Nevada approves new charter school using curriculum from conservative Christian college

A new Nevada charter school, set to begin operating for the 2025-26 academic year, is planning to use curriculum developed by Hillsdale College, a Christian college that champions academics and conservative principles in education.

The Nevada State Public Charter School Authority approved the opening of Nevada Classical Academy Elko (NCAE) in late August, inviting it to join the ranks of the roughly 90 charter schools operating across the state, which serve more than 60,000 students. NCAE plans to collaborate with other charter schools that use Hillsdale materials, such as Founders Classical Academy Las Vegas.

NCAE’s website describes its mission as seeking to “cultivate within students a lifelong pursuit of academic excellence, virtuous living, and civic responsibility through a classical, content-rich education in the liberal arts and sciences.” The school, like other Nevada public charter schools, will operate as open-enrollment and tuition-free.

According to the academy’s leadership, the decision to use Hillsdale materials was based on respect for the curriculum’s quality. 

“The curriculum is phenomenal for all children and works to look at this experiment of nation-building in the most analytical and fair way possible,” stated Brandolyn Thran, who has been hired to serve as the head of the new school. 

“The curriculum asks the question: What was happening at the time, what was the outcome, what can we learn from, and how can we do better? I think it tackles some very complicated, complex, tough conversations. The intention is to think critically and move in a positive direction from that.” 

A program guide for the Hillsdale K-12 Education curriculum describes the material as “content-rich, balanced, and strong across the core disciplines” and notes that it encompasses Latin, fine arts, modern foreign languages, and physical education. 

“Focused on the skills that all students must develop, and the rich knowledge in the humanities and sciences that must accompany the teaching of skills, the curriculum provides students and teachers with a tried and true course of study for the K-12 years,” the Hillsdale website explains. 

The curriculum is also known for avoiding controversial frameworks such as critical race theory in teaching social studies and history. Hillsdale states that its recommendations for teachers “reflect an honest commitment to the truth.”  

“Rather than predetermining what we hope to find – and cherry-picking, obscuring, or even fabricating ‘facts’ to fit preconceived notions – these curricula begin with searching for what happened and the contemporaneously stated reasons for why it happened,” the college website summarizes.