St. Philip's Academy Now Accepting Applications for 4K and 5K!

St. Philip’s Academy Open Information Session Attendees Learn About Tuition, Curriculum, and More from Newly Named Primary School Director Trisha Reese
One hundred parents and grandparents gathered excitedly in the Parish Hall on Sunday afternoon to hear about St. Philip’s Academy’s plans to open K4 and K5 classrooms for the 2025-2026 school year. They were greeted by members of the Kindergarten Planning Committee: Ben Hagood, Martha Harken, Brendan O’Shea, Molly and Justin Hare, and Trisha Reese, a group that Ben Hagood noted represents 100 years of educational leadership!
The committee shared some major announcements:
- Remodeling work on the school building at 51 State Street began on January 2. Blueprints and interior design sketches gave a glimpse of a beautiful interior. There will be ten learning spaces, administration offices, a teacher resource room and lounge, a large multipurpose room, and a library. Remodeling is scheduled for completion by July.
- St. Philip’s Academy has made its first hire! Trisha Reese will serve as Primary School Director and lead the startup of the school with the help of many on the planning committee.
- The application for 4K and 5K classes is open! There are only 12 spaces available in each class, and each class will have a lead teacher and teacher assistant. Find out about the application process and tuition here.
- Priority in enrollment will be given to established parishioners of St. Philip’s Church, but the Academy is open to all who are interested in having their child receive a classical Christian education.
- The school day will run from 8:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., and the scheduled first day of school is August 12, 2025. The school calendar is shaped by the church calendar, and the Academy will observe Feast Days and Holy Days.
- Jr. Kindergarten (4K) will prioritize habit formation while joyfully teaching children the good, true, and beautiful through stories, songs, poetry, God’s creation, and free play, which will prepare them for the more rigorous disciplines of kindergarten.
- Kindergarten (5K) will prioritize phonics, reading, manuscript writing, and numerical literacy.
- Both classes will have a daily chapel led by the school chaplain, encounter beautiful art, have ample free time outdoors, learn music through movement and singing, learn observational skills through nature studies, and engage in various ways with the best of classic children’s literature, Bible stories, history, geography, and poetry.
Trisha Reese spoke at length about the differences a classical Christian education can provide and specifically about what this would look like at St. Philip’s Academy. She helped unpack the ideas in the following quote: “Grounded in piety, Christian classical education cultivates the virtues of the student in body, heart, and mind while nurturing a love for wisdom under the lordship of Christ” (Ravi Jain and Kevin Clark).
Applications have started to come in, and we are thrilled that God is clearly blessing this new ministry of St. Philip’s Church! Thank you to all who have given to the Shine the Light Campaign thus far to make all this possible (we are just over $1.5 million away from our goal!), and thank you for your prayers for this ministry.
View tuition and curriculum information and fill out the enrollment application online at stphilipschurchsc.org/st-philips-academy.
About Trisha Reese, Primary School Director: Trisha is the product of a classical Christian education and has twenty years of experience as a teacher and school administrator. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in English language and literature from LeTourneau University and a Master of Arts in Teaching from Wheaton College. She has worked at three different classical Christian schools, serving as a teacher, academic advisor, operations director, and dean of students.
Trisha is a life-long student and classical educator. Nothing brings her greater joy than discipling the next generation to be virtuous leaders who will change the world for Christ’s Kingdom and God’s Glory. She believes that classical Christian education provides the greatest structure for this endeavor.
As Primary School Director of St. Philip’s Academy, Trisha will be working closely with the Classical Christian School Planning Committee appointed last year by the Vestry, and she will be responsible for planning and overseeing the 4K and 5K programs.
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