A Classical Liberal Arts Education
     Renaissance Preparatory School was founded on the over arching philosophy of a classical liberal arts education. This concept, generally embraced by college preparatory schools, colleges, and universities, has widely different curricular implications. In defining the implementation of a classical liberal arts education at Renaissance Preparatory School, the Board of Directors has delineated our foundational educational philosophies, and the accompanying research, uniting them under the credo "A Classical Liberal Arts Education for the 21st Century."

     After founding Renaissance Preparatory School, Dr. Gene Edward Veith's article came to our attention. We have included this abbreviated version as it eloquently articulates both the concept and the efficacy of a classical liberal arts education:

From Renaissance, Not Reform
by Dr. Gene Edward Veith, professor of Humanities and Dean of Arts and Sciences at Concordia University, Wisconsin

The Liberal Arts Revisited

Classical education can best be summed up in the concept of the Liberal Arts. The term derives from the Latin libera, meaning freedom. For the Greeks and Romans, a liberal education was necessary for a human being to be free. Vocational training, by contrast, was reserved for slaves. Free citizens required an education that enlarged the mind, cultivated civic virtue, and developed the full human potential. As they were systematized in the Middle Ages, there were seven "arts" that comprised a liberal education. They were suited to the various stages of intellectual development, and engaged all of the human faculties. The Seven Liberal Arts consisted of two parts: the trivium of grammar, logic, and rhetoric; and the quadrivium of mathematics, music, astronomy, and geometry. Once these "arts" of learning were mastered, the student was equipped for the study of the sciences: natural science, moral science (including history, politics, and law), and theological science (the study of religion and first principles). After this regimen, a student would study for a profession.
While such a curriculum is impressive, it is obviously from another time and place. Contemporary subjects, such as literature, art, and psychology -- much less computer science and driver's ed -- are nowhere mentioned. Obviously, an education today would have to be quite different from that of ancient Rome or the Middle Ages. But the genius of the Liberal Arts is that they can encompass all subjects, including the most contemporary. The trivium and quadrivium are not so much discrete subjects as they are modes of learning.
The trivium is one of those concise, yet comprehensive paradigms [for which] classical thought is famed ... . But it applies to more than just language. The fact is, every subject has its grammar, logic, and rhetoric. To be educated in any discipline, one must know its basic facts (grammar); be able to think deeply about the subject (logic); and be able to act on that knowledge in a personal, original, and independent way (rhetoric). Put another way, every subject requires knowledge (grammar), understanding (logic), and creativity (rhetoric). The classical trivium in fact anticipates the findings of contemporary educational psychology, which enumerates four "Higher Order Thinking Skills":
1. Data Accumulation (grammar)
2. Analysis (logic)
3. Decision--making (logic and rhetoric)
4. Communication (rhetoric)
The trivium is valuable not simply because it is "classic," rather, it is classic because it offers what seems to be a comprehensive, universal paradigm for learning. Just as every academic discipline requires the "Higher Order Thinking Skills," every discipline requires mastery of its trivium. Mathematics involves learning to add and multiply, then "thought" problems, then real-world applications. Music and Visual Arts require mastery of notes and materials, grasping the aesthetic issues, and ultimately creative expression. To be a computer scientist, one must learn the grammar of operating systems, comprehend the logic of technology, and then, and only then, write original, effective programs. Every field -- business, psychology, literature, engineering, even driver's ed -- has its trivium.
... In the ancient world the next phase of a liberal arts education was the quadrivium: mathematics, music, astronomy, and geometry. These were four kinds of learning that embodied the idea that education should be comprehensive, engaging all of the faculties of the mind. A fully educated person should be well-versed in mathematics, science, music, literature, and art. Only then should one specialize.
... Such a formidable, holistic, all-encompassing theory is surely one of the great inventions of Western thought. The way it was applied varied, from the great informal dialogues of the Athenian Academy and the one-on-one instruction conducted by the slave-pedagogues of Rome, to the scholastic hierarchies of the medieval university, the less formal humanistic tutorials of the Renaissance, and the rigorous home schooling and academies of the Enlightenment. Though its details varied greatly from era to era, this was the kind of education received by Alexander and Archimedes, Dante and Aquinas, Rabelais and John Calvin, Edmund Burke and Thomas Jefferson.
... If classical education theory is correct, there can be no complete education apart from the trivium of knowledge, understanding, and creativity. Good teachers who convey the material, help their students understand it, and stimulate them to think for themselves are thus classicists whether they know it or not.
Curriculum and Course Descriptions

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Foundational, Empowering, and Creative	World Languages
Creativity and Talent Development	Fine Arts
Appropriate Curriculum	Mathematics
Personalized and Differentiated	Rhetoric and Composition
Intensives, Colloquia, Field Trips	Sciences
Facilitation of Skill Development	Social Sciences
Evaluation and Reporting	Classical and Modern Literature