Dr. Chanh M. Tu addressed a group of interested citizens Thursday evening at First Baptist Church concerning the new River of Life Academy (ROLA). The new school, according to Tu, will provide a “classical Christian education, and will be housed at the former site of Central Baptist Church on South Lee Street.

Tu’s presentation was geared toward explaining the purpose and reasoning behind starting a school of this nature in Americus. “A Christian education and a good education can be done at the same time,” says Tu. Wary of a government-run public school system, Tu and the coordinators of ROLA consider this a good time to start a Christian academy.

“Our educational system is in an academic and spiritual crisis,” says Tu. Tu also addressed the rising number of teenagers leaving their faith after high school. “We used to think students left their faith in college, but we have found we lose them in at the middle school age,” he said.

The River of Life Academy intends to train and teach students with a “creationist world view.” Implementing a classical criteria for teaching, “the preferred method, up until the Industrial Revolution, will teach students to think for themselves,” said Tu. The classical aspects of the school will include a concentration on Latin and classic works of literature.

One aspect of the training includes what Tu refers to as “an extension of the family to help parents in training their children.

“The academy will implement guidelines set by certain accrediting bodies as soon as possible,” Tu explains.

The initial age groups for the academy will be kindergarten through sixth grades for the first year after opening in fall 2010, and even though it is applying for non-profit status, there will be tuition cost, “to provide the quality education intended.” Tuition will range from $2,901 to $3,381 yearly depending on age group and opting for after school care.