Portrait of a Graduate

Our goal at The Academy is to form whole students who understand how to decipher, to love and to seek out the True, the Good, and the Beautiful in God’s good world. We aim to graduate students who are faithfully grounded in God’s truth, capable of living out a Christ-centered motivation for life, all the while loving God and their neighbor. Our pedagogical philosophy is one of human formation rather than mere information transfer. We do not aim to simply offer our students pivotal information about academic facts; rather, we aim to walk alongside our students, offering mentor-based relationship, learning together how to embody beautiful academic truths. Our academic platform shapes students’ affections in hopes of forming graduates who

  • Humbly recognize their place in Christ’s story
  • Expectantly pursue and cherish all that is True, Good, and Beautiful
  • Graciously love their neighbor, especially the most broken and marginalized
  • Joyfully cultivate and embody a cruciform vision of all of life

To this end, having been incredibly methodical about the scaffolding and developmental goals within the curriculum, we have crafted an all-inclusive 4-year high school curriculum. While our high school curriculum meets all the Oklahoma State Education standards and provides students with an honors level education, we are equally focused on the kind of person our students become, seeing this moral formation as an essential piece of the curriculum. We do not view the courses completed by our students merely as a checklist meant to meet state academic standards. Instead, we view their 4 years enrolled in the Rhetoric School at The Academy as essential to this process of holistic development.

Given this mission, the Rhetoric School advocates for students to participate in all aspects of our high school curriculum. Remaining in all courses in the scope and sequence offers our students the best opportunity to meet our stated goals for them. Each course works in concert with the whole to bring students into contact with the true, beautiful and good God, participating in his great work of making all things new through his Kingdom.