Westminister Academy
Westminster Academy.
2500 Ridgeway Rd., Memphis, TN 38119
PROGRAM PURPOSE
Westminster Academy states as its purpose: “To glorify God.” More specifically, in light of their firm conviction is that parents are responsible for the education of their children, their vision it to offer parents a tool for teaching their children to reason, discern and apply Truth by way of scripture and the classical liberal arts.
OVERVIEW
Classical Christian education, upon which Westminster is founded, is the cultivation of virtue and wisdom by nourishing the soul on truth, goodness and beauty according to God’s Revelation using the classical liberal arts. Its purpose is to train the soul (which is the seat of the mind, will and emotions) to love that which is worth loving.
Founded in 1996 by six couples from five different churches, Westminster Academy had its first community wide meeting on November 9, 1995 with guest speaker, Marlin Detweiler. He is the founder and publisher of Veritas Press, formerly with the Geneva School in Orlando, and was starting Veritas Academy in Lancaster, PA. In January 1996 Douglas Wilson, founder of Logos School came and spoke to the group. Their educational philosophy has its roots in his work, Recovering the Lost Tools of Learning. His work was inspired by C.S. Lewis contemporary Dorothy Sayers who wrote an essay in the 1950’s promoting the recovery of the medieval trivium for use in schooling. Westminster Academy met the rigorous standards for accreditation by the Association of Classical Christian Schools in 2002.
PROGRAM GOALS
The goal of Classical Education and thus, Westminster Academy, is to train the soul (which is the seat of the mind, will and emotions) to love that which is worth loving.
PROGRAM METHODS
The Classical curriculum required of Westminster Academy students offers to colleges and universities high school graduates uniquely qualified to engage in intellectual debate and exploration. The foundation of the Classical curriculum is an immersion in Socratic dialogue through the seven liberal arts. Emphasis is placed on a dialectic approach that consistently leads students to a deeper examination of each subject. Concurrently, students are trained to evidence their progress both in written and in oral presentation. In addition, there is profound weight placed on each student’s understanding of the interconnectedness of all subjects and the imperative to synthesize them.
In particular, the logic and rhetoric departments at Westminster Academy are grounded in the traditional (ancient and medieval) verbal arts. The emphasis is on Aristotelian theory and Latin practice. The pedagogy is one that models the Ciceronian theory, imitation, and practice. The primary aspects of the curriculum center around the traditional concepts of Dialectic, the Topics, Aristotle's categories and syllogistic proof, the Five Canons of Rhetoric, and Stylistic Tropes and Schemes. The elementary exercises of the progymnasmata are continued, culminating in declamations and theses. Theses are presented and defended orally before the faculty and students once during the sophomore year and twice each during the junior and senior years. Because of these unique offerings, the specifics of the curriculum are delineated below. These are required courses. Also of note is the beginning of Latin study in the second grade which is continued as a required course through the ninth grade. Elective Greek and continued Latin Studies are offered from tenth grade on.
L O G I C
7th grade - Traditional and Categorical Logic, Traditional Logic - Memoria Press
8th grade - Categorical to Symbolic Logic, Intermediate Logic- Canon Press
R H E T O R I C
10th grade - Intro to Rhetoric / Ancient Rhetoric - Gorgias, Phaedrus- Plato; On Rhetoric- Aristotle; Ad Herennium- Cicero
11th grade - Invention and Arrangement / Medieval Rhetoric - De Inventione, De Optimo Genere; Oratorum, Topica- Cicero
12th grade - Style, Memory and Delivery / Modern Eloquence - Over twenty historical and modern orations to be rhetorically analyzed.
PROGRAM OPERATION
In its first eight years, this Memphis based school has acquired its accreditation and grown to over 290 students in kindergarten through grade twelve. The curriculum is rigorous, college preparatory and has its foundation in the ancient and traditional liberal arts. There is a faculty to student ratio of 1:7. Other elements of their life together include biweekly devotions, music and visual arts programs, athletics, mock trials and debating teams, prayer support led by mothers and various field trips as well as guest speakers.
PROGRAM TESTIMONIES
"This is the education I wish I had" is the most often heard response from people discovering Classical Christian education for the first time.
Graduates from the Westminster have gone on, with an SAT average in the mid-1200’s, to schools such as Vanderbilt, Georgetown, Wheaton, William & Mary and St. Andrew’s in Edinburgh.
IMPLICATIONS
Classical education schools such as Westminster are a primary model in creative ways to educate our children.
Christen B. Yates cCYS
