Academics
Classical & Christian
1
ROOTS
Classical and Christian education is time-tested, with deep roots in the Hebrew Scriptures and classical Greco-Roman culture. For nearly 1500 years it was the prevailing educational model in the West.
2
METHOD
Teachers instruct, model, and train students in the classical tools of learning—grammar, logic, and rhetoric. All learning is grounded in biblical wisdom, utilizing the classical transcendentals of truth, goodness, and beauty.
3
GOAL
Students are oriented and equipped to learn for themselves and to effectively apply their learning. Not only their reasoning but their affections are shaped by God’s revelation. ‘Ten-years-later’ goal: mature, faithful, and fruitful members of Christ’s church and his kingdom.
About the Stages
1 / Grammar School (Grades K-6)
The Grammar stage emphasizes knowledge. Students are focused on mastering the “basic facts” of each subject, and especially the fundamentals of language—not only in Englishand Latin, but also the symbolic languages of math and music. Memorization and movement, recitation and rhymes, imitationand singing are all prominent features of the learning process.
2 / Dialectic School (Grades 7-9)
The Dialectic stage emphasizes understanding. It focuses on critical thinking—especially the ability to discern well-ordered and poorly-ordered arguments. Students are equipped for this with the tools of formal and informal logic. They learn to engage with opposing viewpoints, to routinely ask “why” and “how,” to pay attention to how key terms are defined, to read and listen carefully, and to question and to argue reasonably.
3 / Rhetoric School (Grades 10-12)
The Rhetoric stage emphasizes wisdom. It thus focuses on synthesis, or bringing together into a unified whole all that has been learned. This includes discovering connections between the topic and related ones in other fields, and discerning implications and appropriate applications. A second focus is on the art of rhetoric—learning to express oneself well, that is, winsomely and persuasively. Students practice via numerous written and oral discourses, culminating in the Senior Thesis.