Faculty

The heart of the program is our teachers. We are currently seeking faculty who understand and share our classical Christian vision for education and who are eager to implement this method in every aspect of our program. We desire our faculty to work together as part of the whole community, to have opportunities for their own intellectual and spiritual growth, and to show real love for their students. Our teachers should be scholars in their fields and have broad training in the Liberal arts.

Class Size

Smaller class sizes are very important for the education that we provide and for the children themselves. We seek to have 16 students in each class. This means more individual time and attention from the teacher, more opportunity for relationships to form, better supervision and mentoring, and more opportunities for each child to participate. We want every child to know everyone else’s name. This creates a place of comfort, community, and accountability.

Curriculum

Our curriculum materials will be selected based on their suitability for our program. The program will not be tailored to fit pre-fabricated materials. Specific choices will be based on the demonstration of an incremental, sequential, and cumulative approach. Reading instruction will be phonics intensive.

Single-Sex Education

Saint Augustine’s Academy intends to implement single-sex education once our enrollment has grown large enough to support the separation. We plan to have an all-boys class and an all-girls class in each grade level. This approach will allow us to enjoy the benefits of both single-sex and co-education. The boys and girls classes would come together for such things as chapel, lunch, and activities, and they would separate for classroom instruction and sports. We believe that this is the healthiest way to address the differences between boys and girls and to bring out the best in each student. It is the classical and biblical model of education.

Homework

Our Daily Schedule will include time for Study Hall and Tutoring. Students will complete work on their own, which is an important part of their developing independence. Study Hall gives time for the teacher to supervise how each individual is doing and to provide extra help to any who need it.

Our goal is to send home very little work, especially in the early years. Families need time to be together without additional demands pulling them apart. The driving that most of us do adds enough strain to family life. We want our families to sit down for dinner and talk about their day and then to do some activity together. This is an incredibly important part of every child’s education.

Uniforms

Saint Augustine’s Academy will have uniforms. These provide a sense of identity and school pride and help to diminish the negative competition and influences of clothing. Uniforms help us to nurture one of the Distinctive Qualities that we expect to see in our students: “Modest dress and gracious manners.”