About Us
Contact Us
To schedule a tour or ask a question, please use the contact information below. We look forward to hearing from you.
PHONE
970-249-1094
ADDRESS
2705 Sunnyside Road
Montrose, CO 81401
Purpose
Biblical truth, integrity, academic excellence and spiritual growth
The purpose of Colorado West Christian school is to serve our community by raising up a new generation of well educated and spiritual individuals. CWCS delivers Christian education in partnership with Christian families and local Evangelical churches to develop students both academically and spiritually. We provide every student an education with truth in every subject; surrounding them with examples of servant leadership and to prepare the to utilize critical thinking and actions to develop a biblical worldview in a nurturing and structured environment Cultivating Whole-hearted Christian Servants.
History
Colorado West Christian School has served the Montrose community for more than 40 years. We strive for academic excellence by glorifying God in everything we do. If you want to learn more about CWCS please visit our virtual open house or give us a call to schedule a tour.
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​The following is a brief history of Trinity Christian Academy (TCA) (1981-1987) and
Colorado West Christian School (CWCS) (1987-2024).
In 1977 a group of dedicated Christian families began Trinity Reformed Presbyterian
Church in Montrose, Colorado. These families had a vision to also begin a Christian
school ministry in the Montrose area. Therefore, in the fall of 1981 Trinity Christian
Academy opened its doors to students in grades K4 through 6th under the leadership of Principal/Administrator Peter Rich (1981-1986). The first few months of classes were
held in a local doctor’s office while awaiting completion of Trinity Church’s new building. Over the Christmas break the school moved into its new home and has remained primarily at this location ever since. Very soon a wing with four additional classrooms was added to the original four. Grades seven and eight were also added.
During these same approximate years, a second independent Christian school, Woodgate Christian School, was also in operation in the Montrose area. Due to a series of unfortunate events, in 1986 Woodgate found itself unable to continue in
operation. The leadership of Woodgate School, Trinity Church and the TCA board made the decision to merge the two schools and thus CWCS was born. CWCS began its first year of operation with 128 students in grades K4-8th and 10 teaching staff.
Leadership of the new school passed to Principal/Administrator Galen Daily (1987-
1990) who oversaw the addition of a second building with four new classrooms on the
main campus and the beginning of a high school program. This primarily video high
school program as well as the 7th and 8th grades were housed at First Baptist Church
of Montrose (now Cedar Creek Church). A brief time of controversy led to a school split and the creation of short-lived Covenant Christian School.
In 1990 the leadership baton was passed to Principal/Administrator Tim Calkins (1990-
1996). Several years of steady growth followed with the school housed on two campuses. Elementary classes continued on the main Trinity Church campus while
the secondary classes were located at the Montrose Four-Square Church (now
Grace Community Church) facility. The high school now enjoyed a full program of
traditional classroom instruction rather than video school.
1996 saw the reins pass to Principal/ Administrator Brad Fell (1996-2017). Classes continued to be held in two locations until the addition of two new buildings consisting of six new classrooms and a multi-purpose room were added to the main campus. These years saw the addition of different curriculums and the introduction of new technology usage in the classrooms.
Tim Deater became Head-of-School for CWCS in 2018. Under his leadership, CWCS
continues to grow and advance the opportunities for quality Christian education in the greater Montrose area. Yet another new set of classrooms has been added to
the current campus, an improved science lab developed, and a second satellite
campus established to serve students in the neighboring community of Delta. Currently the school’s enrollment is 260 students in grades K4-12 with a full and part-time teaching staff of 38 across both campuses.
Plans are being made to further expand our current campus as well as to build a new
secondary campus for middle and high school students complete with a gymnasium
near our existing campus. CWCS is currently pursuing dual accreditation through the
Association of Christian Schools International and Cognia. Sound financial stewardship and well thought out strategic planning guide the school as it looks to the future.
​During the ups and downs, blessings and trials inherent in 43 years of operation, CWCS has been ably served by 5 gifted administrators/heads-of-school, 2 interim administrators, over 100 full or part time teaching staff, dedicated office personnel, innumerable faithful volunteers, and committed families. CWCS continues to be the primary ministry of Trinity Reformed Presbyterian Church and enjoys good working relationships with other local churches. God has been and continues to be so very faithful.
