About WaterStone Academy
“Train up a child in the way he should go [and in keeping with his individual gift or bent], and when he is old he will not depart from it.”
- Proverbs 22:6, AMPC
Visionaries start with the end in mind.
That’s why we start with the bend in mind.
Welcome
As a ministry of WaterStone Church, our mission is to equip K-12th grade families to discover and grow in their God-given bend through customized, biblical education.
Our Vision
From the Founder,
Raeli Miller.
Hello, and welcome.
I am humbled that you would consider partnering with us in your family’s educational journey and pioneering with us in this innovative educational experience. I am praying that God would fill your hearts with wonder and transform generations of families into disciple-makers, beginning with your academic journey.
As you explore our website, I pray you get a glimpse into what a WSA education would look like for your family. While you scroll, you might notice the theme of trees. This is inspired by our guiding verse, Proverbs 22:6.
“Train up a child in the way he should go [and in keeping with his individual gift or bent], and when he is old he will not depart from it.” - Proverbs 22:6, AMPC
This word “bent” is best understood as the grain of wood. It’s the natural path of growth it is designed to take. These bents are shaped by the nutrients within it and around it, as well as with time and seasons. As good craftsmen take these pieces of wood into their care, they know it is best when you go with the grain, and not against it.
I believe humans are the same way. I believe we are all made in the image of God. We are engineered at our core to know Him and to mirror His likeness. Our grain is wonderfully, fearfully and uniquely shaped by His call on our lives. As parents and educators, God has entrusted us to craft and care for the grains, the bents, of this generation. This includes the nutrients we put in them and around them, such as their education. In partnership with His Spirit, it is our exhilarating work to discover, grow and shape these bents according to His design.
At WaterStone Academy, our vision is for generations of families to recognize, receive and release the grace of God in the unique way they were made for, starting in the most foundational years.
We will see this vision come to pass through the power of prayer, and by raising up everyday visionaries who are equipped to behold God’s grace in everyday moments.
When we opened up the doors to WaterStone Academy for the very first time in August 2023, I believe we opened up doors to possibilities beyond our imagination. As we continue through our pilot year and head into our first year in 2024, I cannot wait to see what God will do. I pray you will be able to join me.
Our History
I was fifteen years old when God first gave me the vision for WaterStone Academy. But it would be another ten years before He released me to begin the work. In the meantime, He was shaping my bend and preparing the ground for others to join in the work.
WaterStone Academy began in partnership with WaterStone Church’s Wonder Project – an initiative dedicated to inspiring generational discipleship to the ends of the earth (Matthew 28:19-20). Being a ministry of WaterStone Church, WSA will educate with the same, unchanging Biblical truths upon which WaterStone Church is known for. If you love the culture of WaterStone Church, I am confident you will love what WaterStone Academy will be for your family.
A vital aspect of creating models for generational discipleship involves creating solutions to the world’s most felt problems.
In our world today, that felt pain point is education.
2020 defined a new era for education. The events of the year did more than create new problems in education; it unearthed problems that were already there.
And I’m not just speaking of education as the institution. I’m speaking to the process of learning, specifically in the home — of what it means to solve problems and see possibilities, to foster the love of learning, and to rightly discover and grow not just ideas, but identities.
In light of this, the goal for WaterStone Academy is not to redefine education, but to create a learning framework that helps families become everyday visionaries.
“Eyes that look are common; eyes that see are rare.” J. Oswald Sanders
I believe many parents are building their family’s future one puzzle piece at a time, never taking the time to consider their ‘box.’ What is your goal for your family — spiritually, socially, emotionally, academically? What do you want to hear your students say, “Thank you for…” after they walk the graduation platform?
When you step into WaterStone Academy, we believe you step into an environment where you choose to see the future. We don’t want generations that look for God, but those who see Him in all He does.
That’s why WaterStone Academy’s mission is to equip K-12th grade families to discover and grow in their God-given bend. We believe it is from your bend that God’s work is more clearly seen.
How? Using customized biblical education shaped by your family's unique bend, we strive to raise up generations of strong, disciple-making families starting in the most foundational years.
Visionaries start with the end in mind. So at WSA, we start with the bend in mind.
WaterStone Academy customizes education on four foundations.
Trait-focused
Parent-partnered
Application-oriented
Christ-centered
TRAIT-FOCUSED
According to this framework, we work with families to define their Bend according to observable metrics. Together, these metrics shape your comprehensive bend — the way God uniquely wired you to learn and interact with the world. And the beauty of this is it changes as you grow. You will learn what remains, but you’ll also see what grows as you do. Year after year the Bend profile continues to take its shape. Like a piece of wood with a specific grain, you learn to work with the grain in order to form a piece of art.
PARENT-PARTNERED
We believe partnership goes beyond communicating through a report card. For us, parents and students are both part of the WaterStone Academy student body. Our culture will be defined by families of lifelong learners, ready to identify and celebrate where they see God at work.
“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.” — Deuteronomy 6:5-9 ESV
Our educational framework encourages the use of same language and principle-first approach for parenting and leadership. For us, our goal is to create a trait-based, holistic view of the learning ecosystem, which includes the relationships between the classroom and the home.
In Hebrews 11 it talks about how Moses’ parents from the beginning saw he was beautiful, which means they saw his bend. I believe favor begins in the family’s willingness to see the favor of God in their child’s life. Miriam protected him; his father-in-law mentored him; his brother spoke for him.
Favor is a familial effort.
APPLICATION-ORIENTED
At WaterStone Academy, application will be the primary assessment for learning. We prepare every student to embrace the exits from our learning framework with confidence to contribute and collaborate meaningfully, practically and naturally in their communities and future careers.
CHRIST-CENTERED
At WSA, we are convinced that academic success is directly linked to moral training. Academics apart from morality is only the application of logic and appreciation of beauty. But with honed in disciplines of focus, problem-solving, organization, and more, students are empowered to become lifelong learners with a love for curiosity and a confidence in the unknown. All of this comes from the grace and mercy of a personal, lively relationship with Jesus Christ.
We will partner with parents and provide an outstanding, Biblically-grounded education as we equip students to discern and follow Jesus Christ’s calling on their lives. WSA will exist to bring glory to God and provide an innovative, transformational educational experience for the entire family. At WSA, the Name of Jesus will be proclaimed often, with wonder, honor and love, as the Name that is above every name!
Our Future
For our pilot year in 2023-2024, we chose to work with a pilot of educators and a small group of K-3rd grade students to build, test and iterate this instructional design model. Together with our founding families, we have made new discoveries and changes that are vital to bringing this vision to life. It is because of God’s vision and grace, our amazing staff, and these phenomenal families that we will be able to head into year one with real systems, strategies and stories of how the Bend Method can transform a life.
As we grow to reach students both on a brand new campus and in our own online platform in the next ten years, our prayer is for generations to experience better relationships with God and others, ready to confidently contribute to their communities and world according to their God-given bend.
I look forward to the day where we see how God used us to raise up generations of visionaries, who know how to see God and others and contribute purposefully, skillfully and passionately to their own families and communities.
I look forward to walking hand-in-hand with our families in building humble, hungry, bright, compassionate and whole-hearted disciples for Jesus Christ.