Frequently Asked Questions

Family handbook

WHEN AND WHERE?

When:

There will be two cohorts limited to 5 students each day.

Wednesday cohort: A.M. The Evergreen Atrium; P.M. Saint Cassian Academy

Thursday cohort: The Evergreen Atrium only

Start 9/3/25

End 5/28/26

The first two weeks of June are reserved for inclement weather/tutor sick make-up days.

Where:

My home in the Lynden area for the 25-26 school year.

PLEASE NOTE: I have dogs and am not able to accommodate students with pet allergies or aversions/fears of dogs. Students also need to be able to go up and down stairs.

WHAT GRADE/AGE IS THIS APPROPRIATE FOR?

Both Saint Cassian Academy and The Evergreen Atrium are suitable for emerging 9th through 12th grade students with a minimum age of 14 by the beginning of the school year.
While there are many younger students who may excel and meet the scholarship demands, some of the subject matter we will be discussing in literature and philosophy is not appropriate for younger students. This is a firm rule.
Due to liability reasons, I cannot accommodate any student who is 18 or older by the start date of the school year. 17 year olds who turn 18 after the start date are welcome.

ARE PARENTS WELCOME?

Yes, please! Parents are absolutely welcome to come and observe on community day. I’d like to request that parents and visitors please come only to observe and let the students be the ones to participate in dialogue. I ask you give me at least one day notice.
It would be ideal if families could also continue some of these conversations at home.
Siblings who are eligible to enroll the next school year are also invited to sit in for one or two sessions during the year.
Unfortunately, I am unable to accommodate much younger siblings that need supervision.

WHAT IS CHRISTIAN CLASSICAL EDUCATION?

Many hear ‘classical education’ and immediately think it’s only about reading ‘The Classics’ and learning a dead language. Yes, partly. Classical education encompasses both those things, but it is so, so much more.

Classical Christian education is built upon 4 Pillars:

Pillar I: Classical Christian education is LOGOCENTRIC

Truth exists.

Truth is absolute.

Truth is knowable.

Truth is teachable.

The source, the summit, and the author of all truth is Jesus, the Logos, the Word become flesh.

Pillar II: Classical Christian education takes a HIGH VIEW OF MAN

Not an inflated view of man, but a properly-ordered view. We are made in the image and likeness of God and are meant to have fellowship with Him. We have transcendent worth. We are not accidents of evolution or products of conception or meat puppets with random electric impulses. We are fearfully and wonderfully made and surrounded by more love than we can possibly conceive of at every moment of our existence. At the same time, we are fallen creatures in need of redemption. Classical Christian education is meant to help us remember and reclaim our identities and inheritance as children of a loving God who sent his only Son to reconcile us to Him.

Pillar III: Classical Christian education takes responsibility for continuing WESTERN CIVILIZATION

The faith, philosophy, and arts of what we consider Western Civilization is our inheritance. The best ideals that have sprung from Greek, Roman, Hebrew, and Christian culture have provided some of the most vibrant periods of human flourishing in the history of human civilization. It is imperative we contemplate our past so we can appreciate our present and carry our inheritance into the future.

Pillar IV: Classical Christian education exercises APPROPRIATE PEDAGOGY

Classical Christian education views a student as a soul to be cultivated. A child is not a bucket to be filled, nor a computer to be programmed. To achieve this noble endeavor, the classical teacher uses the ancient pedagogy found in the Seven Liberal Arts, tools formed for truth perception: The Trivium (Grammar, Logic, and Rhetoric) and the Quadrivium (Music, Arithmetic, Geometry, and Astronomy). The arts of the Trivium prepare the student to study the arts of the Quadrivium. All the Seven Arts are meant to cultivate free human beings and increase their wonder of Creation and it's Creator. Textbooks may (or may not) tell a child the truth, but they don’t teach a child to pursue and perceive truth. The aim of Classical Christian education is truth-perception, and if we refer back to Pillar I, we realize that all Classical Christian education is geared to perceiving the Logos, Christ, infused in all of Creation.

It's often said that a good education teaches a child HOW to think - not WHAT to think. This is as absurd as saying we'll teach a child how to eat, but not teach them what to eat. Just as there are foods that nourish or harm our body, there are thoughts that nourish or warp our minds. The reality of Classical Christian education is that we are teaching our children both how to think, and guide that thinking to cultivate rightly ordered loves and affections.

WHAT IS "THE LOST TOOLS OF WRITING" PROGRAM?

Lost Tools of Writing, affectionately known as LTW, was developed by the Circe Institute. At its heart, it's a thinking curriculum that uses writing to organize and clarify ideas.

Based on Aristotle's Canons of Rhetoric, students learn how to deeply contemplate and consider the appropriateness of actions taken by characters in the literature we read. There are three levels to LTW, all which teach students how to wrestle with ideas, organize their thoughts, and eloquently persuade their readers.

Although focused on persuasive writing, the acquired skills and logic easily lend themselves to other forms of essay writing, such as expository and comparison writing.

LTW 1, the basic persuasive essay, focuses on whether a character should have taken a certain action. LTW 2, the judicial address, makes a case to a judge as to whether or not an action should be punished or not. LTW 3, the deliberative address, attempts to persuade a decision maker to take (or refrain from taking) a certain action.

I will be offering Summer classes in LTW as well.

WHY DANTE?

Dante's Divine Comedy is not only the first epic poem written in a modern European language, it is a work of unparalleled art that encapsulates the theology and cosmology of the Medieval Age. It is a major piece of our civilization’s heritage. We’ll spend three years walking through the entire Divine Comedy from the gates of Hell to celestial chorus of Heaven.

WHY STUDY LATIN?

