Bona Verba from the Headmaster
I spent the past week in Hillsdale, Michigan, with our faculty and staff, establishing a culture of collaboration and collegiality that will serve our students well. Each year, Hillsdale College offers a Summer Classical Education Conference for all employees of the Hillsdale K-12 member schools—like Cincy Classical. Not only were we able to come together as a faculty for the first time, we were also privileged to learn from some of the best classical educators in the country and meet some of our counterparts from other schools in the network—from southern California to south Florida. I thought you might enjoy reading a few reflections on the conference from some of our faculty members:
- “This past week at Hillsdale I had the opportunity to meet and get to know our exceptional faculty and staff in a way that would not have been otherwise possible. Together, we became immersed in our mission of classical education, supported by the dedicated K-12 education team at Hillsdale College and our colleagues near and far from our network of schools. We return even more excited to begin the school year!” – Mrs. Karen Puglielli, Dean of Faculty
- “The Hillsdale conference was an invaluable experience of inspiring stories and professional formation. The presenters shared powerful examples of effective teaching strategies and much needed insight into the current educational landscape. Between sessions, I enjoyed meal time conversations and building camaraderie among my fellow Cincy Classical faculty. From beginning to end we enjoyed each other’s insights and stories and shared our hopes and goals for the new school. It was the best start imaginable for new classical educators to ground our work on a common foundation.” – Mr. Slonkosky, Classical PE Teacher
- “The Hillsdale Summer Conference has inspired me to emulate the amazing professors and teachers who generously dedicated their time to guide us to become excellent educators and lifelong learners. It has also been a privilege to begin collaborating with the Cincinnati Classical Academy faculty, who are full of energy, wisdom, knowledge, and love for our school and the students arriving in August.” – Mrs. DiCristoforo, Third Grade Teacher
- “The Hillsdale Conference was an amazing opportunity to learn about our beautiful curriculum from experienced classical educators. Their stories, knowledge, and insights have left me inspired and excited for our school year. The conference was also a great opportunity to get to spend time with our wonderful group of educators and establish a strong foundation for an amazing school culture of friendship and respect.” – Miss Burwinkel, Second Grade Teacher
I certainly echo all these sentiments. Our faculty is an impressive bunch! They are each coming from different schools, bringing with them diverse educational backgrounds, interests, and teaching experience. But all of them are enthusiastic life-long learners dedicated to the mission of Cincinnati Classical Academy: to develop the minds and nourish the hearts of our students through a content-rich curriculum in the classical liberal arts and sciences, with instruction in moral character and civic virtue. They are fully committed to making this inaugural year a huge success by providing a high-quality classical education for each and every one of our students.
In future weeks, I will discuss some of the salient topics covered at the Hillsdale Conference, such as “forming the moral imagination,” “authentically classical pedagogy,” and “discipline from the heart”!
Curate, ut valeatis!
Michael Rose, Headmaster
Mr. Michael Rose
Meet the Headmaster
Mr. Rose has taught various courses at Brown University, Cincinnati Moeller, and The Summit Country Day School. As a part of his degree work in education, Mr. Rose’s research interests included the Great Books curriculum, the Paideia teaching method, and the “effects of emerging digital technology on student reading, writing, and researching.” Read More