Heritage Oak School: excelling above and beyond the expectations

Provided by Heritage Oak School.

Heritage Oak School students submerged in learning.

The Heritage Oak School (HOS) was founded in 1994 and fall 2024 marks its 30th year. With an emphasis on spiritual growth for their students, the school's mission is to, "serve Christian families and their children by disciplining passionate hearts and strong minds to be ALL for Christ."

Amy Walker has been a part of the institution and its academic road to excellence since it was founded in 1994 and became head of the school in 2014. She shared it has been a fulfilling journey since the school transitioned to a classical model around 1997. The school became an Association of Classical Christian Schools member in 1999, with over 500 member schools.

Regionally accredited since 2008, they are fully accredited K-12 with the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC). HOS began the process to become ACCS accredited in the fall of 2022 and had its "on campus" visit in February 2024. This is considered an "associational accreditation" of which there are many in the United States. After this, HOS became California's first classical Christian school to become ACCS accredited. There are only 67 accredited across the United States. HOS received confirmation of their accreditation in March of this year.

Like the WASC process, ACCS combines elements of WASC's traditional accreditation criteria with classical academic standards. According to classicalchristian.org, an ACCS-accredited school has successfully, "completed a thorough process involving both a self-study examination of all standards and requirements for ACCS accreditation followed by an on-site visit by qualified and experienced accreditation committee." It then goes on to explain, "This committee examines the entire school organization from school board oversight to classroom pedagogy, including student participation, conduct, development, staff training, parent-teacher relationships, operational and financial policies, community support, and the overall spiritual demeanor in the school classrooms."

Walker shared that the entire faculty and staff worked hard over many months to prepare for the new accreditation recognition and are pleased that it will provide added benefits for all the students at Heritage Oak in the years ahead.

The City of Tehachapi congratulates Heritage Oak School for its everlasting presence in serving the community, with academic excellence, diligent teachers and staff. Heritage Oak School is located at 20915 Schout Road and is accepting applications for fall 2024.

Only a few seats remain for kindergarten, so make sure to schedule a campus tour online at http://www.heritageoakschool.info/ today, or call (661) 823-0885.