Thomas Jefferson School

Summary: A classical education means much more than the study of Greek and Latin. Its object of study is “the best that has been thought and said.” Above all, a classical education will push and keep wide open the two doors of higher learning: numbers and words. At Thomas Jefferson (TJ), you will learn Latin, Greek, and either French or Italian; you will read through and discuss a collection of books that are at once both timeless and timely; and you will write and face scrupulous line-editing almost every day, including while on vacations. On the other hand, you will also take an accelerated math sequence that culminates in AP calculus in either the junior or senior year. AP courses in science and history will also be required and will give you a head start on college. If you think you can’t do all this or if you think you have math anxiety or no imagination in reading, have faith! Practice and guidance will prepare you for pre-law or pre-med, history or computer science. We believe that you can do it, and we will help you through the hard parts. (We don’t pretend it’s not hard; we just think it’s necessary – and completely possible.) We don’t want a previous weak and lopsided background in high school to decide which door in life you choose to open. We want you to be able to choose freely. Liberal education, after all, has as its root and end freedom – freedom of the most important kind, intellectual freedom based on a head well filled and well formed. The job market will always be looking for that, and the world will always be better off for it. Finally, a classical education involves more than just the best books and study materials. It requires the active, patient, inspiring, demanding mentorship of well-educated adults who look for the best version of you. Plato needed Socrates, Alexander the Great Aristotle, and Thoreau Emerson. It requires a community of lively, motivated peers similarly engaged in the pursuit of the best and highest things. And it requires lofty goals to keep everyone looking up and ahead.

Summary: Each student takes a fine-arts course every year from September until spring break. These classes meet twice a week on Wednesday and Friday afternoons for 60 minutes. The fine-arts curriculum includes art- and music-history courses of various types, which give the students a basic knowledge of some major art forms and their importance in history and civilization. It also includes studio courses, which allow students to develop their own artistic skills. There are several opportunities for student performance and exhibition throughout the year, including a show of student artwork in the Visual Arts Gallery. Students are also required to attend performances of music and dance or visit galleries and museums depending on which course they are enrolled in.

Every student participates every year in athletics, and the year is divided into three athletic seasons. Seniors are exempt from athletics for one trimester (their choice). Students can choose between team sports and individual or recreational activities.Because team sports require competition with other schools, they also require a greater time commitment with longer practices (one hour, four days per week) and afternoons devoted to scheduled games. TJ competes in the Missouri Athletic Conference (MAC), and our competition includes other small schools in the region. The chance to play on one or more of the varsity teams is offered to all students but forced on none. Students with special skills or interests may be permitted to pursue them off-campus in place of our offerings.