Faith, knowledge, and character — formed together.

Education that expands the mind, nurtures the soul, and shapes character.

St. Clement Coptic Orthodox Christian Academy is a private Christian school founded in 2001 to assist parents in the educational and spiritual formation of their children. The academy seeks to help students develop a Biblical view of the world, integrate that faith into everyday life, engage the surrounding culture with discernment, and become thoughtful contributors to society in a way that glorifies God.

The school serves children beginning at six weeks old through 8th grade and views the home, the school, and the church as essential partners in a child’s formation.

A whole-child learning community

St. Clement combines Christian faith development with strong academics and enrichment. The school’s program includes athletics, Coptic, Spanish, Bible, hymns, music, art, technology, science, leadership opportunities, liturgical life, performances, clubs, and community service. Together, these experiences are intended to help students grow academically, physically, spiritually, and socially.

Families have historically valued St. Clement for its Christian environment, academic expectations, close community, and dedicated educators.

Rooted in the Coptic Orthodox tradition of education.

The school’s historical development has been closely connected to a Coptic Orthodox understanding of education and faith. In the academy’s original materials, Bishop Youssef of the Coptic Orthodox Diocese of the Southern United States emphasized the close relationship between education, knowledge, faith, and salvation, pointing to Christ’s teaching ministry and His command to the disciples to teach all nations.

Church leaders have described St. Clement as the nation’s first Coptic Orthodox school. The school takes its name from St. Clement of Alexandria, the early Christian theologian and teacher associated with the Catechetical School of Alexandria.

The school’s history also looks back to St. Mark’s establishment of Christian teaching in Alexandria and to the Coptic Church’s strong educational tradition. Its founding vision sought to help Coptic families preserve their faith, traditions, and language while also preparing children to flourish in their American home. The academy’s historical materials specifically connect that vision with Pope Shenouda III’s desire that Coptic families living abroad retain their identity, traditions, and language while learning to thrive in their new country.

That heritage has historically included English, Arabic, and Coptic, along with long-running instruction in Coptic hymns and liturgical life. Today, the academy’s language offerings include Coptic and Spanish. The school’s historical materials also note that Fr. Boutros Boutros taught Coptic language and a Coptic hymn class.

St. Clement of Alexandria

Titus Flavius Clemens, known as Clement of Alexandria, was an early Christian theologian and teacher who lived around the late second and early third centuries. He became known for bringing Christian theology into thoughtful conversation with the learning and philosophy of the wider ancient world.

Clement was a convert to Christianity and a widely educated man. His exact birthplace is uncertain; ancient traditions have connected him with Athens as well as Alexandria. His parents are generally described as pagans, and after becoming Christian he traveled through Greece, Asia Minor, Palestine, and Egypt in search of respected Christian teachers.

By around A.D. 180 he had reached Alexandria, where he studied under Pantaenus and became closely associated with the city’s famous catechetical tradition. Later accounts connect him with leadership of that school, although the exact institutional succession in this early period is debated. Among the figures linked to his school and influence were Origen and Alexander of Jerusalem.

His surviving major works include the Protrepticus, Paedagogus, and Stromata. Across them, he sought to show that rigorous learning and faithful Christian life need not be separated.

Clement is regarded as a Church Father and is venerated in the Oriental Orthodox tradition. His connection to learning, Alexandria, and Christian formation makes him a fitting patron for St. Clement Christian Academy.