Mission/Vision
CWCS exists to deliver Christian education in partnership with parents and local evangelical churches to develop students both academically and spiritually to cultivate wholehearted Christian servants.
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CWCS will strive to provide every student an education with Biblical truth in every academic subject, to surround them with examples of servant leaders, to prepare them to utilize critical thinking and actions in order to develop a Biblical world and life view in a nurturing and structured environment, and to fully equip them with the understanding that they have been blessed by God so that they might be a blessing for the kingdom of God.
Philosophy
Our philosophy has three main pillars: academics, faith and discipline.
ACADEMICS
The purpose of the school is to assist parents in helping their children to grow mentally, physically, spiritually, and socially (Luke 2:52) and to encourage each student to follow Jesus in service to God (Romans 12:1,2).
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We seek to achieve this purpose by:
A. Providing a loving, disciplined learning environment.
B. Providing Christian teachers committed to excellence.
C. Providing a Christ-centered curriculum that prepares students for God-given responsibilities in the family, church, community and the nation.
FAITH
We believe that there is no such thing as "neutrality" in education (or in any other area of life). Learning and teaching are either God-centered or man-centered. Education must begin with acknowledging the authority of God's revelation and seeking His glory, or it must be an attempt to find truth independently of God.
Christian education does not happen when there is simply an addition of Bible to readings and prayers to an essentially unbiblical curriculum. A Christian school is one in which every subject is taught from a biblical perspective. The Bible must not be merely the textbook for one class but must provide the framework, the "world-and-life view," from which every subject must be approached, both by teachers and students.
DISCIPLINE
Our discipline procedure includes two tracks. Track 1 refers to the daily predictable inappropriate behavior and Track 2 refers to unpredictable inappropriate behavior when major infractions occur.
Each teacher has a classroom management plan consisting of class rules, incentives and consequences. This system spells out the behaviors we expect from students and what they can expect from us in return. Each teacher's plan may differ but consequences are standardized, so our students will always know what to expect.
Our goal is to have a fair and consistent way to establish a save, orderly, positive classroom environment in which we can teach and students can learn.
Statement of Faith
As a declaration of its commitment to the promotion of historic Biblical Christianity, the school provides the following Statement of Faith:
A. Scripture. We believe that the Bible is the Word of God, verbally inspired by the Holy Spirit, inerrant in the original writings, and the final authority in faith and practice.
B. God. We believe in one living, sovereign, and true God, existing eternally in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, co-equal in power and glory, and having the same essence and attributes.
C. God's Purpose. We believe that the eternal purpose of God includes all events; is holy and wise; does not deprive man of responsibility, nor make God the author of sin. Before the foundation of the world, God the Father chose for Himself in Christ a people whom He gave to His Son that they should be holy and without blame before Him.
D. Sin. We believe that all men are sinners, because Adam and Eve, their first parents, were tempted by Satan, disobeyed God's command, and by their own choice fell from their original state of innocence and fellowship with God and came under the power and penalty of sin. All men fell in Adam, being sinners by imputation and by choice, separated from God, and under His condemnation.
E. Christ. We believe that Jesus Christ was born of the virgin Mary, having been conceived by the Holy Spirit. He was both fully human and fully divine. He lived a sinless life, died a voluntary substitutionary death to save His people from their sins, and was raised bodily from the dead and exalted to the right hand of God the Father.
F. Salvation. We believe that all who are born again by the Holy Spirit receive by faith the Lord Jesus Christ and are justified on the grounds of His shed blood, not because of any works they have done. They are in dwelt and sealed by the Spirit until the day of redemption, are secure in Christ, and together for the true Church.
G. Return of Christ. We believe in the personal, bodily, and visible return of the Lord Jesus Christ to judge the world, the bodily resurrection of the just and the unjust, the everlasting punishment of the lost, and the everlasting bliss of the saints.
