Our story began in 1997 at the Hazel Dell Evangelical Free Church, located in Vancouver, Washington. The pastor and a group of families from a variety of local congregations gathered together to seek answers to a growing list of questions regarding the education of their children. Their questioning led them to study the Scriptures, affirming their belief that God has given both the responsibility and authority for educating children to their parents. It also led them to the seminal work of Dorothy Sayers, a contemporary of C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien, regarding the potential characteristics of any attempt to resurrect the classical model of education in the twentieth century. Entitled “The Lost Tools of Learning,” this article led them to further study and to the writings of Douglas Wilson, a founder of Logos School, in Moscow, Idaho. Sensing the need to begin the work, the newly organized Cedar Tree School Board initially chose to organize it as a home school cooperative and officially opened with just over 30 students in September 1999.
At the founding of our school, the name “Cedar Tree” was chosen out our desire to see the fulfillment of God’s promises in Psalm 92:12-15:
“The righteous will flourish like a palm tree,
they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon;
planted in the house of the Lord,
they will flourish in the courts of our God.
They will still bear fruit in old age,
they will stay fresh and green,
proclaiming, ‘The Lord is upright;
he is my Rock, and there is no wickedness in him.’ ”
Enjoying continued growth and relocating to our beautiful new 15-acre campus in 2008, Cedar Tree has served families from an increasing number of congregations across southwest Washington. Our very first commencement took place in 2010. In 2012, Cedar Tree achieved fully accredited status with the Association of Classical Christian Schools (ACCS). Since the original construction in 2008, the school added classroom buildings in 2009 and 2013, a covered play area in 2017, and a 400-person capacity assembly hall in 2020.
While the school has experienced continued growth in our facility, enrollment, and academic excellence, Cedar Tree remains steadfast in its primary mission: to assist parents in meeting their responsibility to teach their children God’s truth and equip them for the challenges of living effectively for Christ in our world. To this end, may God continue to grant us His blessing, wisdom, and strength.
Read the full story written for our school’s 25th Anniversary.
