Case Studies in Christian Education: Chattanooga Christian School

Rethinking how we serve every learner in the Kingdom of God.

Intro & Disclaimer

This case study draws from ACSI’s Future Ready publication and publicly available information from Chattanooga Christian School (CCS). It is offered for reflection among Christian school leaders and does not claim to represent all internal decisions or operations at CCS.

The Challenge

If you’ve led a Christian school for any length of time, you’ve probably faced this tension: students who either struggle to meet grade-level expectations or families seeking enrollment for children with unique learning or cognitive needs.

In those moments, the question becomes deeply practical and deeply theological:
How do we biblically serve these students?

One answer is often, “We don’t have the resources.”

But another answer—the one modeled by Chattanooga Christian School (CCS) in Tennessee—invites us to think differently about what’s possible.

The Learning Center at Chattanooga Christian School

The Learning Center: A New Model for Christian Education

Located on the CCS campus, The Learning Center is a 3,900+ square-foot facility designed for students in grades 6 and up who have significant learning and developmental needs.

Instead of following a one-size-fits-all model, CCS has developed a truly individualized approach that blends academic, therapeutic, and life-skill development, all while maintaining a distinctly Christ-centered environment.

Here’s how it works:

• Low Student-to-Staff Ratio (3:1): Each student is known, engaged, and supported as an individual. This allows for customized schedules, community involvement, and personalized strategies.

• Continuous Individual Assessment: Students are constantly assessed not against a rigid benchmark, but against their own growth trajectory—academically, socially, and spiritually.

• Integrated Therapy: Occupational, speech-language, and physical therapies are embedded into daily routines, not treated as isolated sessions. Learning happens through movement, communication, and lived experience.

• Functional and Academic Learning: While some students follow modified upper school curricula, all learn practical skills—budgeting, managing time, planning meals, reading for life and work.

• Independent Living Preparation: Students practice grocery shopping, meal prep, and household management both in the classroom and out in the community.

• Post-Secondary Planning: Staff and families collaborate to identify each student’s strengths and next steps, including employment or continued education.

A Biblical Lens for Learning Differences

This approach echoes a biblical truth: each learner reflects the image of God and carries a unique purpose.

“God has given each of you a gift from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another... Do it with all the strength and energy that God supplies.”
— 1 Peter 4:10–11 (NLT)

CCS’s Learning Center demonstrates what it looks like to live out the Kingdom of God in education. This worldview suggests we see ability not as limitation, but as opportunity for personal and spiritual formation.

What Would You Do?

How might your school structure learning to meet students of all ability levels? Maybe you can’t launch your own version of the Learning Center tomorrow, but consider some instructional strategies we can control.

The old model of “teaching to the middle” may no longer serve our mission. Instead, what if we designed learning around growth, not seat time?

In a traditional model, time is constant and learning is variable—students move on whether they’ve mastered material or not. Learning gaps form. Teachers, students, parents, and administrators become frustrated. Once that occurs, we’re left with the dilemma of “do I just pass them along?” due to social pressure or even worse, to simply lower our learning standards.

But what if we reversed that? What if learning became constant and time became the variable—allowing students to move at the pace of mastery?

That shift requires:

• More prescriptive assessment, helping teachers identify learning gaps early and intervene effectively.

• A focus on engagement and quality instruction, not just pacing guides or coverage.

• A willingness to see “differentiation” as discipleship—meeting students where they are, not where the schedule says they should be.

I will explore this instructional and learning model in more detail in future posts.

Final Word

Chattanooga Christian School’s Learning Center challenges all of us to rethink what “serving every student” truly means.

Christian schools exist to form the hearts and minds of all learners, not just those who fit traditional molds. When we anchor instruction in grace, creativity, and persistence, we honor both God’s design and our calling as educators.

The goal is not to lower expectations but to build pathways where growth is possible and where students of all abilities can thrive as image-bearers of Christ.

“Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.” — Philippians 2:4 (ESV)