“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”
Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
Matthew 22:36-40
In our family interview process, we ask parents to share their “deep hopes” for their children. We believe that the most important thing we need to know about each family is what that family wants for its members above all else. What do they desire for their children more deeply than anything else? Discovering the degree of alignment between our culture, curriculum, and practices in the school and the family’s culture, unwritten curriculum, and practices of the home helps us to plan for and navigate the school-home relationship well, and at times to determine that the fit between the family and the school is not sufficient to establish a working relationship.
Our mission statement clearly expresses for families what we are aiming to form in their children: wisdom and virtue for the glory of God and the benefit of the community. You should see in those words Jesus’ answer to the question of the greatest commandment. Love of God with heart, soul, and mind and love of neighbor as self. We believe that classical Christian education is a powerful way to work alongside the Spirit of God in influencing humans who we pray will pursue these commands as their very sustenance. We see wisdom and virtue as loving God with heart, soul, and mind and benefitting our community as the fruit of loving neighbor as self.
For the family who deeply hopes that their children will love God with every aspect of their being and will love their neighbor as themselves, we endeavor to grow in excellence in culture, curriculum, and pedagogy (teaching practices) to those two ends. We believe that this brings glory to God (magnifies his attributes and exalts Him in the community), fulfilling our mission.
Our good friends and colleagues in Hillsdale College’s classical education department define classical education beautifully and succinctly. Capstone’s adapted Hillsdale definition (modifications in bold italics) explicitly states how a Christian PreK-12 classical school focuses school culture, curriculum, and pedagogy:
Classical education is the pursuit of wisdom through a cultivation of intellectual virtue and an encouragement of moral virtue by means of habits rooted in the historic scholastic practices of the Church and the West and by a rich and ordered course of study, grounded in the liberal arts; ascending through humane letters, mathematics, natural science, philosophy, and theology; and yielding informed self-rule and a well-ordered understanding of human nature, the cosmos, and God. It is aimed at the thoughts and desires of heart, soul, and mind (the whole person) for Christ and his Kingdom.
In the next several months, the First Things article in this newsletter will unpack for the Capstone Community the key attributes of this definition of classical Christian education. I will use as our outline the definition above and the topics we cover in the induction and orientation materials we use with all new Capstone faculty and staff. If is my prayer that this will delight and equip you for rewarding and fruitful partnership with the school as you come alongside your child at home and work with the teachers and staff this year in fulfillment of your deep hopes for your children.
In the next article, you can look forward to our definition of wisdom and a summary of the intellectual virtues you can expect us to cultivate in your children. I look forward to sharing these with you!