is generosity of self to Christ. Apostolic formation at Pinecrest brings Intellectual, Human and Spiritual formation into harmony by providing the opportunity to discern Christ’s call for your child’s life, embrace that call and to bring others to know Him as well.