WELCOME TO
ST. JOHNS CLASSICAL ACADEMY
Learn the True. Do the Good. Love the Beautiful.
Who We Are
St. Johns Classical Academy is an open enrollment, tuition-free public charter school in Fleming Island and Orange Park, Florida.
St. Johns Classical Academy seeks to provide an excellent and distinctive education that pursues knowledge, promotes virtue, and prepares scholars for civic responsibility. SJCA is committed to building intelligent, virtuous American citizens. St. Johns Classical Academy is a Hillsdale College Member School.
SJCA desires to educate all scholars who enter our school, expecting nothing less than the best from each one. SJCA is a fit for parents and scholars who wish to make a definite education choice. Those scholars who will thrive at SJCA are the ones who understand, and whose parents understand, the effort necessary to attain a classical education. Parents and scholars not in agreement with the mission, philosophy, and policies of the school may not be able to adhere to the stated policies of the school. In such cases, a different education may be more appropriate.
Governing Board
SJCA’s Governing Board plays an essential role in the school’s success through its initial leadership and ongoing oversight of the school’s operations.
School Administration
From car loop greetings and parent meetings to classroom support and scheduling, the impact of administrators can be seen throughout campus.
Support from Hillsdale College
St. Johns Classical Academy is affiliated with Hillsdale College as a Member School.
Our Mission
The mission of St. Johns Classical Academy is to develop graduates in mind and character through a classical, content-rich curriculum that emphasizes the principles of virtuous living, traditional learning, and civic responsibility. We are building intelligent, virtuous American citizens.
Our Vision
The vision of St. Johns Classical Academy is to offer a unique option that provides students with classical education. Scholars will receive a cohesive Classical education, which builds upon itself year after year, creating a successful foundation for learning. Scholars will be intentionally taught the benefits of a virtuous character and will be challenged through the lessons taught within the curriculum to develop and strengthen their character. Our teachers will provide the support and attention scholars require in order to meet the high expectations of a Classical education.
Our Virtues
St. Johns Classical Academy has a mission to join instruction in principles of moral character and civic virtues through a rigorous academic program. Our virtues require trained minds and generous hearts. This will unite our ability to think and reason with our passions, desires, and feelings.
Rarely does a public school speak openly about virtue, since virtue means we judge our actions against an objective standard of beauty or goodness. Instead, most people speak of values, since in our age we are much more comfortable with language that does not make clear discrimination between good and bad. Indeed, to speak of virtue means that we judge some qualities of character to be better than others, and this entails taking a stand in their defense and attempting to cultivate them in our scholars.
Our Virtues
Our scholars, parents and teachers are held accountable to St. Johns Classical Academy’s Nine Standards of Virtue.
We honor rules and laws and respond to authority with obedience. We give of our time and abilities to serve others. We uphold liberty and social equality through respect for individual differences and knowledge of our democratic system.
We always do what we know to be right despite fear, hardship, and opposition. We resist negative peer pressure, defend our rights and the rights of others, and encourage others to do the same.
We never knowingly induce another to believe what is false. We are always truthful in what we say and do, regardless of the circumstances or consequences.
We do not brag or compare ourselves to others. We always strive to do our best whether we are recognized or not.
We are individuals of strong ethical values, who make consistently good choices in keeping with our knowledge of right and wrong. We see wisdom of others in cases of moral uncertainty.
We spurn despair and strive to complete tasks to the best of our abilities, regardless of the difficulty. We respond creatively to overcome obstacles and ask for help when necessary.
We regard others and ourselves as deserving of kind and just treatment. Our conduct is considerate and polite. We look for the good in others and demonstrate compassion. Our attitude toward others and their property reflects the way we wish to be treated.
We accept obligations related to our own good and the good of others. We act on those obligations in a manner suitable to their timely and satisfactory fulfillment. We are willingly accountable for what we do and say. We seek to learn from our mistakes.
We learn from our mistakes and think before we act. We look to the great thinkers of the past for guidance on making good choices.
What is Classical Education?
