THE ACADEMY at CVCU
A Brief Academy History
Since 2008, Dr. Lisa Dunne has been building homeschool academies across the United States. As a professor married to a pastor, she saw the powerhouse potential of an academic training center housed in the local church. She launched her first center in Rocklin, CA with just 35 students in its first semester, eventually growing to over 500 students in just two years. During this time, she began partnering with other churches in the area and launched five more Northern California-based academies in Grass Valley, Roseville, Fair Oaks, and two more in Rocklin.
After moving to San Diego in 2013, Dr. Dunne launched several more academies in the area including programs at Skyline Church, Rancho San Diego; The Light Church, Chula Vista; San Diego Christian College, Santee; Awaken Church, San Diego; Calvary Chapel, Santee; Beach Chapel, Encinitas; At The Cross Church, Oceanside; and Chula Vista Christian University in Chula Vista, CA. Today, she consults regularly with churches across the United States, empowering them to launch academies of their own in locations including Maple Grove, Minnesota; Christiana, Pennsylvania; Conroe, Texas; Yucalpa, California; Phoenix, Arizona; and Syracuse, New York, and other locations.
If your church is ready to join the rescue mission, learn more about starting a support academy at your local church by clicking the Start an Academy tab here at CVCU.us. The harvest is ready!
The Academy at CVCU exists to support homeschooling parents across America as they seek to educate, inspire, and disciple the next generation.
Reclaiming Government Education K to College
The Academy at CVCU is our PK to 14 model, an accelerated homeschool support program that provides national training and support for preschool parents, core and elective classes for K to 10th graders, and college classes for 11th and 12th graders. The model allows students to graduate high school with their first two years of college completed. After graduation, they can either remain with CVCU for another 22 months to complete their Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Science degree, or they can transfer to another university with all of their general education coursework completed.
Dr. Dunne has founded 24 homeschool academies across the United States as well as the first modern, homeschool-based university on the West Coast, Chula Vista Christian University. The Academy is part of the CVCU Youth Institute, an umbrella program designed to support homeschooling parents by providing Christian community, athletic opportunities, and scholastic support.
What makes The Academy different from other educational institutions? The Academy is a multigenerational, parent-driven, faith-based model of educational support. Unlike private school models, it does not segregate families and age brackets; it integrates them in a mentor modality. The Academy fully partners with parents for the learning experience, supporting rather than replacing them, as well as offering complimentary on-site and Zoom support, training, and enrichment classes to parents throughout the year. The Academy classes are taught through a partnership with parents, professors, pastors, and CVCU students.
A Multigenerational Mentorship Model
An Academy is a place of deep, intentional learning. In the 5th century BC, Plato taught his pupils in Athens in an area called Akadēmeia, which, in the early years, housed an olive grove, a tree rooted in the biblical symbolism of peace, abundance, joy, and anointing. The grounds became known as a place for intellectual discussion, drawing scholars and great thinkers from across the region. It was on these grounds that Plato began formulating the piercing truth that has now echoed through the centuries: “The two most important questions every civilization must ask are who teaches the children, and what are they being taught?”
Adding to Plato‘s brilliant but humanistically limited understanding of belief and behavior, The Academy adds the source of all truth, the Bible. “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of all wisdom,” Proverbs 9:10 reminds us. As George Washington said, an education that is devoid of morality will undermine the very principles that govern America’s foundations of freedom: “Reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in the exclusion of religious principles.” Similarly, Samuel Adams said that morality must reign as the foundation of freedom: “Liberty will not long survive the total extinction of morals.”
To this end, The Academy classes are taught by mentors who understand the vital nature of biblical integration and Socratic (inquiry-based) methodology at all ages of development. The Academy coursework is structured for parental flexibility, intentionally designed to support homeschool parents on the journey from preschool to college. The program begins with academic summer camps in June, which are followed by The Academy’s semester-based classes in the fall (August to December) and spring (January to May). Parents are free to take one class or as many classes as needed to support their family’s education process.
Free Classes, Flexible Schedules
Dr. Dunne has always believed in a flexible, affordable model of Bible-based education support. The Academy at CVCU is currently running a special tuition-free program in keeping with that value and vision: Parents pay only a registration fee of $50 per semester for registration for 1-2 children per family ($100 for 3 -4 children, and $150 for five or more children from the same family) as well as minimal supply costs (averaging $20). Our parent-directed early childhood classes are approximately $3/hour and meet from 9:30 to 12:30 two days per week. Family membership includes parental support and training sessions as well as regular personal development seminars offered by our CVCU professors, staff, mentors, and fellow parents.
Click here for summer camp information.
Click here for The Academy’s fall schedules and course descriptions.
Our founder, Dr. Lisa Dunne, is an expert in educational methodology. She holds five college degrees, has written six books, and spent 20 years in the college classroom prior to founding CVCU. Hear her radio show Saturdays at 11pm on KPraise Radio or catch her podcast, The Communication Architect, on Spotify or iTunes. Her latest book, Outsourced: Why America’s Kids Need an Education Revolution, is available on Amazon and at OutsourcedTheBook.com. Dr. Dunne continues to found homeschool academies across
the nation to help rescue students from the indoctrination of government school systems.
Church pastors who want to join the rescue mission can click the Start a Homeschool Academy tab right here at CVCU.us. We will
help you build an Academy model tailored to your local church!