Academics
Elementary, Middle, and UCHS
Elementary School
St. Stephens offers a challenging Christ-centered curriculum for our elementary students in Grades K-5. Students are encouraged to explore the world around them, grow in faith, and develop an enthusiastic love for learning.
Our curriculum builds on the fundamentals of reading, writing and mathematics, and it challenges students to develop critical thinking skills through science, language arts and social studies. Our elementary students all have art, computer, music and physical education. Technology is integrated into the curriculum daily. And our students enjoy learning through age-appropriate field trips and activities.
Our Christian faith is integrated into everything we teach and do at SSLS. Our focus is to ensure that our students know and love their Savior, Jesus Christ.
We want every student to develop a personal relationship with Jesus and truly understand what it means to live a Christian life.
Middle School
Our middle school includes students in Grades 6-8. We feel blessed to have the opportunity to work with adolescents on their faith walk during this important time in their lives.
The SSLS middle school curriculum provides excellent preparation for high school through a challenging Christ-centered academic curriculum. Students explore literature, science, mathematics, history and religion through a variety of projects and daily assignments. Caring, dedicated teachers provide individualized attention to each student. We offer a high school algebra classes are offered, as well as classes in computers, art, music and physical education. Middle school students have lockers and switch classes every 40-45 minutes. All of our teachers have certification in the areas which they teach.
In addition to local and in-state field trips, our middle school students enjoy off-campus experiences at Washington, DC; Charleston, SC; and other overnight locations. Students are challenged to explore God's creation and develop a deeper appreciation for the Christian heritage of our nation.
Throughout middle school, we are committed to shaping the lives of our students by inspiring them to express the Christian values and qualities that matter most … honesty in word and deed, kindness toward others, respect for authority and trust in God.
University Christian High School
Our classes end at 8th grade at SSLS, but our education continues at University Christian High School. UCHS is "our" high school ... it's not on our campus, but it is located on the campus of Lenoir-Rhyne University.
UCHS offers students in the Hickory area the opportunity to receive a strong academic education in a Christian environment. UCHS is a high school where Christian values are taught, modeled and expected.
Students in ninth and tenth grades take all of the classes that have NC End-of-Course tests. They also have the opportunity to take a wide variety of online elective classes. We offer a SAT Prep class in tenth grade that is designed to help students achieve higher SAT test scores. Sophomores have two AP class opportunities.
University Christian High School is in partnership with Lenoir-Rhyne University. The school's location on the LRU campus allows students to use the university's athletic facilities, cafeteria, library and science labs. Qualified juniors and seniors have the opportunity to take most of their classes as college classes that count as both high school and college credit. Any of the entry-level classes offered at LRU are available to UCHS students providing a selection of classes more extensive than any other high school in the area. Students may graduate from high school with over 30 hours of college credit.
For more information, visit the UCHS website.