What is Classical Education? Classical education is a liberal arts education rooted in ancient history. “Liberal”, in this case, means “free”. Classical education prepares young people to live in freedom and independence, engaging them in the highest matters and the deepest questions of truth, justice, virtue, and beauty. Academically, a classical education encompasses:
- A content-rich, traditional curriculum, including the use of classical books and art
- Concentrated study of the core academic disciplines: history, literature, mathematics, and science
- An appreciation for–and study of–the visual and performing arts
- A strong emphasis on language, literacy, writing, and mastery of the English language
- Reading of the great books in literature and primary source documents in history
- Socratic teaching by kind-hearted teachers who are subject matter experts
The Classical Learning Model
Classical education is a conscious return to the ancient goal of education: teaching children to think and learn for themselves by imparting to them the tools of learning. The goal is to promote the type of inquiry that ultimately allows students to discover for themselves that which is true and beautiful. It is an approach to education related to the classical liberal arts and sciences tradition of the trivium and the quadrivium. The trivium was comprised of three basic tools of learning: grammar (the tool of knowledge), logic (the tool of reasoning) and rhetoric (the tool of communication and expression). The quadrivium encompassed the sciences—arithmetic, geometry, astronomy—and added music and the arts.
Classical School Teachers
Classical education requires teachers who are trained in the academic disciplines (literature, history, sciences, mathematics, etc.). Just like many teachers, our teachers love to spend time with children, they are kind-hearted, and they know how to manage a classroom. But subject matter expertise is also required. Our vision is to foster a faculty that is academically gifted and in full pursuit of intellectual interests, because these habits tend to positively influence scholars who are by nature inquisitive and look for role models to emulate.
Benefits to Scholars
Classical education focuses on the art of living well, where career or college preparation are by-products and not the ends of classical education. The goal is virtuous young adults who live not with historical or cultural amnesia, but rather with a sense of who they are in the context of human history. We aim for our students to know the story of our country, and to read and write with facility. We believe that young graduates who are able to use their knowledge of the past to make good decisions in the present and plan wisely for the future, will be in high demand and prepared to flourish.
Classical education is sometimes called “leadership education” because it builds skills needed for leadership, like logic, debate, public speaking, clear reasoning, researching, writing, and communicating. These skills are practiced in every subject (mathematics, science, history, geography, Latin, fine arts, and more), which prepares students to become leaders in any field they pursue. Classically trained scholars are often well qualified for future studies in law, medicine, business, engineering, technology, theology or any other professional or vocational pursuit.
What Makes Classical Education so Effective?
It is largely because of its approach to how and when students are taught. Regardless of their learning style, children learn in three phases or stages (grammar, logic or dialectic, and rhetoric), known as the trivium. In the grammar stage (K–6), students are naturally adept at memorizing through songs, chants, and rhymes. If you can get children in this stage to sing or chant something, they will remember it for a lifetime. In the dialectic or logic stage (grades 7–9), teenaged students are naturally more argumentative and begin to question authority and facts. They want to know the “why” of something—the logic behind it. During this stage, students learn reasoning, informal and formal logic, and how to argue with wisdom and eloquence. The rhetoric stage (grades 10–12) is naturally when students become independent thinkers and communicators. They study and practice rhetoric, which is the art of persuasive speaking and effective writing that pleases and delights the listener. Again, it is this approach to teaching students based on their developmental stage that makes this approach so very effective.
It is precisely this kind of education that has produced countless great leaders, inventors, scientists, writers, philosophers, theologians, physicians, lawyers, artists, and musicians over the centuries. Classical education never really disappeared, but it did diminish starting around 1900 with the advent of progressive education. In an effort to restore this most proven form of education, the K–12 liberal arts tradition has been renewed and expanded again over the last thirty years.
(Adapted from Classical Academic Press)
What is a Charter School?
A charter school is a public school that receives public education funding and is open to all children in the county in which it is located. In general, a charter school is its own school district, nonsectarian, tuition-free and governed by a Board of Directors.
Florida Charter Schools are: Publicly funded schools of choice.
SJCA is a charter school in Florida and it authorized by the Clay County District Schools. It is funded on a per pupil basis. Florida Charter Schools receive about two-thirds as much funding as traditional public schools. Charter Schools have to cover operational, capital and indirect costs with the funds that traditional public schools receive for just operational costs.
