Admission Follows Formation

Early in The Odyssey, before Telemachus ever sets sail from Ithaca, the goddess Athena comes to him in disguise. First she appears as Mentes, an old family friend, and urges the young man to seek news of his father. Then, in the form of another friend, Mentor, she helps him find a ship and crew and accompanies him on his voyage. Our ninth graders meet this scene in their study of Homer, and it came to mind earlier this week as I looked out over a room full of parents at our College Counseling Parent Information Night. The English word for a trusted guide descends from Mentor, that old man of Ithaca, and the whole evening was about the guides our high school students will have as they prepare, in a few short years, to leave home.

 

I was happy to introduce our Enrollment Manager, Mrs. Metzger, who served as a college admissions officer before coming to CLASSICAL. She took parents behind the curtain of the admissions office and offered a candid account of how colleges and universities across the country assess the applications that land on their desks. She also named what many in the room were feeling. It is typical, she said, to be nervous about getting your high school student into the college of his choice and finding a generous scholarship to pay for it. There was relief in hearing that said plainly by someone who has sat on the other side of the table.

 

That nervousness is natural, and it deserves a steady answer. A CLASSICAL education aims at the formation of a young person who can read a challenging book and write honestly about it, and those are exactly the kind of habits thoughtful admissions officers hope to find. Admission follows formation. A student formed in this way is ready for the application, and ready for the years that come after it.

 

Mr. Trent Kramer of the Classic Learning Test offered a view from further down the road. Before joining CLT, Mr. Kramer served as headmaster of a Hillsdale K-12 member school in Colorado, and he spoke from experience about how his graduates fared in their applications. Spoiler: they did well, gaining admission to the colleges of their choice. His students were formed by a curriculum much like the one our students study each day. Their success, he said, should encourage every family in this school as our first graduating class, the Class of 2029, draws closer.

 

Mr. Kramer also explained the CLT as a viable alternative to the SAT and ACT, though most students will still take a combination of those offerings. The test draws its reading passages from the great books and historical documents of the Western tradition (instead of refrigerator repair manuals). It asks students to reason about texts worthy of their attention. For a student who has spent years with Plato and Frederick Douglass, sitting for such an exam should feel like a continuation of the classroom. An assessment ought to measure what a school teaches, and the CLT complements our mission far more readily than its better-known rivals.

 

Parents also toured our new Office of College & Career Readiness, which Mrs. Schmidt opened with a small open house. The office is a dedicated space in the upper school where students can find resources and meet with her. It also includes a small classroom where visiting college representatives will be welcomed. A school that intends to send its graduates into the world ought to have a room where the world can come knocking.

 

Earlier that same day, Mr. Kramer and Mrs. Schmidt presented to our freshman and sophomore classes, giving them an overview of the trajectory of the next few years. I was glad the students heard it before their parents did. The college process belongs first to the student. Mrs. Schmidt and her office will advise and encourage, much as Athena did for Telemachus, but the voyage is his to make. Self-governance is one of the great aims of this education, and there is no better place to practice it than in the decisions that shape a young person’s future.

 

Thank you to every parent who attended. Your presence that evening told your children that their futures matter to you, and it told our faculty that the work of formation is shared. Telemachus returned to Ithaca a different young man than the one who left, ready to stand beside his father. Your children are setting out on a voyage of their own, and it was a pleasure to spend an evening charting it with you.

 

Torches Up!

Mr. Rose