When I first saw the booklist for Trinity Classical School in Houston, I had to look twice - $65 for the poetry curriculum? Are you kidding me? Do we really need poetry that badly? 

To me, poetry was at best boring and at worst a bad memory. I always tried to find poetry interesting, since that was the “educated” view to have, but I could never get into it. Though I loved Anne of Green Gables, I always thought she was a little silly to love poetry so much. I remember trying to craft a few soulful poems in middle and high school, only to come face to face with my pathetic lack of creative writing skills. Poetry was also at the root of possibly the worst homework assignment I ever had - an analysis of “The Destruction of Sennacherib” by Lord Byron in 9th grade. It was pure torture. Just say what you mean and who cares if it is in whatever meter.

So, to have to spend $65 on a curriculum for a subject that I saw little to value in...that was hard.

When the school year started and our son’s Kindergarten class started with:

Ooey Gooey - Author Unknown

Ooey Gooey was a worm,
A mighty worm was he.
He stepped upon the railroad tracks,
The train he did not see!
Ooooey Goooey!

Our family thought that was pretty clever, and it was fun to say! Who could draw out “Ooooooeeeeyyyy Gooooooeeeeyyyy!” in the most dramatic tone? Who could master the surprised tone the best? And really, is there anything cuter than a 5 year old reciting poetry?!

All of a sudden, poetry became a fun family activity. We all learned our son’s Kindergarten poems, and we all learned our daughter’s second grade poems as a family. We’d laugh about them together. We’d say them in funny voices. We did have to enact a rule that whichever child was learning said poem, could veto their siblings saying that poem...it’s amazing what kids can argue about.

And now, over two and a half years into this curriculum, I can see the full value of it, and it is probably our collective favorite 5-10 minutes of our school day. Our children have learned words that they likely wouldn’t have been exposed to at this age, like “crag” and “lyric” and “penance”, and they enjoyed learning those words in the context of a fun, intriguing, or beautiful poem. They have learned how to appreciate a joke more fully through all of the goofy poems we’ve learned. They have learned to be conscious of how different words and word patterns mimic sounds in nature, and they have learned to be more fully aware of the beauty and majesty in God’s creation through the creative descriptions in the poems they are learning. 

They have also learned to be brave in approaching a new poem, work through its difficulties, and then taste the joy of mastering something well. In 2nd grade, they learn Lewis Carroll’s ‘Jabberwocky’, which has crazy words in it like “frumious” and “whiffling” and “vorpal”. It’s intimidating as a parent to teach it, but oh so fun to be able to say in the end, and to be able to say that you know it! In 3rd grade, there is a poem that is 44 lines long. And, each of those 44 lines are extra long lines! There is some serious sense of accomplishment at mastering that poem! 

It’s also interesting to watch our daughter, who is now in 4th grade, start to analyze the poems with a mind that is entering the logic stage of learning. She is no longer simply memorizing and enjoying the poems, she is starting to interact with them. She’s starting to ask “Why does it say ‘Theirs not to make reply, Theirs not to reason why, Theirs but to do and die.’?” when learning “The Charge of the Light Brigade”, which then prompts a spontaneous history lesson. Or, she’s starting to notice similarities in meter between poems. And, she isn’t scared of them simply because they are poems. 

There is also a fun family tradition element to this “expensive” poetry curriculum, since it is a comprehensive K-12th program. Now that our son is in 2nd grade, there is a common bond between him and his older sister as they share memories of memorizing the same poems as they come along. When our twins enter Kindergarten next year, we’ll get to add yet another layer to that sibling bond of shared knowledge and vocabulary.

Please know I write this with a bit of trepidation, as well as with great sensitivity because let’s face it… financial issues are tough to discuss.  We thought a post explaining the reasoning behind VCS’s tuition range would be helpful, especially since this is an issue that could be the topic of an entire information meeting, not just another item in a list of other logistics.  This will be followed soon by a few blog posts that either address some questions we’ve received, or other pieces of school plans or culture that we want to highlight.