Who We Are
St. Johns Classical Academy is an open enrollment, tuition-free public charter school in Fleming Island and Orange Park, Florida.
St. Johns Classical Academy seeks to provide an excellent and distinctive education that pursues knowledge, promotes virtue, and prepares scholars for civic responsibility. SJCA is committed to building intelligent, virtuous American citizens. St. Johns Classical Academy is a Hillsdale College Member School.
SJCA desires to educate all scholars who enter our school, expecting nothing less than the best from each one. SJCA is a fit for parents and scholars who wish to make a definite education choice. Those scholars who will thrive at SJCA are the ones who understand, and whose parents understand, the effort necessary to attain a classical education. Parents and scholars not in agreement with the mission, philosophy, and policies of the school may not be able to adhere to the stated policies of the school. In such cases, a different education may be more appropriate.
Governing Board
SJCA’s Governing Board plays an essential role in the school’s success through its initial leadership and ongoing oversight of the school’s operations.
School Administration
From car loop greetings and parent meetings to classroom support and scheduling, the impact of administrators can be seen throughout campus.
Support from Hillsdale College
St. Johns Classical Academy is affiliated with Hillsdale College as a Member School.
Our Mission
The mission of St. Johns Classical Academy is to develop graduates in mind and character through a classical, content-rich curriculum that emphasizes the principles of virtuous living, traditional learning, and civic responsibility. We are building intelligent, virtuous American citizens.
Our Vision
The vision of St. Johns Classical Academy is to offer a unique option that provides students with classical education. Scholars will receive a cohesive Classical education, which builds upon itself year after year, creating a successful foundation for learning. Scholars will be intentionally taught the benefits of a virtuous character and will be challenged through the lessons taught within the curriculum to develop and strengthen their character. Our teachers will provide the support and attention scholars require in order to meet the high expectations of a Classical education.
Our Virtues
St. Johns Classical Academy has a mission to join instruction in principles of moral character and civic virtues through a rigorous academic program. Our virtues require trained minds and generous hearts. This will unite our ability to think and reason with our passions, desires, and feelings.
Rarely does a public school speak openly about virtue, since virtue means we judge our actions against an objective standard of beauty or goodness. Instead, most people speak of values, since in our age we are much more comfortable with language that does not make clear discrimination between good and bad. Indeed, to speak of virtue means that we judge some qualities of character to be better than others, and this entails taking a stand in their defense and attempting to cultivate them in our scholars.
Our Virtues
Our scholars, parents and teachers are held accountable to St. Johns Classical Academy’s Nine Standards of Virtue.
We honor rules and laws and respond to authority with obedience. We give of our time and abilities to serve others. We uphold liberty and social equality through respect for individual differences and knowledge of our democratic system.
We always do what we know to be right despite fear, hardship, and opposition. We resist negative peer pressure, defend our rights and the rights of others, and encourage others to do the same.
We never knowingly induce another to believe what is false. We are always truthful in what we say and do, regardless of the circumstances or consequences.
We do not brag or compare ourselves to others. We always strive to do our best whether we are recognized or not.
We are individuals of strong ethical values, who make consistently good choices in keeping with our knowledge of right and wrong. We see wisdom of others in cases of moral uncertainty.
We spurn despair and strive to complete tasks to the best of our abilities, regardless of the difficulty. We respond creatively to overcome obstacles and ask for help when necessary.
We regard others and ourselves as deserving of kind and just treatment. Our conduct is considerate and polite. We look for the good in others and demonstrate compassion. Our attitude toward others and their property reflects the way we wish to be treated.
We accept obligations related to our own good and the good of others. We act on those obligations in a manner suitable to their timely and satisfactory fulfillment. We are willingly accountable for what we do and say. We seek to learn from our mistakes.
We learn from our mistakes and think before we act. We look to the great thinkers of the past for guidance on making good choices.
What is Classical Education?
