What is Torrey Academy?
What are Torrey Academy's core values?
How is Torrey Academy unique?
What is Torrey Academy?
Through online distance learning and on site classes throughout Southern California, Torrey Academy's mission is to provide holistic, classically informed, humanities courses and conferences of high academic caliber, transforming and equipping high school students in mind and character to impact the world for the Lord Jesus Christ.
Name Sake
Torrey Academy is the sister program of Biola University's
Torrey Honors Institute for undergraduates. The name "Torrey" is taken in honor of
Reuben Archer Torrey, dean of the
Bible Institute of Los Angeles (now Biola University) from 1912 to 1924. A graduate of Yale divinity school, he combined thoughtful yet strongly orthodox theology with practical and global ministry. The goal of Torrey Academy and the Torrey Honors Institute is to send into contemporary society persons of such dedication and courage.
Vision
Torrey Academy's vision is to be an integral part of Biola University's global outreach, extending the influence of an evangelical intellectual and spiritual renewal internationally to high school students.
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What are Torrey Academy's Core Values?
Torrey Academy integrates academic excellence, spiritual growth, and community into the scholastic life of high school students while honoring parental involvement.
Academic Excellence
Students in Torrey Academy are challenged by rigorous yet attainable academic standards and expectations. As part of a small discussion, each student group is mentored by a tutor, a degreed scholar, who leads group discussions, reviews student work, and provides personalized feedback and encouragement. Students are challenged to deepen their understanding of the ideas that inform our lives and societies and to integrate their faith with intellect and practice. Students leave Torrey Academy equipped for the academic rigors of the best colleges and universities.
Spiritual Growth
Torrey Academy believes that all our work, including study, is properly seen as an act of worship and service to God. As such, Torrey Academy tutors and staff model habits and attitudes that reflect that belief. Book selections and group discussions are directed to enhance students' knowledge and love of God as they gain increased insight into God, themselves, humankind, and the rest of God's creation. Torrey Academy firmly believes that knowledge of truth transform us. Our goal is to be a testimony to others of God's work in the world.
Community
Torrey Academy students and alumni frequently point to the community within Torrey Academy as one of the aspects that most influences them during their experience in the program. Torrey Academy is committed to fostering communities of tutors and students who share a common vision, a common zeal, and a common labor toward deeper relationship with God. The unique nature of the Torrey Academy challenge naturally bonds those who take it up; the community is forged through open and honest dialog, hard work in the sowing, and shared joy in the reaping.
Parental Involvement
Torrey Academy seeks to partner with, and not replace, parents as the primary educators of their students. The year-long classes for homeschoolers rely on frequent communication with and strong support from parents. Homeschooling parents are expected to play a significant role in the educational process by proof-reading written work, supervising class computer time, helping with time and task management, and discussing ideas from the curriculum outside of class.
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How is Torrey Academy unique?
Torrey Academy is in the unique position of offering high school programming through Biola University, a Christian university with a history of nearly one-hundred years of faithful service and doctrinal integrity. Torrey Academy offers holistic, classically informed, and accessible programming with lots of options for families to choose from.
Biola University
Torrey Academy provides students the opportunity to see why Biola University is the most exciting place in Christian higher education today. Torrey Academy is proud to extend to high school students and their families the mission of Biola University: "biblically centered education, scholarship, and service—equipping men and women in mind and character to impact the world for the Lord Jesus Christ."
Holistic
Torrey Academy helps students flourish as individuals created in the image of God with multiple areas of potential in mind, body, and spirit. Such a whole-person outlook means that we seek to stretch students not only in mind, forming justified true beliefs and acquiring skills, but also in character inspiring and aiding them to develop Godly sentiments and habits, to behave ethically, and to appreciate beauty. We do not teach to standardized tests; we teach to the glory of God by touching and transforming individual lives.
Classically Informed
Torrey Academy draws on the great minds of the Christian tradition for class curriculum and teaching methods.
The curriculum is interdisciplinary and based on primary texts rather than textbooks. Because Torrey Academy seeks to equip students to articulate and defend the Christian worldview, we believe it is necessary for students to wrestle with the texts and ideas that have shaped and challenged that worldview over the last two thousand years. The curriculum spans literature, history, theology, philosophy, Bible, government and art to reflect the unity of creation and knowledge.
Torrey Academy methods and assignments minimize "busy work," emphasize the essential skills of reading, thinking, writing, and speaking. We develop reasoning and rhetorical skills in small group discussions led by degreed scholars, called tutors.
Accessible
Although the classes are challenging, they are designed to be accessible to all Christian students of all academic abilities starting in tenth grade. No "honors student" status is required to enroll; the only prerequisites are the ability to read and write at a basic high school level, and, most importantly, the willingness to work diligently.
Options
Torrey Academy homeschool courses are designed to accommodate individual families' needs and interests.
Torrey Academy offers four different homeschool courses which can be taken remotely through the distance learning program or on site in southern California. Courses have grade-level recommendations, but families can choose to start the sequence earlier or later depending on the student's readiness.
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