our Purpose
Our mission is to help families Biblically and academically educate their children so that they mature into persons who passionately love God, others, and learning.
A Message from the Administration
In the Old Testament world, the people of Issachar were known as those who “understood the times, with knowledge of what Israel should do” (I Chronicles 13:32). More than ever, our world is in need of men and women who understand our times and possess knowledge of what to do. This requires wisdom, a wisdom which is not the product of human experience but has its origin in the Person of God. Jesus said that He is the Truth, and in Colossians 2:3 Paul writes that all knowledge and wisdom are treasures hidden in Christ
Students at Ohio Valley Christian School are taught that they just can’t construct their own truths about mathematics, they cannot simply construct their own truths about God, faith, morality, or the purpose of their lives. We can construct an accurate understanding of reality only in a relationship with Jesus and the Spirit who guides us into all truth (John 16:13). Since truth is an accurate reflection of the way things are in reality, we have a responsibility to our students to help them wrestle with and grasp the nature of truth and the vital questions of our day.
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The curriculum at OVCS is grounded in a biblical worldview; students understand history is the story of God, math as a language of the beautiful order of the universe, and science as a way to use our faculties to comprehend the magnitude of God’s loving power and to steward the creation that resulted from that power. Art, languages, literature, music, geography, physical education—all have a root in what the Father intends for us as His people, and we should explore them accordingly. It is the process of helping students discover not only the fullness of what God intends for each of them but also the transforming power of His presence to bring that intention to fruition.
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What greater gift can we give our students than to help them understand God, themselves, others, and the world around them as we and they move toward eternal glory? This gift allows our students to “understand the times, with a knowledge of what they should do.”
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We invite you to visit our school, meet our faculty and students, and tour our facilities. Please call our office at (740) 446-0374 to schedule an appointment.
STATEMENT OF FAITH
The following is a summary of the school's statement of faith. This is the doctrine that we believe and teach in our educational ministries. Our teaching is thoroughly biblical, but nondenominational in our Christian education ministry because we believe that Christians of all churches need a Christian education.
We believe that there is one God (Yahweh), eternally existent in three Persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
We believe the Bible (66 Books) to be verbally and plenarily inspired by God in the original autographs and the final authority in all matters on which it speaks.
We believe that man was created by the direct act of God and that man was created perfect and innocent but fell willingly into sin with the result that all men are born with a sinful nature and must be born again to be saved.
We believe in the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ, that He was begotten by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, is true God and true man, and that He lived a sinless life, performed miracles, died a vicarious and atoning death for man's sin, was bodily resurrected for man's justification, ascended to the right hand of the Father, and will return personally in power and glory.
We believe that a sinner can be saved only by God's loving grace and that faith alone in Christ on the basis of His death is God's only demand for pardon and justification. We believe that faith and repentance cannot be separated and that when a man turns to God he must by necessity turn from idols.
We believe the Holy Spirit baptizes every believer into the Body of Christ at the moment of salvation and indwells them as His temple. We believe the Holy Spirit enables believers for godly living, service, produces the fruit of the Spirit, and teaches and convicts them of the Biblical truth recorded in the Bible.
We believe that every born again person should demonstrate his faith by confessing his faith and the act of baptism, which serves as a symbol of the believer's identification with the Christ. We believe that every saved person should be a member of a Bible-believing, local church and should periodically partake of the Lord's Supper, which symbolizes the Lord's death and future return.
We believe in the resurrection of both the saved and the lost; those who are saved unto eternal life and those who are lost unto eternal damnation.
HISTORY
The people of First Baptist Church started Ohio Valley Christian School on July 24, 1977, as a chartered, nonpublic school by the State of Ohio. The school operates under a Governing Board consisting of the Pastor, Associate Pastor, Administrator, and other members who are elected by the church. The school opened on September 6, 1977, with 39 students in grades K‑6 with a staff of 7 people. Grades were added each year so that the first senior class graduated in 1982. OVCS grew to have 259 students and 29 people on the staff in 1998. Enrollment has fluctuated since then. All classes are conducted in the facilities of First Baptist Church. In 1982, the church built a gymnasium. In 1998, a new auditorium and elementary educational building were built. OVCS began with a commitment to give students a quality Christian education through a self-contained classroom approach and extra-curricular activities. The school has maintained much higher than average scores on standardized tests. In the summer of 2009, the OVCS consolidated both the high school and elementary school in the facility at 1100 Fourth Avenue. A new multipurpose building, including a new gymnasium, was constructed in 2012. First Baptist Church and Ohio Valley Christian School seek to continue a tradition of quality, Christian education.
The Philosophy of christian education
OVCS exists to assist parents in fulfilling their God-given responsibility to train and develop each child to their fullest potential as a creation of God. This is achieved by producing Godly character through personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, high academic standards, enhanced socialization skills, development of strong self-controlled bodies, and a deep sense of who God is and who they are in the kingdom of God. It is our goal that each child develops their full potential mentally, physically, socially, and spiritually (Luke 2:52).
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With the basis that God is the center of all truth and the Creator of all, students study science as God's creation, geography as God's handiwork, history, and mathematics as God's orderliness and absolute truth, music, and art as God's beauty and tools for worship, reading skills as a means toward understanding God's Word, and physical education and health as a responsibility in caring for God's temple. To obtain such integrated academic standards, OVCS hires qualified Christian staff members who view teaching as a Christian ministry. The following Scriptures teach this philosophy: Proverbs 1:7, 9:10, 11:1, 22:6, 29:19; Deut. 6:4‑7; Lam. 3:27; Eccl. 9:10; Psalm 33:12; Romans 8:29; I Cor. 9:25‑27, 13, 14:40; Phil. 4:1‑9; Col. 1:12‑22; I Tim. 4:12; II Tim. 2:15; II Peter 1:5‑7.