Some Vicksburg residents are hoping to get back to a style of instruction of centuries past – classical learning through grammar, logic and rhetoric and bringing God back into the classroom.

About 30 people gathered Tuesday night for an initial inquiry meeting about establishing Grace Christian Classical School in Vicksburg.

&#8220Basically we’ll be using some of the old tools of the ancient Greeks to teach children to think for themselves,” said the Rev. Meredith Spencer, pastor of Holy Cross Anglican Church and chaplain of the proposed school.

&#8220In my opinion, it’s the best thing to come along in education in I can’t tell you how long.”

Spencer, who led the meeting, taught at Veritas Christian School in Jackson, a Christian classical school, for two years and has seen the God-based, logical learning pay off. He hopes to see enough interest locally to open the Vicksburg school in September or the fall of 2007.

&#8220It’s amazing. The whole idea is that children can learn about two years ahead of what they are being taught in public schools,” he said. &#8220Once they learn respect and maturity, they can move faster in the classroom.”

The idea is to provide students with a nondenominational Christian atmosphere while teaching them through the time-tested method of the Trivium, meaning grammar, logic and rhetoric.

It is the course of study used from America’s founding years up until other &#8220basics” – reading, writing and arithmetic – took over. In the classic approach, the emphasis is on teaching students how to get information, think and solve problems instead of rote learning.

Grammar is taught during kindergarten through sixth grade, logic, or the understanding stage, covers the junior high grades of seven through nine, and the rhetoric stage, focused on 10th- through 12-graders, teaches students to use their understanding and knowledge and communicate it in a convincing manner.

&#8220I first want to clarify some ideas you might have,” Spencer said to those who attended the information session held in the Old Court House Museum. &#8220This is an inter-denominational school for students of all backgrounds. It’s not a cult. We would never teach your child anything you wouldn’t teach them at home.”

The school will be first established to offer seventh through ninth grades with other grades added as interest and support grows, Spencer said.

&#8220This is where we see the need right now. And it would not be difficult at all for children of this age to fit right in with the Christian Classical education at this stage,” he said.

Spencer said the school would not seek accreditation from the state, but would eventually hope to be accredited by a Christian Classical School association.

The average tuition for the school will be about $6,000 annually, Spencer said. Teachers would have no more than about 12 students in a classroom, and subjects offered would include Latin, logic, Bible, art, music, rhetoric in addition to the math, history, science and physical education. The school would run on a basic day school schedule, basic uniforms would be worn and no sports programs would be offered, at least not for the first few years.

The majority of parents and community members present at the meeting seemed overwhelmingly in support of the school.

&#8220I think it’s a great idea,” said Will Poe, whose ninth-grade sons have attended public schools here and All Saints’ Episcopal School. &#8220I like the small classroom setting and Christian education. I’m in full support of this. My son had a wonderful experience at All Saints’, and I hope we can find something similar with this idea.” All Saints’, the 99-year-old school for day and boarding students on Confederate Avenue, has said it will not accept students this fall and faculty and staff have been terminated.

Clare Burnett, whose daughter attends Claiborne Education Foundation, a 40-student Christian Classical School in Port Gibson, said the school offers an ideal education.

&#8220My daughter is learning Latin in second grade. I can’t tell you how wonderful it is,” she said. &#8220If I can help in any way here, I gladly will.”

Because the school in Port Gibson is K-6, Burnett said she hopes to send her daughter to the school here after she finishes sixth grade.

&#8220It seems natural. I want her to continue with the Christian Classical education. I hope it has the support it needs,” she said.

Spencer said the next step would be to talk to more parents about what needs they would like to see met by the school and to continue looking for teachers, students and, most importantly, a place to meet.

&#8220We have some properties and places in mind we’re trying to work out, so more details will come later,” he said.

Another meeting will be planned in the next few weeks, he said.