Educating The Next Generation
Bud and Keren Stonebraker and their family planted The Ranch Church (a Calvary Chapel affiliate) in Waimanalo, HI, and are now on a new adventure with their new church plant—Mountain Valley Refuge—in McCall, ID. Their son, Bud Jr., currently attends online school at Calvary Preparatory Academy (CPA) as a junior, and their daughter, Carmel, is a 2022 graduate of CPA. “Homeschooling and augmented online schooling are becoming the only option for many Christian parents,” Bud observed. “Sending kids to government schools feels like feeding our children to the wolves; like letting them suffer the abuse of leftist dogma and perverted subject material.”
The island of Oahu had faced some of the strictest medical mandates in the country, and the families in the church started to feel the impacts these policies were having on their children. Keren shared, “These days I speak to so many parents that want to get their kids out of the school they are in, whether they don’t want their kids wearing masks all day or be subject to vaccine mandates, or they don’t agree with the curriculum, or the anti-Christian bent of education. There is really a squeezing that is happening to God’s people. Calvary Preparatory Academy makes it possible for parents like us to have an alternative that aligns with our values.”
The Beginning
In 2008, Jared Beck was teaching in the public school system in Southern California when, through a series of divine appointments and the Lord’s leading, he felt the call to start a Christian online school. His desire was to provide a Christ-centered, quality education for students of all demographics, but specifically for children of missionaries. At that time, the only educational options available for missionary families included sending their children off to boarding schools or educating their children themselves. While those options worked for some, Jared was concerned when he saw many other missionary families struggling to provide for their children’s education; unfortunately, this even led some to return home. “I saw firsthand the toll this was taking on missionary kids. I had a missionary parent confess to me, ‘We just didn’t get to school last year.’ That is when I knew something had to be done.”
With this calling on his life, Jared resigned from his public-school career, and took on the challenge of starting a private, Christian school hosted entirely online. Calvary Preparatory Academy—Online began in 2009. Thirteen years later, CPA is thriving with 20 teachers and staff and over 350 students from all around the world, with 40% of the families associated with Calvary Chapel. Within two years of its founding, CPA earned full accreditation (WASC), along with University of California “a-g” approval and NCAA-approved courses.
The Vision
CPA also partners with Christian schools to enhance the schools’ selection of courses offered. “CPA's overall vision is to further Christian education,” Jared continued. “It doesn't have to be directly through CPA. We regularly partner with other Christian schools, churches, communities, and groups of families to offer our services at no profit to ourselves. The goal is to provide a safe, nurturing environment where children can develop spiritually, socially, and academically. This can be online, in person, or some blend of the two. We are excited to help other schools get started as we partner together to affect the world for Christ.”
CPA’s heart and focus are to stand in the gap for not only missionary parents, but all parents who are searching for a Christ-centered educational alternative for their children. As we watch our school systems crumble, the debasement of society and the erosion of our freedoms, accessible Christian education is more important than ever before. Calvary Prep is up to the challenge of meeting that need. “Christian education firstly serves the needs of the Christian community, but it doesn't end there,” Jared shared. “Christian schools can be a platform for the church to reach the unsaved world with the Gospel of Jesus Christ at a time when the world's systems are being shaken.”
Testimonies from Families
The Dennett family serves as missionaries with Calvary Chapel Puerto Rico. Gina Dennett shared the impact CPA has had on their family: “I am so grateful for CPA and share continually the testimony of how CPA has made a difference in our family and ministry by being a solid educational community for our family. I say community because beyond the top-notch education they provide, I know they are praying for our family and ministry, giving weekly one-on-one support to each student, offering extra support and tutoring throughout the school day, and creating a sense of connectedness in their classrooms. Anyone with teens knows how important that is.”
Another group using CPA is the Peifer family. “One of our concerns with not having the girls in a physical school was the social aspect,” recalled Vanessa Peifer. “I know there are some limitations within online school, but we’ve been really impressed with the clubs and virtual social gatherings offered. The opportunity that the Bible club and other school-sponsored clubs offer our kids, when the world seems to be falling apart around us, is amazing. The experience the girls are having with the school gives them that sense of belonging; and the teachers have been amazing. The girls feel so cared for and attended to.”
Kimberly Beck is Jared’s wife and also the school advancement strategist. “In addition to academics and biblical teaching, one thing we really focus on is building community between the students, and with the parents as well,” explained Kimberly. “In just the past two years, our school has added over 20 clubs for the students, as well as an Associated Student Body leadership team. Even though, in some instances, the kids are half a world away from each other, they are connecting daily and forming lifelong friendships. They are also taking on leadership roles and caring for each other spiritually. It is a beautiful thing to see!”
The Future of Christian Education
Jared foresees that there will always be a need for Christian education with every new generation. “My prayer is that the churches will view the youth of today as their mission field, directing their thoughts, prayers, efforts, and assets towards teaching children the truth of God's Gospel and the hope that we so richly possess.”
Pastor Bud Stonebraker believes that Christians must build their own networks of education. “We must abandon the crumbling vestiges of communist indoctrination and begin to grow children into healthy and happy—but most importantly, godly—adults. Calvary Preparatory Academy is taking us a step in that direction. While the once-trusted institutions around us dissolve, we can look to CPA as the rising standard and rally call for our community of young but soon-to-be adults. King David asked in Psalm 11:3, If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do? Calvary Prep is helping to build a new foundation for the children of the next generation.”
All verses above are quoted from the New King James Version, unless otherwise noted.
© 2022 Calvary Chapel Magazine (CCM). All rights reserved. Articles or photographs may not be reproduced without the written permission of CCM. All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.® Used by permission.