The Heart of the School: Why We Hire the Way We Do

This past week I made my annual pilgrimage to the snowy plains of Michigan for the Classical School Job Fair at Hillsdale College. For those unfamiliar with this event, imagine several hundred classical school leaders gathered in one place, all competing for the attention of the brightest young educators committed to the renewal of American education. It’s part career fair, part vision-casting, and part reunion. It is a wonderful chaos of interviews, conversations, and the hopeful work of building faculties for the coming year.

This trip marks the unofficial opening of hiring season at Cincinnati Classical Academy, though in truth, we’ve already been hard at work. We began posting our known openings in January, and just this week we conducted our first formal on-campus interviews. Between now and late spring, we will interview dozens of candidates, invite the most promising to teach demo lessons, and ultimately extend offers to those we believe will strengthen our faculty for the 2026-27 school year.

I want to take a moment to explain what this process looks like and why we invest so much time and care into it.

First, what are we looking for? The short answer is teachers who embody the mission of our school. We seek candidates who are either classically minded or classically curious, individuals who understand that education is more than the transmission of information, that it is ultimately the formation of souls.

We need teachers who see their work as a vocation, not simply a job, and who approach the classroom with the humility and gravity that vocation demands. And we need exceptional role models: men and women of virtue, wisdom, and joy who can inspire our students not only through what they teach but through who they are.

These are high standards, and they should be. Our students deserve nothing less.

Second, our hiring process reflects these standards. We don’t hire quickly, and we don’t hire lightly. Every teacher candidate who advances beyond the initial interview stage is invited to campus to teach a twenty-minute demo lesson in front of one of our actual classes. This is not a performance before a panel of administrators in an empty room. It’s the real thing: our students, our classrooms, the full weight and wonder of teaching.

We do this because a résumé can only tell us so much. A cover letter, however eloquent, cannot reveal whether a candidate can hold the attention of 26 seventh-graders while discussing the Gallic Wars, or whether they possess the presence and warmth to make a struggling fourth grader feel encouraged. Teaching is an art, and like any art, it must be witnessed to be truly understood.

I realize this process is demanding. For candidates, it requires significant time and vulnerability. For our faculty and staff, it means welcoming strangers into classrooms, coordinating schedules, and offering thoughtful feedback. For me, it means weeks of interviews and difficult decisions. But I would not have it any other way.

Why? Because I believe that our faculty is the heart of this school. Yes, we have an excellent curriculum. We have a compelling vision. We have beautiful facilities and a strong community. But without great teachers—teachers who love their students, who love learning, who love truth—none of it matters. The best curriculum in the world is lifeless without a teacher who can bring it to life. The noblest vision is empty without men and women who can embody it daily in the classroom.

This is why hiring season, for all its intensity, is also a season of hope. Each new teacher we welcome is an investment in the future of our students and the continued flourishing of our school. Each represents countless hours of instruction, mentorship, and influence that will shape young lives for decades to come.

If you know someone who might be called to this work, please send them our way. We are building something rare and good here in Cincinnati, and we need teachers worthy of the task.

Torches up!

Mr. Michael Rose

Headmaster