Rebuilding the West in Christ and For Christ
Rose City Classical Academy is a two-day K-8 Christ-Centered classical school in Tyler, Texas, opening in July 2025.
We Solve Them With Three Emphases
Christ-Centered
The heavens declare the glory of God. Everything we learn should cultivate worship and virtue.
Classical
Education should create the joy of learning by giving the skills to do it well.
Collaborative
Students learn Mon/Thurs on campus (7:50 - 3:30) and Tues/Wed/Fri at home with parents.
What is Classical Education?
Education should be more than job training. One author said that education is philosophy at work. We agree. Education is about sharing both a passion for the good life and our convictions about what makes the ideal person. All education goes beyond facts and figures and aims for the heart. Our process nourishes students with knowledge, shapes them with virtue, and instructs them in piety.
This aim is the heart of classical education. The Trivium model gives students the tools they need to learn. It bathes them in classical and biblical literature to cultivate a passion for truth, goodness, and beauty. Holistic Christian education trains the pupil to be erudite, virtuous, pious, and industrious as a result.
Read more here: Classical Education
Our Leadership
The plan for Rose City Classical Academy came together in 2024 after many discussions and years of wanting a collaborative classical school in Tyler. With their varied experiences, qualifications, and insights creating momentum behind the scenes, these three men stepped forward to be the inaugural board of Rose City.
Chairman of the Board
Drew Pressoir
Drew Pressoir came to faith in Christ at the age of 17. His newfound love for the church and desire to grow in the knowledge of Christ led him to earn bachelor's and master's degrees in Christian Theology and Pastoral Ministry. In 2020, Drew was ordained and continues to serve as the Associate Pastor of Fifth Street Presbyterian Church.
As both a pastor and a student of theology, Drew is deeply committed to the education of God’s people. His passion for Christian Classical Education has grown through self-study, recognizing it as a vital means of shaping virtuous servants of Jesus Christ. Drew is honored to serve as Chairman of the Board of RCCA and prays that God will use the school mightily to raise up future generations to serve Him, His church, and the community of East Texas.
Vice Chairman
Daniel Alders
Daniel Alders is the President of Drake Management Services - a property management company in Tyler, and is the State Representative for Texas House District 6. Active in the community, Daniel serves on the diaconate at Fifth Street Presbyterian Church and on Unbound Now’s Smith County Advisory Board.
Daniel grew up in a family committed to classical Christian education, and has expanded that vision to the next generation. He is a graduate of New Saint Andrews College in Moscow, ID.
Treasurer / Secretary
Jeffery Kulaga
Jeff Kulaga is a licensed Professional Engineer, a Professional Real Estate Inspector, and he holds an MBA. He was raised in Tyler and has always enjoyed tinkering with and fixing broken things.
Jeff was raised in a Christian home and has loved the Lord for as long as he can remember. His desire to grow as a Christian and to study theology deepened rapidly over the last several years. During that time, he and his wife became convinced of the value of classical education, which ultimately brought RCCA into existence.
It is his strong belief that a Christian parent must be heavily involved in their children’s education if they are to follow God’s mandate for raising them in the way they should go. His prayer is that RCCA would help parents in this endeavor and become an institution that would radiate the glory of God in Tyler and beyond.
Educational Problems We Solve
1. Too Much Chaos
Many families experience burnout and exhaustion because they lack structure in their education plan. Rose City provides an answer by hosting all students on campus for two days each week and by making lesson plans for each home day that parents follow.
2. Too Little Info
Parents who may want to switch to homeschooling are often overwhelmed once they start exploring curriculum. Rose City provides guidance and direction with our curriculum that is selected to meet specific objectives for each part of the K-8 timeline.
3. Too Much Doubt
Confidence can be the first casualty in taking charge of a child's education. Many parents are met with doubt about their own personal knowledge, but Rose City's curriculum and culture teaches the parents, too! Parents can teach and learn at the same time.
4. Too Little Support
Families involved in different education systems can feel isolated, though for different reasons. The small class sizes and mandatory parent-teacher conferences at Rose City make sure no family goes overlooked. We aim to foster a community of optimism and fortitude.
10:30
April 5
Spelling Workshop
Spend a Saturday morning with us to see our spelling curriculum in action.
6:30p
April 14
Interest Meeting
Hear about why we're starting Rose City: our driving convictions, our curriculum, and the type of school culture that we're building.
10:30
April 19
Latin and Logic Workshop
Spend a Saturday morning with us to get a taste of the first lessons in Latin and logic
Frequently Asked Questions
Rose City tuition is $5,000 per student. This includes standard matriculation fees as well as curriculum. The families keep the curriculum at the end of each year as tools to build a heritage library for the student. The only additional expenses are school supplies and uniforms.
Rose City meets two times each week. Campus days are Monday and Thursday, and students are on campus from 7:50 to 3:30. The school meets for eight weeks, then breaks for two weeks for fall and spring breaks. Summer and winter breaks are longer.
Quarter One is July 21 - Sept 12th
Quarter Two is Sept 29 - Nov 21
Quarter Three is Jan 5 - Feb 27
Quarter Four is Mar 16 - May 8Rose City Classical Academy meets at Fifth Street Presbyterian. Rose City is a separate entity from the church and is governed independently. Several officers serve in both organizations, but there is no formal relationship between the two.
We want to balance excellence and relationships, so our class sizes will not exceed 15 students. At that point, students will either be added to a waitlist, or a new teacher will be hired.
This question rests on a few variables. The two main factors are the age and temperament of the student. Grammar School students will have 2-4 hours of work assigned each Tuesday and Wednesday. Fridays are used for review. Logic School students will have at least 3-4 hours of work each home day. This assumes the student is diligent and focused. Time spent on homework expands as students lose focus.
Rose City is not seeking and will likely never seek state accreditation. We will seek partnership with and full accreditation through the Association of Christian Classical Schools and the Classical Latin Schools Association.
As one Spartan said, "My job is to make honorable things pleasant to children." Rose City hires individuals who show character and passion for the Lord, for students, and for learning. We expect our educators to hold an undergraduate degree or have sufficient related experience. Our goal in recruiting teachers is to find teachers that can effectively stir students' desire to learn.
Yes! Our Rhetoric School will start in 2026 with 9th grade, then a grade will be added each subsequent year. We are anxious to begin the last block of our students' education!