Our Philosophy

The Edmonton Classical Academy will deliver a classical liberal arts education, which aims to equip students with the virtues, knowledge, and habits befitting free citizens.

Our philosophy begins with the assertion that truth exists, independent of time or human opinion. In order to acquire the qualities of intellectual and moral discernment, students must first seek a grounding in truth.

The pursuit of truth is a life-long endeavour: it begins with the experience of philosophical wonder, is nurtured through exposure to great ideas and beautiful works of art, is practiced through free inquiry and disciplined study, and is sustained through a love of wisdom.

We hope to impart these virtues to our students through teacher-led classrooms and a knowledge-rich program of study. The school will teach a modified curriculum based on the trivium model, where learners progress from grammar, to logic, and finally rhetoric. This approach includes systematic and rigorous maths and science programs, modern and classical languages, strong outdoor and athletic components, fine and performing arts, and a sequential, integrated study of world history. This curriculum is centred on enduring and classical works of art, science, literature, and philosophy from around the world: from Homer to Euclid, Aristotle to al-Farabi, Sophocles to Shakespeare, Laozi, Li Bai, and much more.

We study the classics because they speak to eternal and universal aspects of the human condition, and relate to questions of ultimate concern: why are we here, and what should we desire? What is the nature of justice? What do we owe others? What is the difference between liberty and license, and how can we order our lives well? By engaging with these materials, students acquire the ability to inhabit diverse perspectives. They become historically and culturally literate, and learn to think deeply about life’s most fundamental questions.

We believe that society is an intergenerational project, with each generation owing debts to those who came before, and to those who will follow in time. Our obligation to students is to ensure they can enjoy “the best that has been thought and said,” and to give them opportunities to partake of the great soul-enriching conversations that have spanned millennia. In turn, students will be prepared to pass along and to build on that inheritance, with gratitude and humility.

The Edmonton Classical Academy will offer an academically rigorous program that will prepare students for further study and, eventually, for participation in a modern workforce. Yet the true purpose of education is not limited to making students narrowly useful or equipping them for material success.

Recalling the Chinese sage Confucius, we hold that “an educated person is not a tool.” Children are not merely future workers; they are future friends, spouses, neighbours, parents, and citizens. They are bearers of souls, which thirst after knowledge of what is true, good, and beautiful. A classical education prepares students not only to live, but to live virtuously and with purpose.