A Journey to Excellence

Heritage Adventist School in Claremore looking to add programs and educational experiences for 2016-2017 school year.

Cheri Robinson, principal and educator at Heritage Adventist School in Claremore.

The Seventh-day Adventist educational system is the largest Protestant Christian School system in the world. Heritage Adventist School in Claremore is a part of that system, aiming to make its students feel safe and secure in a rural community.
The Christ-centered curriculum imparts far more than academic knowledge. It fosters a balanced development of the whole person – spiritual, physical, intellectual, and social-emotional – a process that spans a lifetime. Working together, home, school and church cooperate to prepare learners to be good citizens in this world and for eternity. Heritage Adventist School is preparing to provide this balance, having this Christ-centered curriculum.
“I want them to know that it’s okay to be spiritual and to be different and to stand out, to feel that and to show that,” said Cheri Robinson, school principal and educator.
Cheri is a fourth generation Seventh-day Adventist and third generation teacher. Both of her parents were teachers and her mother, Lou, was once principal of the school. Cheri feels privileged to get to be a part of the mission of Heritage Adventist School.
The educator was reared in the Seventh-day Adventist school system. She plans to use her 26 years of experience in the Claremore public school system to help grow the school’s programs.
“The music program is already established, but it’s in my plans to bring an art program, band program and Spanish to the school. I’m hoping to do that for next school year.”
The school’s educational opportunities are also up for expansion. Cheri plans to utilize the resources in the community by bringing in writers, police officers and firefighters to teach on safety, especially during the month of October, when drug awareness week takes place.
“We want the kids to be educated about drug safety and just safety in general like they do in the public schools,”she said. “We want them to have the same opportunities, whether that be seminars or special lectures, we want the kids to have that.”
Field trips to the Will Rogers Museum and Veterans Museum are all in the works for next school year. The education team also hopes to bring in veterans for special demonstrations of folding the flag and proper salutes. Ideally, the school would like to take part in this year’s Veterans Day Parade.
“We’ve been around since 1979 and I would really like to see us grow to a 2-3 teacher school,” said the principal.
Heritage Adventist School in Claremore offers a Christ-centered curriculum to students in kindergarten through eighth grade. The mission of the Adventist curriculum is to enable learners to develop a life of faith and to use their knowledge, skills and understandings to serve God and humanity. The vision is for every learner to excel in faith, learning and service, blending biblical truth and academic achievement to honor God and bless others.
The Adventist worldview accepts the Bible as the standard by which everything else is measured, and all lessons are Christ-centered. Lessons are also project based, rather than strictly lectures and worksheets. The students enjoy gymnastics at Gymnastics City once a week, choir twice per week and regularly attend field trips. Past trips have included the Oklahoma Aquarium and the J.M. Davis Gun Museum.
The Christian education offered at Heritage Adventist School is open to anyone who is interested. Call to find out about enrollment information for the 2016-2017 school year. This school year will be a four-day week, Monday through Thursday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.