The House System originated in the thirteenth century at Oxford University in England. Houses were designed to provide academic and social organization and accountability. More recently, classical Christian schools have reignited a vision for the House System as a means to solidify community and more importantly to practice the virtues discussed in class.
In the fall of 2018, we relaunched an abandoned House System by re-envisioning and reshaping its purpose.
Purpose
The purpose of the House System at Faith Christian Academy is to transform the culture of the secondary by providing a Christ-centered community where Christian virtue is practiced and community relationships among students and with faculty are fostered in accordance with Philippians 2:2-8:
“…being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”
Arrangement
Each House is comprised of 25-35 students from 6th – 12th grade and “House Parents” acting as mentors and assistants all overseen by a Governor and a Governess. Each House is led by students acting as President, Tournament Leader, Service Leader, and Unity Leader. House leaders learn leadership, responsibility, and servant-hood as they lead their fellow House mates in competitions, service projects, and unifying activities in the school.
Excalibur
All activities of the House, whether those planned and carried out through tournament, or those of service, are tied to the accumulation of points which accrue until the end of the school year when the prize, Excalibur (our House sword), is presented to the winning House.
Our Houses
Each House, named after a notable knight, has three primary virtues that they strive to embody chosen from the following: exercitium (proficiency, skill, training, practice), fides (faith, loyalty, honesty, trust), fortitudo (strength, courage, valor), generositas (generosity, charity), humanitas (kindness, courtesy), ingenuitas (nobility of character, candor, modesty), militia (courage, bravery, military spirit, difficult work), pietas (piety, loyalty, responsibility, sense of duty).
