“If a nation expects to be ignornant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be”
– THOMAS JEFFERSON
Curriculum
Riverton Classical Academy intends to use the Hillsdale College K-12 Curriculum. This K-12 scope and sequence is rich in content and designed to provide a comprehensive American classical education – a traditional education that is strong across the four disciplines of math, science, literature, and history. We offer a “back to basics” approach where spelling counts, English grammar is taught explicitly, manners matter, hard work is expected, and standardized testing does not drive the curriculum. Our school culture is defined by a seriousness of purpose and emphasis on the development of good character. The teachers we employ are passionate subject matter experts with demonstrated mastery of the humanities, mathematics, and sciences.
The scope and sequence of our curriculum notably features:
- Reading of great books, including historical primary source documents
- A thorough focus on literacy through explicit phonemic instruction in conjunction with strong grammar teaching aimed at English language mastery
- A thorough focus on numeracy in the primary grades with a curriculum that is conceptual versus procedural – stepping student through a natural progression from the concrete, to the pictorial, to the abstract
- Text centered, teacher-led instruction fostering Socratic inquiry and discussion
- Memory work, recitation, and public speaking are cultivated through practice
- Visual and performing arts classes emphasize theory, history, and performance
- Spanish taught in K-5 with Latin and Greek roots introduced in grades 4-5
- Latin required in grades 6-9, followed by two years of advanced Latin or Spanish
- Comprehensive K-12 civics program culminating in Moral and Political Philosophy and American Government in grades 10-12
- A 15-page senior capstone thesis and oral defense before faculty and peers provides a challenging academic rite of passage
AN AMERICAN CLASSICAL EDUCATION
Riverton Classical Academy’s mission is to train the minds and improve the hearts of students through a classical, content-rich curriculum that emphasizes virtuous living, traditional learning, and civic responsibility. An American classical education is a liberal arts and science education intended to equip students for virtuous, knowledgeable, happy lives. Our vision is to form future citizens who uphold the ideals of our country’s founding and promote the continuation of our American experiment—through a classical, great books curriculum designed to engage the student in the highest matters and the deepest questions of truth, justice, virtue, and beauty that define the human experience. Students of Riverton Classical Academy will be good citizens and intellectually rigorous contributors, well qualified for future studies in law, medicine, business, engineering, technology, theology, or any other professional or vocational pursuit.