Case Studies in Christian Education: Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy
Forming Entrepreneurs, Not Just Graduates.
A Note to Readers
Each case study in this series is shared for reflection and discussion. We don’t claim full access to every detail of a school’s internal decision-making. The following is drawn from publicly available resources, including CHCA’s official course catalog and articles published through the Center for the Advancement of Christian Education (CACE).
The Situation
Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy (CHCA), a thriving K–12 school in Ohio, has built one of the most robust Entrepreneurship and Sustainability programs in Christian education. The program is more than a set of electives; it’s a comprehensive learning pathway that blends discipleship with practical business experience.
The CHCA Entrepreneurship and Sustainability track includes courses and internships designed to cultivate creativity, communication, and real-world problem solving—skills essential for leadership in today’s culture. Students can pursue the Entrepreneurship Certificate, a multi-year sequence that integrates classroom learning, mentorship, and hands-on business management.
According to CHCA’s course catalog and the CACE article “Entrepreneurship Education is Powerful—and When It’s Christ-Centered, It’s Transformative,” students don’t just simulate entrepreneurship; they run businesses. These include:
The Leaning Eagle Coffee Bar, a student-run café on campus.
Eagle Farms, a working greenhouse and garden that supplies fresh produce.
The Teaching Kitchen, where culinary students manage a fine-dining experience.
CHCA Print Shop, producing branded products for school and community.
Through these ventures, students learn to view entrepreneurship as an opportunity to steward creativity and serve others through business, innovation, and sustainability.
“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters.”
— Colossians 3:23 (NIV)
The curriculum reinforces key habits of an entrepreneurial mindset: curiosity, persistence, adaptability, and faith-driven risk-taking. Introductory entrepreneurship courses introduce students to business planning, market validation, leadership, and customer research, all within a biblical framework.
Beyond these introductory courses, CHCA offers an impressive variety of electives that expand the entrepreneurial vision across disciplines:
Advanced Investing Honors, focusing on market cycles, financial planning, and stewardship.
AP Business with Personal Finance, combining college-level business foundations with practical entrepreneurship projects.
Agriculture and Sustainability, an applied science course that integrates biology, ecology, and stewardship through greenhouse and outdoor growing labs.
Culinary Arts Sequence (American Fare, Baking, Advanced Culinary Arts), where students manage events and develop creative hospitality leadership through the Teaching Kitchen.
Entrepreneurship Internships I–IV, where students progress from entry-level contributors to full business managers, eventually mentoring younger peers and overseeing operations.
Each experience points students back to the same central goal: developing character and creativity through a biblical worldview. The sequence culminates in the Entrepreneurship Certificate, which requires at least two years of business internship experience and additional coursework in entrepreneurship or sustainability.
What Would You Do?
CHCA’s approach raises important questions for Christian school leaders:
How can entrepreneurship programs remain centered on discipleship?
Schools must ensure innovation doesn’t drift toward pragmatism or profit-seeking. CHCA succeeds because it anchors its program to mission and spiritual formation, helping students see creativity as participation in God’s redemptive work.How do you balance freedom with structure?
Students need autonomy to experiment, yet guardrails to stay aligned with school values. CHCA’s model allows exploration while ensuring adult mentorship and accountability.How do you assess spiritual and professional growth?
Measuring entrepreneurship is easy when profit is the goal. But Christian schools must evaluate character—grit, humility, and stewardship—as equally essential outcomes.What systems ensure sustainability and consistency?
Programs like these depend on faculty champions, administrative support, and flexible schedules. Leadership must plan for continuity so success doesn’t hinge on a single visionary teacher.How can smaller schools adapt this model?
You don’t need a greenhouse or a coffee shop. Start small with student-led projects that serve the community, connect disciplines, and integrate biblical worldview with innovation.
Final Word
Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy’s Entrepreneurship and Sustainability program models what it means to educate for both calling and competence. It doesn’t reduce discipleship to classroom devotionals or chapel attendance but embeds it into every creative act. Such a powerful integration for our students.
This is what a Christian education can be: forming young believers who can think, build, and serve in a rapidly changing world.
Education in a Christian school is always about discipleship to Christ. Yet within that calling, our students must also learn the intangible skills of creativity, communication, resilience, and problem solving that allow them to live out their confidence in Jesus in the public square.
Quality Christian education and a biblical worldview should not be separated from creative approaches that prepare young leaders for the communities they will one day serve. Regardless of the size or resources of our schools, we can all find ways, large or small, to cultivate programs like this one and put our students in the driver’s seat of their learning.
When our students learn to innovate with conviction, serve with humility, and create with Kingdom purpose, we see the fruit of education that truly transforms.