What is Classical Education? Classical education is a liberal arts education rooted in ancient history. “Liberal”, in this case, means “free”. Classical education prepares young people to live in freedom and independence, engaging them in the highest matters and the deepest questions of truth, justice, virtue, and beauty. Academically, a classical education encompasses:
- A content-rich, traditional curriculum, including the use of classical books and art
- Concentrated study of the core academic disciplines: history, literature, mathematics, and science
- An appreciation for–and study of–the visual and performing arts
- A strong emphasis on language, literacy, writing, and mastery of the English language
- Reading of the great books in literature and primary source documents in history
- Socratic teaching by kind-hearted teachers who are subject matter experts
The Classical Learning Model
Classical education is a conscious return to the ancient goal of education: teaching children to think and learn for themselves by imparting to them the tools of learning. The goal is to promote the type of inquiry that ultimately allows students to discover for themselves that which is true and beautiful. It is an approach to education related to the classical liberal arts and sciences tradition of the trivium and the quadrivium. The trivium was comprised of three basic tools of learning: grammar (the tool of knowledge), logic (the tool of reasoning) and rhetoric (the tool of communication and expression). The quadrivium encompassed the sciences—arithmetic, geometry, astronomy—and added music and the arts.
Classical School Teachers
Classical education requires teachers who are trained in the academic disciplines (literature, history, sciences, mathematics, etc.). Just like many teachers, our teachers love to spend time with children, they are kind-hearted, and they know how to manage a classroom. But subject matter expertise is also required. Our vision is to foster a faculty that is academically gifted and in full pursuit of intellectual interests, because these habits tend to positively influence scholars who are by nature inquisitive and look for role models to emulate.
Benefits to Scholars
Classical education focuses on the art of living well, where career or college preparation are by-products and not the ends of classical education. The goal is virtuous young adults who live not with historical or cultural amnesia, but rather with a sense of who they are in the context of human history. We aim for our students to know the story of our country, and to read and write with facility. We believe that young graduates who are able to use their knowledge of the past to make good decisions in the present and plan wisely for the future, will be in high demand and prepared to flourish.
Classical education is sometimes called “leadership education” because it builds skills needed for leadership, like logic, debate, public speaking, clear reasoning, researching, writing, and communicating. These skills are practiced in every subject (mathematics, science, history, geography, Latin, fine arts, and more), which prepares students to become leaders in any field they pursue. Classically trained scholars are often well qualified for future studies in law, medicine, business, engineering, technology, theology or any other professional or vocational pursuit.
What Makes Classical Education so Effective?
It is largely because of its approach to how and when students are taught. Regardless of their learning style, children learn in three phases or stages (grammar, logic or dialectic, and rhetoric), known as the trivium. In the grammar stage (K–6), students are naturally adept at memorizing through songs, chants, and rhymes. If you can get children in this stage to sing or chant something, they will remember it for a lifetime. In the dialectic or logic stage (grades 7–9), teenaged students are naturally more argumentative and begin to question authority and facts. They want to know the “why” of something—the logic behind it. During this stage, students learn reasoning, informal and formal logic, and how to argue with wisdom and eloquence. The rhetoric stage (grades 10–12) is naturally when students become independent thinkers and communicators. They study and practice rhetoric, which is the art of persuasive speaking and effective writing that pleases and delights the listener. Again, it is this approach to teaching students based on their developmental stage that makes this approach so very effective.
It is precisely this kind of education that has produced countless great leaders, inventors, scientists, writers, philosophers, theologians, physicians, lawyers, artists, and musicians over the centuries. Classical education never really disappeared, but it did diminish starting around 1900 with the advent of progressive education. In an effort to restore this most proven form of education, the K–12 liberal arts tradition has been renewed and expanded again over the last thirty years.
(Adapted from Classical Academic Press)
What is a Charter School?
A charter school is a public school that receives public education funding and is open to all children in the county in which it is located. In general, a charter school is its own school district, nonsectarian, tuition-free and governed by a Board of Directors.
Florida Charter Schools are: Publicly funded schools of choice.
SJCA is a charter school in Florida and it authorized by the Clay County District Schools. It is funded on a per pupil basis. Florida Charter Schools receive about two-thirds as much funding as traditional public schools. Charter Schools have to cover operational, capital and indirect costs with the funds that traditional public schools receive for just operational costs.