First of all, VCS’s budget and use of its money will always be transparent.  The board is truly seeking to stay above reproach in this area – both to keep ourselves accountable, and to instill confidence in the VCS families.  We recognize that anything beyond a free public education requires an investment, sacrifice, and hard financial choices for each family.  This means that other areas of life may take a cut in order to pay for your child’s tuition, and we don’t take that lightly.  We are honored you would consider trusting VCS with that investment, and we never want families to doubt where their tuition money has gone.

We also recognize that in the collaborative model, families must have a parent home two days a week (or make other arrangements such as a tutor).  This translates to being comprised of many one-income families (though not necessarily all families would fit that description!).  We get it.  We are right there with you.  Even as I write this, I am thinking through ways to help generate a little more income to put toward our family’s tuition at VCS, and also praying for God to provide in unexpected ways so that we can in turn provide this education for our children.  So we, alongside you, are “putting our money where our mouth is” – making sacrifices in other areas in order to ensure we can make this work for our families (worth noting here that board members’ children will not receive a discount of any sort). We really believe it is worth the investment.  If you feel this model is right for your family, will you please join us in seeking Him for provision, before writing it off as out of the budget?

You meet two days a week - why aren’t you 40% of local private schools?

We announced a range we are considering at the interest meeting, but are still weighing that decision heavily, which is why I won't include it in print here. We took a good look at tuition at surrounding schools, as well as at other collaborative model schools such as Trinity in Houston and Covenant School in Greensboro.  Below I will outline a few of those tuitions.  I have left names off simply because I have not asked these schools’ permission, but please know these are actual numbers from schools in our area:

• Full 5-day Private School 1: $4500/year
• Full 5-day Private School 2: $4990/year
• Full 5-day Private School 3: $5500/year
• Full 5-day Private School 4: $6210/year
• “Popular Local Preschool:” 6 hours/week: $1440, 9 hours/week: $1935, 12 hours/week: $2430, 15 hours/week: $2925
• Trinity Classical School – Houston: $3700/year
• The Covenant School – Greensboro: $3600/year

While we realize that VCS will meet on campus about 40% of the time per week that full-day private schools do, we cannot emphasize enough that this is not a part time school.  VCS will provide all of the curriculum, support, grading, accountability, community, and reporting – just like a full time school would.  We simply get the joy and flexibility of having our children home three days of the week as we take on more of a facilitator role at home. As founders, that is invaluable to us, and more than likely you are reading this because you are intrigued by the blended approach. With that in mind, we ask that you truly consider it a full week of school when weighing the costs against other private schools in the area.  I will also mention that many families don’t think twice about paying $3,000/year for 15 hours a week at preschool.  That is a valuable, wonderful experience for young children, but we would argue that the rich and full experience provided by a classical, collaborative school is worth at least a comparable price tag to that.  Please note that at this point, we are considering a yearly tuition below our two mentor schools, in hopes that more families in our area are able to take advantage of this wonderful opportunity.

So what’s tuition going toward?

Our number one priority is to pay teachers well – a school is only as good as its teachers, and in order to attract the best, especially since we do not have full-time positions, we want to pay them what they are worth.  While teachers will only teach in the classroom two days a week, they are expected to be available for parent questions on the home days, as well as organize lessons prior to the school week so that parents can get on the same page.  That is a lot to ask!  We plan to hold our teachers to a high standard, but also want them to feel valued, because they are our number one asset.

The second portion of money will go toward rent/custodial fees at our building.  Choosing a building has many variables including space available and student safety.  Since we have not finalized a location yet (though we do have several viable, available options), we don’t yet know how much rent will be, which will obviously play a large role in our monthly budget.

The third portion of money will go toward insurance (based on enrollment and number of teachers) and “other” expenses such as association fees, technology, conference attendance for teachers, etc.  We would also love to begin saving toward hiring a head of school in the next few years, as well as establishing a fund for financial assistance.

Speaking of - what about financial assistance or discounts?

