Six Critical Governance Issues We Often Ignore in Our Schools By Eric Cook The relationship between the board chair and the head of school is the most important relationship in the school. To build trust and work together, this… Continue Reading
The purpose of grades, whether in the grammar or rhetoric school, is the same: to convey information about a student’s academic achievement. As a Christian teacher, you are called to speak the truth. So, think of the goal of grades as… Continue Reading
Alone. Troubled. Falling on his face. Sorrowful even to death. Good Friday can be hard. Sometimes, skipping to Sunday is easier. Last year, after our Good Friday service, my friend’s five-year-old daughter asked, “Why is everyone so sad?”… Continue Reading
After reading Josef Pieper over the last few weeks, this sentence has stuck in my head: “…there is a necessary link between obligation and being.” Pieper points out that when we disconnect our obligations from the truth of things, we find… Continue Reading
When I was a Junior at Transylvania University, I worked in the athletic office. One day, a man came in and told me the gym was going to be locked for the next two hours because the Kentucky basketball team was going to be using it for… Continue Reading
Redeeming the Time, a collection of excellent lectures that Russell Kirk delivered at the Heritage Foundation, includes one that is particularly insightful. It is called, The Conservative Purpose of a Liberal Education. Kirk defines… Continue Reading
Dear SCL Members and Friends, As we approach the end of the school year and near the SCL summer conference, I want to encourage all of you to register soon. This year’s conference is slated to be not only our largest, but our most… Continue Reading
Immanuel Kant, the dense and controversial 18th century German philosopher, railed his students for being Cyclops. “What constitutes them as Cyclops is not their strength,” Fredeirich Paulsen points out, “but the fact that they only have… Continue Reading
In What’s Wrong with the World, G.K. Chesterton said, “The future is a blank wall on which every man can write his own name as large as he likes; the past I find already covered with illegible scribbles, such as Plato, Isaiah, Shakespeare… Continue Reading
In my work with school leaders (especially Heads) and boards, there is a two-sided problem that I consistently observe. First, Because the Head of School is responsible for “everything,” boards are not sure how to adequately evaluate their… Continue Reading
For several years, I have pushed every board I encounter to read the book, Governance as Leadership. It is not only an insightful read for best practices regarding governance, but it is particularly important because it also provides much… Continue Reading
Four Reasons Why We Should Read and Discuss the Classics: 1. Reading and discussing the classics make us better human beings. Classical educators have always touted liberal learning as inherently humanizing. The ultimate purpose of… Continue Reading
