Character & Knowledge

Over 30 years ago, our Provost, Dr. William J. Bennett, penned the following in his introduction to the first edition of his bestselling The Book of Virtues:

Moral education — the training of heart and mind toward the good — involves many things. It involves rules and precepts – the dos and don’ts of life with others – as well as explicit instruction, exhortation, and training.

Moral education must provide training in good habits. Aristotle wrote that good habits formed at youth make all the difference.

And moral education must affirm the central importance of moral example. It has been said that there is nothing more influential, more determinant, in a child’s life than the moral power of quiet example.

For children to take morality seriously they must be in the presence of adults who take morality seriously. And with their own eyes they must see adults take morality seriously.

The Parent’s Hope

Any parent who wants their child to grow up to be an intelligent human being and a responsible human being should consider Jefferson Classical Academy.

Two Disciplines That Reinforce One Another

Intellectual discipline can come from moral discipline. And moral discipline can come from intellectual discipline.

The two reinforce each other.

If you develop good habits of mind—of thinking and reading—it will help you develop good habits of character.

If you develop good habits of character, such as perseverance for example, you can have the fortitude to make your way through math, overcoming obstacles along the way.

Virtues as Foundations

Self-discipline, compassion, responsibility, friendship, work, courage, perseverance, honesty, loyalty, and faith are the foundational virtues upon which our classical schools are built.

Our students will learn to identify the forms and content of these traits. They must develop moral literacy—to attain a knowledge of and an appreciation of these virtues.

Learning Through Stories

We do this first and foremost by the stories they will read and the content they will learn.

We will invite them, train them, and provide them practice on discerning the moral dimensions of stories, historical events, and famous lives.

We will help them learn to value what deserves to be valued, as philosopher William James once said.

Moral Literacy Becomes Intellectual Mastery

By developing this moral literacy—through moral discipline—it will prepare our students for the attainment of knowledge through intellectual discipline.

Perseverance will help them endure.
Self-discipline will help them overcome.
Responsibility will help them take ownership.

And so on.

Beyond the Test

The outcome will go beyond facts, beyond multiple choice.

Instead, it will deepen their ability to think, to reason. It will be applicable to all subjects studied—and to any subject encountered.

What Parents Truly Want

Parents want their children to learn more than math and reading.

They desire for their children to be decent, intelligent, and responsible human beings.

This Is Jefferson Classical Academy

Character and knowledge are built through moral and intellectual discipline.

This is Jefferson Classical Academy.