La Sierra Academy (LSA) is a

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co-educational Mixed-sex education, also known as mixed-gender education, co-education, or coeducation (abbreviated to co-ed or coed), is a system of education where males and females are educated together. Whereas single-sex education was more common up to t ...

transitional kindergarten Transitional kindergarten (abbreviated TK) is a California school grade that serves as a bridge between preschool and kindergarten, to provide students with time to develop fundamental skills needed for success in school in a setting that is approp ...

–12th grade

Christian school A Christian school is a school run on Christian principles or by a Christian organization. The nature of Christian schools varies enormously from country to country, according to the religious, educational, and political cultures. In some countr ...

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California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. La Sierra Academy's mission statement states: "As a Christian K - 12 college preparatory school, we serve students from diverse backgrounds by providing the learning opportunities and skills needed to contribute to society, to prepare for life's work, and to flourish spiritually." LSA is a part of the Seventh-day Adventist education system, the world's second largest Christian school system.

History

La Sierra Academy was founded in the fall of 1922 as a

secondary school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' secondary education, lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) ...

. The land on which it was founded was formerly part of the 1846 Mexican land grant, Rancho La Sierra. La Sierra Academy's first school bulletin from 1922 stated that its students would "learn to render effective service." The school grew into a

junior college A junior college (sometimes referred to colloquially as a juco, JuCo or JC) is a post-secondary educational institution offering vocational training designed to prepare students for either skilled trades and technical occupations and workers in su ...

and later into a full four year

liberal arts college A liberal arts college or liberal arts institution of higher education is a college with an emphasis on undergraduate study in liberal arts and sciences. Such colleges aim to impart a broad general knowledge and develop general intellectual capac ...

. This shift created a need to separate the academy into other academic levels. Thus in 1940, La Sierra College Preparatory School, now known as

La Sierra University La Sierra University (La Sierra or LSU) is a private, Seventh-day Adventist university in Riverside, California. Founded in 1922 as La Sierra Academy, it later became La Sierra College, a liberal arts college, and then was merged into Loma Li ...

, was established. In 1955 the school moved to its current location along Pierce Street and Golden Avenue less than a mile away from the University.

Academics

The required curriculum includes classes in the following subject areas: Religion, English, Social Studies,

Mathematics Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented in modern mathematics ...

Science Science is a systematic endeavor that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe. Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earliest archeological evidence for ...

Physical Education Physical education, often abbreviated to Phys Ed. or P.E., is a subject taught in schools around the world. It is usually taught during primary and secondary education, and encourages psychomotor learning by using a play and movement explorati ...

, Health, Computer Applications, Fine Arts, and Electives.

Spiritual aspects

All students take religion classes each year that they are enrolled. These classes cover topics in

biblical The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...

history and

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

and

denominational A religious denomination is a subgroup within a religion that operates under a common name and tradition among other activities. The term refers to the various Christian denominations (for example, Eastern Orthodox, Catholic, and the many variet ...

doctrines. Instructors in other disciplines also begin each class period with prayer or a short devotional thought, many which encourage student input. Outside the classroom there are spiritually oriented programming that relies on student involvement year-round.

Incidents

On March 4, 2020, counselor Matthew Johnson was arrested for creation, possession, and distribution of child pornography. He was accused of secretly videotaping inside a boys' restroom on campus. Three alleged victims have sued La Sierra Academy for continued employment of Johnson despite his previous alleged inappropriate conducts with children. Victims' attorney Morgan Stewart stated that La Sierra Academy has "failed in their most basic moral responsibility to protect vulnerable children from a serial sexual predator."

References

External links