Admissions

Many schools seek to educate children for the primary goal of being successful and productive in today’s competitive and global workforce. Although it is reasonable to expect a good education to lead to successful employment, Westminster’s primary aim is to mature the child as a noble end in himself. Our goal is to ameliorate the whole person; to ennoble a child with wisdom and eloquence so that he may be an effective leader and life-long learner. We hold the conviction that both of these qualities are an integral part of our fundamental role as human beings made in the image of God.

Since we seek to ennoble each individual child for a stronger and richer relationship with God and man, our primary distinctive is that we offer a classical education, or what some would understand as simply an education in the traditional liberal arts (which originally included the sciences). A classical education is concerned foremost with teaching the tools and technique of learning rather than with merely imputing data. Its primary goal is not to produce future employees, but to cultivate learners – young men and women who are equipped with the necessary character and skills to develop and mature independent of parents and schools.

A secondary distinctive of our academic program is that it makes two necessary and critical assumptions. The first is that we agree with Arthur F. Holmes that all truth is God’s Truth. There is a unity to truth. The earliest Christians did not jettison every cultural feature of the classical world they inhabited. Instead they discerned true, good, and beautiful elements of the Greco-Roman world and harnessed them for use in the advancement of God’s kingdom, such as the Roman technological innovation of building roads or the Greek literary models for writing history. 

Practically speaking, this assumption means that we do not see mathematics and history as separate and unrelated fields of knowledge. We discern fundamental differences between mathematics and history to be sure, but we also assume an underlying connection and interrelationship. As students move through the academic program, we believe they will increasingly see the unified infrastructure of the sum of God’s creation and thereby gain a greater understanding of the one true, beautiful, and good God. They will not then seek merely to be a doctor or musician or lawyer but to be balanced and well-rounded people, who may also possess a strong aptitude and skill in medicine or music or law. They will become what used to be called “renaissance” people. 

The second critical assumption we make is that there are necessary and helpful priorities in a good foundational education. God made us to be preeminently relationship creatures and so we believe in the primacy of words and language in our curriculum. The natural sciences are also important because God made the laws that govern the universe, and it is a joy and wonder to observe and understand them. Though the Natural Sciences are broadly significant, mathematics is more foundationally important for it is the “language” through which the various sciences relate to each other most precisely. Lastly, the Fine Arts are an integral part of a well-rounded education for all students rather than an elective for some. It is through the Fine Arts that a child learns to appreciate more clearly the forms of visual and musical beauty. 

We believe that though many things are good to know, not all things are equally important to know. For example, Biblically revealed Truth is the summa cum laude of important content. Also, the classic works of literature have a priority of importance over more recent good books. We also believe that there is a common literary and cultural body of knowledge that is simply more important and more relevant to know for a young person growing up in a world whose definition of a great civilization is permeated by the standards of the Western tradition.   For this reason, we avoid trying to offer too many subjects. Multum non multa (much, not many) is a guiding principle. We focus on doing the fundamentals very well and entrust the marvelous and multifarious other things of God’s world to the broader and future experience of our students. 

We believe with Mortimer Adler that the best education for the best is the best education for all. A student of average aptitude, who is diligent and focused, can successfully complete our academic program. Nevertheless, we understand that an excellent education, just as an excellent sports program, assumes a healthy measure of rigor and commitment. It is a Biblical principle - as well as common sense - that quality is not cheap; either in value or the required sacrifice to achieve it. But we hold the conviction that learning does not only involve hard work, but rewarding work. Finally, in practical terms, our college preparatory academic program has yielded graduates who have excellent acceptance rates to excellent universities.