Mission & Vision

The curriculum, instructional methods, and culture of Cincinnati Classical Academy are based on the following:

• the centrality of the Western tradition, to include a rich and recurring examination of the American literary, moral, philosophical, political, and historical traditions
• the acknowledgment of objective standards of correctness, logic, beauty, and truth intrinsic to the liberal arts
• the importance of story-telling at all grade levels and in particular to early childhood education. This includes fiction, poetry, and mythology, as well as historical narrative
• the teaching of dialectic (the art of investigating or discussing the truth of viewpoints) and use of Socratic dialogue
• the use of primary sources in the humanities, when possible, as favored over Summaries, commentaries, or interpretations
• the logical ordering of linguistic studies through instruction in explicit phonics, grammar, logic (the proper use of reason), and rhetoric (the persuasive use of language)
• the study of Latin, to enhance understanding of word roots, language structure, and grammar, as well as to appreciate the impact of classical antiquity on modern society
• the framing of numerical studies in relation to the quadrivium: arithmetic, geometry, music, and astronomy, the subjects that provide a basis for pursuit of the derivative arts of algebra, trigonometry, and calculus
• a careful and comprehensive study of the natural sciences, which build upon and enhance the study of mathematics so as to reveal the intelligible ordering, composition, and wonder of the natural world
• study of the moral sciences which explore the nature of human being and human communities. These include economics, civics, and political and moral philosophy
• a pronounced attention to the fine arts (music, drama, visual arts), as well as athletics, that the body might be rightly ordered and cultivated in accord with the intellect
• a school culture, to include extracurricular activities that demand moral virtue, decorum, respect, discipline, and studiousness among the students and faculty
• a faculty where well-educated and articulate teachers explicitly convey real knowledge to students using traditional teaching methods rather than so-called “student-centered learning” methods and “group projects”
• a learning environment without students hunched over laptops, phones, or any other electronic devices in our learning environment
• the engendering of our seven core virtues—prudence, justice, courage, humility, gratitude, perseverance, and compassion— at all levels of character education