Dear Veritas Families,
I hope you are enjoying your summer. It’s been a full month since the end of the school year, so I wanted to update you on our preparations for next year.
First, every summer on the second week of June, our faculty spends the entire week looking back with thanksgiving and looking forward to identify areas of growth. We grouped the areas of growth into three major categories: 1) deepening biblical integration in all subjects, 2) consistent application of classical pedagogy in curriculum guide and class instruction, 3) discipleship of students in their socio-emotional and spiritual condition.
Second, school staff and faculty worked hard to clean up and beautify our campus and our classrooms. We moved the textbook room to the “media room” in Bldg A in order to make space for a large classroom for the Kindergarten class. All secondary textbooks were moved to the media room and secondary rooms, which now makes secondary rooms look a bit more like a study room of a nobleman.
Third, we created departments within our school by subjects, so that under a lead teacher, we could develop each department. An example of this development is in Latin, where we are creating two tracks, and begin Ecce Romani 1 in 5th grade so that primary students can continue developing their Latin at 7th grade in a separate class and not join the secondary Latin track which begins at 7th grade. We will share many other developments when school begins.
Fourth, some teachers participated in the ACCS conference and others will attend the training at Logos School or Rockbridge classical academy. And some of the teachers attended the ACCS via online. The theme for the ACCS conference was “Christ and His Kingdom: Athanasuis.” Keynote speakers were Ben Carson, Albert Mohler, Rosario Butterfield, Kyle Mann, and many other great speakers like Louis Markos, Andrew Kern, and experienced teachers. Keynote speeches were about how we should stand up like Athanasius against the woke movement that is infiltrating every part of our society. We need to fight for biblical truth and live out a Christ-centered culture.
Fifth, the theme of the next academic year is Heavens Declare the Glory of God: Recovering the Role of Science in Revealing the Glory of God. The chief reason for this theme is the critical importance of recovering an integration of the science and arts with the language arts and biblical faith. Due to the liberal ideologies invading our lives, especially through social media, our education and our faith is more fragmented than ever before. In light of this, we boldly seek to recover this original integration by recovering the sciences (as well as all the quadrivium) and reconnecting them to both the trivium (language arts) as well as to the biblical worldview. In preparation for this, all faculty and staff are reading Truth for Beauty’s Sake and Brave New World. Parents are invited to read this as well. Some of the activities we are emphasizing in accordance with this theme are: Integration of trivium and quadrivium by each teacher in their lesson planning, science/arts field trips, Creation Science trip, Space Program, common arts, and mission trip.
Last Friday, I took a trip with the summer school students to Huntington Gardens. I have been there several times before, but for some reason, the whole place was much more like a paradise to me than before. Either my own classical education has opened my eyes to see the beauty of God more, or Huntington Gardens was more in bloom, or the Holy Spirit is doing a number on me, or all of the above I do not know. But I felt like I need to come back several times throughout the year to spend more time in this place. Why? Because God’s peace encompasses me, my mind about everything is clearer, and most importantly, I am more alive and hungry to know God more. I’m sure this was a day when I was more in touch with God, and a little bit of what it means to hear God as He “day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge” (Ps 19:2)