What is Classical Education?
An education of the whole person.
Classical education is about more than what students know. It shapes how they think, what they value, and how they live. At Lafayette Classical Academy, we cultivate wisdom, character, and a lifelong pursuit of what is true, good, and beautiful.
Education is about more than what we know.
Classical education seeks to develop both the intellect and the character. Knowledge gives students the ability to understand the world; virtue helps them develop the judgement to act well within it. At Lafayette, those two aims belong together.
Wisdom and Virtue at Lafayette
At Lafayette Classical Academy, the pursuit of wisdom and virtue is woven throughout the academic experience. Students encounter enduring questions through literature, history, science, mathemetics, and the arts while learning to think carefully, seek truth, and exercise sound judgement. Each Monday, our school also gathers for a Virtue Talk, when a faculty member or guest speaker explores one of the four cardinal virtues of classical education – prudence, justice, fortitude, and temperance – and what it means to put that virtue into practice.
THE CLASSICAL APPROACH TO LEARNING
The Trivium: Grammar, Logic, and Rhetoric
The Trivium is at the heart of classical education. Through the arts of grammar, logic, and rhetoric, students learn to build knowledge, reason carefully, and communicate with clarity. Together, these skills give students the tools not simply to absorb information, but to understand, question, and articulate what they learn.
GRAMMAR
Building Knowledge
Students build a strong foundation of language, facts, vocabulary, and essential knowledge. These are the building blocks that make deeper understanding possible.
LOGIC
Learning to Reason
Students learn to ask thoughtful questions, make connections, evaluate arguments, and reason carefully about the ideas they encounter.
RHETORIC
Communicating with Clarity
Students begin to express what they know and think with clarity and confidence through writing, discussion, and speech.
CLASSICAL EDUCATION IN PRACTICE
What Does This Look Like at Lafayette?
From the books students read to the conversations they have in the classroom, Lafayette’s curriculum is designed to cultivate knowledge, curiosity, careful thought, and a genuine love of learning.
Great Books & Enduring Ideas
Learning through ideas that last.
Students encounter rich literature, primary sources, and enduring questions that invite them into conversation with the thinkers, writers, and ideas that have shaped our world. Rather than simply learning answers for a test, students are challenged to read closely, ask thoughtful questions, and engage seriously with ideas.
Language & Latin
Understanding language at its roots.
Beginning in sixth grade, Lafayette students study Latin. Through Latin, students deepen their understanding of grammar and vocabulary while developing precision in language and gaining greater access to the works, ideas, and traditions they encounter throughout a classical education.
History & Human Experience
Understanding the story that came before us.
Students study history as an interconnected story of people, ideas, cultures, and events. Through the study of Western civilization and the American tradition, students develop historical context that helps them better understand both the world they have inherited and the questions they encounter today.
Learning Beyond the Screen
An intentionally low-tech education.
At Lafayette, technology is used purposefully rather than by default. Students learn primarily through books, handwriting, conversation, direct instruction, experimentation, and hands-on work. Even in the Upper School, technology is limited and used for specific purposes, such as writing essays.
THE LIBERAL ARTS
Education for Freedom
liber
Latin: free
The word liberal comes from the Latin liber, meaning “free.” A classical liberal arts education equips students with the knowledge, habits of thought, and judgement necessary to live with freedom and independance.
Preparation for college and career matters, but classical education looks beyond a particular profession towards something larger: preparing students to think for themselves, make wise decisions, and live well.
The Aim of a Classical Education
Classical education is concerned not only with what students know, but with who they are becoming. At Lafayette, academic growth and character formation go hand in hand.
“Our kids are becoming curious, thoughtful, respectful, and confident young people. They enjoy learning, but just as importantly, they’re learning to listen well, think carefully, and treat others with kindness and respect.”
-Lafayette Classical Academy parent
From the Faculty
Our teachers understand education as the formation of the whole person. Knowledge matters deeply, but its purpose extends beyond the classroom: students are learning to exercise judgement, develop character, and live wisely.
“Wisdom and virtue must walk hand in hand, as a wise mind is known by its virtuous actions.”
-Lafayette Classical Academy teacher
Articles on Classical Education
The Four Elements of Classical Education
Core Knowledge: How Do We Know This Works
Why I Teach Plato to Plumbers
Reading Comprehension Requires Knowledge – of Words and the World
Books on Classical Education
Why Johnny Can’t Read: And What You Can Do About It
Rudolf Flesch
Why Johnny Can’t Tell Right from Wrong: and What We Can Do About It
William Kilkpatrick
The Core: Teaching Your Child the Foundations of Classical Education
Leigh A. Bortins
A Thomas Jefferson Education
Oliver DeMille
Cultural Literacy
E.D. Hirsch, Jr.
The Making of Americans: Democracy and our School
E.D. Hirsch, Jr.
The Schools We Need
E.D. Hirsch, Jr.
The Well-Trained Mind
Susan Wise Bauer
The Seven Laws of Teaching
John Milton Gregory
The Lost Tools of Learning
Dorothy Sayers
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