H. Marriage. “Marriage is to be between one man and one woman, in accordance with the Word of God.” If a student and/or his parents are not in agreement with the STATEMENT OF FAITH as presented above, then they should seriously consider whether CWCS is the place for them to apply to attend school. Admission to the school will be denied if this statement is not embraced. There is no place for compromise or modification of these essentials of our faith.
Accreditation
For forty-two years CWCS has served the Montrose community. During that time, the school has been a member of ACSI; however, accreditation was never pursued. At CWCS we believe that accreditation is one of the many parts that validates the work our staff puts into our curriculum and the resulting outcomes observed in our students. In 2022, the stakeholders of CWCS who met for our strategic planning session identified accreditation as a top priority. A three-year timeline was given to pursue accreditation with the Association of Christian Schools International (ACSI) and Cognia.
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Since then and under the direction of Mrs. Loann Ross, Dr. Deater and Mrs. Beth Walker CWCS has formally applied for accreditation and CWCS is officially a candidate for accreditation. The school will host an accreditation team from ACSI in November of 2024 for our official site visit and evaluation. Lord willing, the school’s hard work to accomplish accreditation will result in a six-year accreditation.
WHY SEND YOUR KIDS TO CHRISTIAN SCHOOL?
SUPERIOR EDUCATION IS AN INVESTMENT
Not just in dollars, but in time and effort. To maximize the results, students and parents will invest hard work and determination.
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We believe that having a faith integrated education is of utmost importance in raising strong Christians that will not only be successful in whatever occupation they are called to, but will also be successful in the mission that every Christian has - to be a light in a dark and broken world.
We are very proud of the high level of academics at CWCS. Our students consistently score very high on standardized tests. We believe it is very important to invest in the highest level of education excellence for our children in order to prepare them to be successful in whatever occupation they move on to.
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In addition to traditional academics we believe it is important to integrate our Christian faith in every subject. In order to teach servitude, discipline, moral integrity, and compassion we must teach from the perspective of Christ in everything that we teach. We must learn from the perspective of Christ in everything that we learn. Simply put, we must learn about God's world, God's way.
K4-K5
We offer full day K4 and K5 classes, with emphasis on "classes." We are not a daycare facility. Educating our children is our primary concern. Our K4 and K5 classes have a dedicated curriculum that encourages our students in language, math, science, spelling and reading. It is our privilege to teach these young children. We keep class sizes small so that they receive lots of one on one time. Our K5 class is usually reading books by Christmas!
MIDDLE SCHOOL
Middle School at CWCS consists of 6th through 8th grades. In 2019 we will reintroduce a more structured middle school program and curriculum. Middle school students will be further challenged academically, socially and athletically. Here they begin learning and applying logic, reason and theological truths to a deeper level.
They will begin retelling classical literature though hands on dioramas as well as many other interactive styles of learning. This transitional time is so important for their success in high school.
ELEMENTARY
Our 1st though 5th grade builds the foundation that is needed to excel in middle and high school. All classes are very hands on and we make every attempt to make the learning process fun and interesting. Starting in 5th grade our students start using dedicated Chrome Books for their research and studies.
The younger elementary classes primarily use ABeka and we begin to transition to Bob Jones curriculum in 5th Grade.
HIGH SCHOOL
Our high school program is led by a group of exceptional teachers who care not only for our students academic development, but more so for their spiritual development. Our core classes (Bible, Literature, Humanities, Math and Science) are all taught traditionally. Our students are also exposed to Shop, Choir, Technology and a number of other elective classes to engage the students full interest.
Have any questions? Want to register, or schedule a tour? We would love to hear from you.
CWCS Sponsors
We greatly appreciate the local businesses and churches that support CWCS. Your support is instrumental to the success of our school. Thank you for being a part of our ministry to our families, our churches and our communities. Please support our local businesses, especially our corporate sponsors. When you're there tell them what their support of CWCS means to you.
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Contact
ADDRESS
2705 Sunnyside Road
Montrose, CO 81401
PHONE: 970-249-1094
EMAIL: office@cwcsmontrose.com
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