In a perfect world no family would be turned away because of finances.  We are striving to establish a need-based tuition assistance fund, and are praying God will provide donors and/or other means to that end. We are also considering other types of discounts, though we continue to pray about the level of discount that might be offered.

While this was long, I do hope it helped to explain more of our reasoning and heart behind the VCS tuition. To summarize, anything worthwhile is going to require an investment and sacrifice, and we urge you to pray for God’s provision for the school, as well as for your individual family if He’s calling you to VCS.

Welcome to our blog!  This first entry is taken from the first email I sent out to a few friends, explaining my family’s journey to reach the point of this leap of faith to actually try to start this school, as well as the vision for it.  

My husband Danny and I have three small children, ages 5, nearly 3, and nearly 1.  A year or so ago, we began to hear the slow din of "Kindergarten is Coming." As a product of private Christian schooling K-12, and as a public school teacher for nearly 5 years, I've seen those two approaches to full-time classroom education.  Both private and public schools have their strengths, and I would never judge or question anyone's schooling decision for their children. I wholeheartedly believe God can and does call different families (and even different children within the same family) to different schooling options.  So again, please read this as our family's journey, and perhaps one that you resonate with too.  And if it doesn’t resonate – that’s OK too!

I decided to keep our oldest daughter, Addie, home for preschool this year in order to try our hand at homeschooling, because I so value what it offers to family unity as a whole. The year has gone amazingly well so far, yet I can see how our social butterfly would really love/benefit from time in a "real" classroom next year. The day she turned 5, she got dressed and said, “OK! So do I leave for Kindergarten today?” Ha! However, when we really considered her being gone 5 days a week for 7 hours a day, that didn’t feel like a good fit for our family.  Even at the age of 5, Addie recognizes that she doesn't want to miss out on that much home life, and I recognize that we all would miss her terribly, she would miss out on a lot of her younger siblings' lives, and we would all get the worst of each other at the end of each day, rather than our best.  

It doesn't take much searching to find there is a lot of research that says we are a culture who overschedules, overcommits and over-pushes our kids far too early in life (if you’d like some resources to this end, please contact me!).  I love the idea of kids just getting to be kids - learning, yes, and receiving a high quality education, YES, but also with lots of time and margins to play, explore, and imagine.  With all of these thoughts swirling I wasn't 100% thrilled with any of the educational options available.

About 18 months ago, I learned about a collaborative school being started in Greensboro by a friend of a friend (http://thecovenantschool.org).  "Collaborative" meaning a blend of traditional and home schooling: Two days of Classical-approach education on campus in a classroom with a paid teacher, and two days at home where parents continued teaching the same material sent home by the classroom teacher.  EUREKA!  I thought.  This is it!!  Then reality hit, because of course, nothing like that exists in our little town.
Having mulled over all this for about a year, I "randomly" met another mom in town, Jody, who had many of the same thoughts, and had actually moved here from Houston where her kids attended a collaborative classical school (http://www.tcshouston.org), which they loved.  All fall, Jody and I (along with the patient support from Kyle and Danny) dreamed out loud, and even traveled to Greensboro to see the school in action and meet the founding families.  

Around the new year, through a friend, we met our third “core family,” the Rosboroughs, who had also (providentially!) been dreaming of this very idea and were enthusiastically ready to jump in to continue the effort.  Since then it has been full-steam ahead as God has given this team of three families who didn't previously know each other unified vision, energy, and varied personal gifts to work together toward this common goal.  It has been wildly exhilarating and encouraging to be a part of this so far!  We are also seeking counsel from a variety of individuals familiar with both collaborative and Classical educational approaches, as well as from TCS Houston and TCS Greensboro. 

There are still many details to be figured out, and we hope that families who are interested are willing to embrace a bit of the ambiguity as we blaze a new trail, establishing a school the first of its kind in this area.  The amount of work is terrifying and exciting but the core families believe in this enough to give it our all unless the door is firmly closed.  I truly believe that if the Lord is building this "house," (Psalm 27:1) ALL of the details will be provided in His timing.  Regardless, we feel great about putting forth the effort exploring something as valuable as our children's education.