Following the centuries old concept of the Trivium, New Covenant Schools consists of a Grammar School, a School of Dialectic, and a School of Rhetoric. Each of these schools approximates the elementary, middle and high school years that are more familiar, but there are significant differences. We employ pedagogical methods, and we include content informed by a classical curriculum, drawing upon the collective wisdom of ancient cultures, the middle ages, and contemporary research. Our goal extends beyond teaching children what to know, but emphasizes how to think.
Our teachers are trained in specific skills and content and apply distinctive teaching methods in their classes. The Grammar School, grades k-4, employs memorization, singing and chant, as well as a variety of multi-sensory approaches to reading and arithmetic. We use contemporary curriculums that best comport with our basic philosophy, including Saxon Mathematics, Shurley Grammar, Spalding Phonics & Language, Excellence in Writing, and The History of the World, a time-line developed by New Covenant Schools.
In grades 5-8, known as dialectic, students are introduced to logic, in addition to their more familiar courses in math, English and history. We employ a more Socratic teaching method that involves question and answers, class debate, and a classroom environment that fosters discussion and inquiry, with an emphasis upon reason and analysis.
In grades 9-12, the rhetoric level, we teach classical rhetoric and emphasize the “great books” including the Bible, Homer, Aristotle, Virgil, St. Agustine, and Shakespeare, just to name a few. Students at all levels study the classical languages of Latin and Greek, and read selected works in those languages by the time they reach the junior year. During the senior year students will also research, write, and orally present and defend to the faculty a significant thesis of a controversial nature.
Above all, New Covenant cultivates a Christian atmosphere for learning in the conviction that education is as much a matter of the heart as it is the head. Christian character and values are of supreme importance because the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge.