The Veritas Story
Early in 1996, four Newberg families met to begin the process of creating a classical and Christian school. They were Bryan and Ann Lynch, Sean and Dottie Boyle, Craig and Susan Johnson, and Dr. Steve and Marilyn Thore. Bryan had read a great deal about the success of, and recent return to, this type of education that had been passed down through history from the ancient world to the early 1900s in America. Since there were no classical Christian schools within three hundred miles, the choice was clear: Start one or move.
What followed that momentous decision were many months of public meetings; a trip to Logos School in Moscow, Idaho, where a classical Christian school had been successfully in place for many years; and long evenings of board discussions to create everything from a logo design and school name to policy manuals and uniforms.
As the board studied the curriculum necessary for the Trivium’s three phases (Grammar, Logic and Rhetoric), it became clear that a full-day school would be required to accomplish all it hoped to offer, such as Latin, grammar, formal logic, theology, the reading and analyzing of quality literature, public speaking, and memorizing facts in everything from math to history to science.
Veritas continued to expand a grade a year and by the 2001-2002 school year had over 180 K-10th-grade students in ten classes. That year, Bryan Lynch, whose original vision it had been to start Veritas, was able to leave his long-time position as AP European History teacher at Newberg High School and take the helm as Veritas’ Headmaster. Having outgrown Newberg Christian Church, Veritas was able to move to leased property behind the First Presbyterian Church off College Street. There, the school settled in six modular buildings with a total of 14 classrooms, a science/art lab, a music room, a library, and an office.
AccrediTation
In 2007, Veritas applied for full-accreditation by the Association of Classical and Christian Schools (ACCS), at that time a 14-year-old organization of more than 200 members whose purpose was to promote, establish, and equip schools committed to a classical approach to education in light of a Christian worldview. After a rigorous two-day, on-site evaluation, the Veritas Board was informed that the school was only the fifteenth in the nation to receive the highest level of accreditation by ACCS. In their final report, the committee head wrote:
Veritas goals clearly identify both the methodology of the Trivium and the goal of the' classical search for biblical wisdom and virtue. The school has exceptional stability as was visibly manifested in its long-term leadership, its very low staff attrition, and by the outstanding support from the community, including both the families within the school as well as the broader municipality. Additionally, the school is financially sound and has demonstrated fiscal responsibility which now allows [Veritas] to be visionary in its building plans. Veritas received its third accreditation review by the ACCS in the fall of 2014, and its Board then voted unanimously to give Veritas another five-year, full-accreditation status. As part of their summary review, the three-member committee stated that: Through review of documentation, teacher and administration interviews, and classroom observations, it is evident that Veritas School provides thorough, consistent, and effective teacher training and development that result in strong staff unity, morale, mission focus, and classroom application of classical Christian methodology. Veritas School’s consistently high performance on various standardized examinations, including the PSAT/ACT/SAT, demonstrates a quality classical academic program and excellent classroom instruction.
In the summer of 2017, Veritas moved our modular buildings to their permanent home on our own property! A new building was added to become our Assembly Hall. The move was a great endeavor, and not without challenges along the way. But through God’s provision and the hard work of our staff and volunteers, the move was successful for a September start of school. Veritas celebrated its 20 year anniversary and the move with an event for our current families, staff and alumni on our new campus. The Veritas campus received several enhancements in 2018! Our walkways around campus were paved, landscaping was planted thanks to generous donors and volunteers and our parking lot and driveway were paved.
In 2019, Veritas had our ACCS accreditation renewal. The ACCS team was very complimentary, in particular of the school culture of eagerness and excitement to learn, active student engagement in classrooms, and the excellent teaching they saw from our teachers. They mentioned more than once what a great school culture they think we have, that it was clear to them that we are cultivating well (from our mission statement to cultivate wisdom, virtue, and godliness).
The Veritas Board was also commended for its role in maintaining a clear commitment to the mission, and for keeping a focus on being a strategic board. They also commended the Board’s leadership in the move to the new campus and the on-going upgrading of our facilities.
In 2020, the campus added more enhancements– a covered Pavilion and an outdoor Amphitheater. In March, due to Covid-19 closures, Veritas made the transition to virtual learning. Veritas School staff, and teachers prepared the transition to learning from home, while striving to keep up with Veritas standards. Virtual Veritas has been implemented by using Google Classroom and Zoom.
With more than 20 years behind us, the Veritas student body has increased to ~220 with over 40 staff, both full- and part-time. Since 2005, Veritas has had 30 National Merit Scholarship honorees and our SAT scores are comparable with Oregon Episcopal School and Catlin Gabel – at about one-third the tuition. One-hundred percent of our more than 150 graduates who have applied have been accepted to – and 94% have attended – four-year universities, such as Hillsdale, Stanford, Cal Poly, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical, Baylor, Wheaton, the Naval Academy, and Purdue, though a large percentage of our seniors have chosen to attend smaller, Christian colleges – most with substantial scholarship offers.
