By Maggie Downs
The Cincinnati Enquirer

UNION TOWNSHIP - When members of the 2003 graduating class of Mars Hill Academy receive their diplomas Saturday, they will be the first students to do so. All two of them.

For the 7-year-old private school of 102 students, "Pomp and Circumstance" will be played for just Amy Stollberg, 18, of Mason and Joel Musser, 17, of Price Hill.

The 2 p.m. ceremony at Covenant First Presbyterian Church, 717 Elm St. downtown, will be followed by a reception in the church's fellowship hall.

"I think all of us feel a deep sense of relief to see these students graduate," said headmaster Matt Beatty. "Up to now, it's been an experiment. Is your cake going to turn out at the end? Or is it going to flop?

"We feel good about what we're doing here, and now these two students reinforce that."

Founded in 1996, the K-12 academy - named for the place where the apostle Paul reasoned in Acts 17 - offers an intense Christian education based on classicalmethods of instruction, the only such school in the Tristate.

ABOUT THE SCHOOL

• Founded: 1996. • Grades: K-12 • Student body: 102 • Location: 1025 Clough Pike in Union Township, but will movethis summer to Mason. • Tuition: Kindergarten: $2,950; 1-6: $4,950; 7-12: $5,570 • Information: (513) 752-5457

The three phases of this classical education, known as the Trivium, emphasize memory, observation, analysis and eloquence. They are broken down this way:

• Grammar Stage: The first step in a child's education, correlating to elementary school. This involves a focus on language - including Latin - that requires children to do a great deal of memorization. Classical educators believe this is the time to fill children with facts, such as geography, dates and multiplication tables, even if they don't understand what they are learning.

• Logic Stage: Correlates to junior high. This is when the children begin to grasp what they are learning and begin to use reason. At this stage, a child no longer sees facts as separate pieces, but starts to join them into logical relationships.

• Rhetoric Stage: During this phase, for high school ages, students can organize information into logical, persuasive arguments. By this time, children are expected to have the reasoning skills necessary to tackle any subject.

"We don't have the pedigree that an Elder or a Moeller has," Beatty said. "But this method has prepared centuries of people to learn. We feel confident in that."

Amy, the valedictorian, began attending the school as a sixth-grader, when the school opened. "I learned more in that year than in all prior years put together," she said.

Joel came to Mars Hill in ninth grade.

"I look at the younger kids and wish I had started here sooner," he said. "It's insane what these kids know. It's more than most adults."

The school shares space with the Clough Pike Baptist Church, a building with simple rooms, no playground and no cafeteria. But what the school lacks in amenities, it makes up for in numerous other ways. "It's such a unique experience, kind of like Little House on the Prairie," Amy said. "(All the students) have lunch together. You have class together. You share everything."

Some miss certain extracurricular activities,like basketball or football teams, but they can make up for that by joining neighborhood leagues.

The two seniors even came up with a prom replacement. They studied etiquette for six weeks, which they put to use during dinner last weekend at the Hilton Netherland Plaza and a show, The Lion King at the Aronoff Center.

All that takes a back seat, however, to the real purpose of school - education.

At the little school that could, Latin grammar is learned as well as English. Christianity is explored in depth. There are rarely breaks between classes in Bible, geometry, chemistry and humanities, all required courses.

Students stand when a teacher enters the room. They hold doors open for each other. They can recite volumes of information, such as definitions for the parts of speech or long Bible passages, on command.

"It's terribly exciting when you're working your way up as a new school and watching the students mature and grow," Beatty said. "It's delayed gratification."

The results are impressive.

On the Stanford Achievement Tests, an outside test designed to assess performance on the basics, the Grammar School ranks in the 92nd percentile for math and the 89th percentile for reading. The Rhetoric School ranks in the 95th percentile for math, 92nd percentile for reading.

Scores nationally for these tests average in the 50th percentile.

"Not only are these kids naturally bright," Beatty said, "they have been equipped with the tools to think and reason at such a high level."

The institution is still growing - increasing to 117 students next year - and moving to the North Cincinnati Community Church in Mason, 6170 Irwin-Simpson Road, for at least the next three years.

Both Amy and Joel will move on to Hillsdale College in Hillsdale, Mich., a small school that adheres to many of MHA's philosophies.

And when they receive degrees next weekend, the two students will stand not just as graduates, but also as a testament to a small school that is doing something right.

"It's exciting," Amy said. "We're the first people here to taste the benefits of a classical education."

E-mail mdowns@enquirer.com