Latin, while not a spoken language, helps students better understand the structure and grammar of English. It helps promote clarity and precision in their writing and thinking. Additionally, Latin students, when going on to learn modern foreign languages, pick up those languages much more quickly than their peers. Here are more reasons.

WHY DO WE READ 'PAGAN' LITERATURE?

Think of this literature and philosophy as the ancients striving for, reaching for what they perceived as truth, beauty, and goodness. Reading Homer, Socrates, Virgil, the Greek playwrights, etc., shows us the universal yearning for truth and meaning before the Incarnation of Jesus appeared to show us reality in it's fullness. Here's an article explaining this in greater depth.

WHAT ARE 'CYCLES'?

A cycle is an academic approach that focuses on one historical period of study per year. All students, regardless of level, study the same core subjects (i.e. Literature, Poetics, Apologetics, and History). The previous years' LTW, Logic, and Latin courses will be offered each year on another day. For example, in the 25-26 year, Levels 1 of Latin, Logic, and LTW will be offered. 26-27, two levels will be offered on a different day. Here is the Cycle Schedule for SCA and TEA through 28-29.

MY STUDENT MISSED CYCLE I. CAN SHE/HE JOIN CYCLE II?

Absolutely! 25-26 will offer LTW/Latin/Logic I, 26--27 will offer both LTW/Latin/Logic I-II, and 27-28 will offer LTW/Latin/Logic I-III. They will be offered on other days of the week than the main academic day.

WHAT ARE THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN SAINT CASSIAN ACADEMY AND THE EVERGREEN ATRIUM?

Both offer quality Classical Christian education. The Saint Cassian Academy is a full-day bloc of classes with a distinctly Catholic approach to history, literature, and worldviews. The Evergreen Atrium is a half day program at the same time as Saint Cassian with classes in Literature, Latin, Logic, and the Lost Tools of Writing. A Protestant is certainly welcome to join the Saint Cassian Academy in the afternoon and learn about the rich traditions of the Catholic faith.

HOW DO GRADES WORK?

I don't assign grades. I do provide feedback on a student's overall performance with these designations:

magna cum laude (with great praise)
cum laude (with praise)
satis (sufficient, satisfactory)
non satis (not sufficient)

Ideally, every average student working diligently should do praiseworthy work (cum laude). Those who excel beyond this expectation will be noted as magna cum laude. Students who do adequate but not praiseworthy work are designated satis. Non satis means lacking sufficiency or adequacy. These designations are ways for both the student and the instructor to assess mastery. A more robust rubric for each level of feedback is explained in the Family Handbook.

Parents will be responsible for mapping these assessments to a letter grade for transcripts.

IS THERE A FAMILY HANDBOOK?

Yes. Every family and each student must read and agree to abide with the guidelines spelled out in the handbook.

WHAT IS THE STATEMENT OF FAITH?

There are two considerations here. At its core, The Classical Portico, Saint Cassian Academy, The Evergreen Atrium, and Four Classical Pillars hold to the ancient creeds, the Apostles' Creed or the Nicene Creed, to be the crux of what all orthodox Christians believe.

Saint Cassian Academy is distinctly Roman Catholic and will follow Sacred Scripture, Apostolic Tradition, and the Living Magisterium of the Roman Catholic Church.

Students of any faith are welcome to join either SCA or TEA; however, neither will accommodate beliefs that conflict with the Creeds and the absolute divinity of the Trinity.

THERE DON'T SEEM TO BE MANY BOOKS ON THE SYLLABUS. WHY?

Imagine this scenario: You spend twenty minutes at a reception greeting dozens of new people. A week later, someone asks you to not only recall everyone you shook hands with during those 20 minutes, but important facts about them. I’m certain you may remember a handful of people, and even fewer relevant facts. A year later? 10 years later? You may try to remember that you even spent 20 minutes in a receiving line. You see where I’m going with this.

Now, imagine you begin meeting the same 5 people for coffee and conversation every week for a year. I can guarantee that in 10 years, you will not only remember those 5 people, you will remember important details about their lives, and most likely still have enduring friendships with them.

It’s the same with great literature. Instead of making our teens ‘shake hands’ with dozens of books during their high school career, I propose that we meet with a few, select, great books -intimately and intentionally- every week for a year. This will not only build a meaningful relationship with the novels, but an enduring one they will remember the rest of their lives.

Not only will they build enduring relationships with great stories, they will learn how to cultivate these meaningful relationships, an art that they can carry with them through their lives.

WHY ARE YOU SPENDING TWO YEARS ON ONE LOGIC BOOK? WHY TAKE FOUR YEARS TO COVER ONE LATIN TEXTBOOK?

Both Logic and Latin are a foreign language, of sorts - one literally and the other metaphorically. We are taking what seems to be a slower route which, in the end, is the route that leads to mastery. We could rush through, but like the receiving line analogy above, our students will most likely do enough to finish an assignment or pass a quiz, but they won't truly master the material. We go slowly so we can master the content and make it a part of their lives.

THE HISTORY TEXT SAYS IT'S FOR 7-8TH GRADE? IS THIS APPROPRIATE FOR HIGH SCHOOL?

I've carefully researched and reviewed many textbooks preparing for the four year Western Civilization classes. I wanted something authentically Catholic and comprehensive. When I found The Catholic Textbook Project, I was excited, but then a bit disappointed when I saw the recommended age. However, after personally reviewing the material, and looking at reviews from other sources, I am more than satisfied these texts will provide the depth and rigor expected for a high-school level history course. Light To The Nations 1&2, with the US History supplement, clocks in at over 1500 pages of dense text, with corresponding student workbooks, that we will spread over four years. Here's a link to the Catholic Textbook Project's site so you can take a look.