Breakout Sessions

This workshop will offer a perspective that creation points to the Creator, and as students learn to observe and form personal connections with the natural...

If your students are bored with narration, struggle with narrating, or you just do not think it works, this session will help you regain confidence...

What filter do you use when making decisions about how your teachers and students spend their time? I think we would all agree that our...

Would you like your classroom of young students to be a joyful space filled with wonder and achievement, a place that supports them academically, emotionally,...

Many teachers, both novice and veterans alike, have taught enchanting lessons and thought-provoking units only to struggle with creating an assessment to display their students'...

It's tricky to rock a rhyme- this session is right on time! We'll learn how to turn a poem inside out and upside down (sometimes...

One of the most exciting ways to engage your students, staff, AND parents is to launch a History Day as part of your Grammar School...

Students often love asking the question "Why?" Why are we learning X, Y, or Z? How is this helpful or important? One subject where this...

In this session, we will examine valuable teaching practices called Thinking Routines. Learn how to use predictable teaching strategies to strengthen and deepen your lessons,...

Charlotte Mason encouraged the habit of narration for students to practice articulating and arranging their ideas about worthy stories from classic literature and history while...

"A love of language begins with an experience of joy." Marilyn McEntyre Veritas School is pleased to continue enriching its Lower School language arts program....

How do we move beyond the false dichotomy of "math people" and "non-math people" to create classrooms where every student can discover their mathematical voice?...

Coming Soon!

We tend to think of a commonplace book as a quote book: we pop witty quotes, eloquent comments, and funny anecdotes into a notebook so...

We often speak of discussion-based learning in classical education, but we struggle with successful implementation, assessment, and unity on *why* and *how* to do so....

We often speak of discussion-based learning in classical education, but we struggle with successful implementation, assessment, and unity on *why* and *how* to do so....

This session presents a possible model for a robust rhetoric scope and sequence that attempts to reflect the broader field of rhetoric while addressing the...

Learn to better communicate distilled, clear, and valuable transcripts and school profiles for your graduates as they launch into their next steps and leave inspired...

All good teachers want their classrooms to avoid the opposing dangers of drudgery and shallow sunshine. We want our students to relax, but also do...

Typically, when administrators give time for collaboration amongst teachers, it is divided into departments, or at most humanities working together whilst math and science work...

As educators, we learn quickly that students want to know why we're asking them to do what we're asking them to do. We also know...

What’s the most classical piece of art in all of the Western Tradition, nay, the whole world? Some may point to the Mona Lisa, the...

If we give our students rich literature but never teach them what makes it so wonderful, we have missed an opportunity. In an effort to...

So often, we focus on student leadership as a means to elevate certain students over others, padding resumes and inadvertently convincing students that certain roles...

As teachers, our primary responsibility is to live and model a life worthy of emulating: a life marked by a love for Christ, a life...

This session will examine ways to deepen connections and relationships through games, fresh rehearsal techniques, quality choral repertoire, and activities. Connection promotes engagement!

Do most of our students experience intrigue and delight while learning mathematics or do they feel like they are mostly following well-worn recipes? Is it...

This workshop explores how Aristotelian approaches to knowledge and natural philosophy can enrich current math and science education. Drawing from Aristotle's foundational works, particularly the...

Middle School teachers are all too familiar with the response, "oh I could never teach Middle School!" Middle School students have a poor reputation as...

What if fresh approaches to foreign language assessments, accountability, and classroom practices yielded more long term memory and better comprehension? In this seminar we will...

Classical Christian schools around the country are full of students and families from different backgrounds, Christian traditions, and theological commitments working together in the shared...

What does it mean to teach mathematics classically? This question is often asked by not only math teachers in classical schools but also teachers in...

In 2024–2025, Covenant School in Huntington, WV launched a dual enrollment initiative in partnership with Cedarville University and Marshall University, giving 10th–12th grade students the...

Schools need handbooks that communicate policies and practices to faculty, parents and students. A handbook that is largely philosophical risks a lack of clarity, while...

Independent schooling is a tough business. The economics are counter-intuitive and efficiency is almost impossible to achieve without undermining our fundamental value proposition: Attentiveness to...

The research-based Stability Markers developed by Independent School Management (ISM) have proven to be the gold standard in determining the long-term viability of your school....

The governance structure for faith-based schools directly connected with a church vary greatly. In some cases, it may have to do with denominational affiliation. In...

What makes for a successful institution? Is it the mission? Facilities? Access to external funding? Board? There is no doubt that faculty are the lifeblood...

Christian education has become an ambiguous term. Schools across the country vary on what they mean by "Christian". That may mean that there is a...

Music is never neutral—it always forms our students, either nurturing a desire for beauty and order or fostering an attraction to disorder. It shapes our...

A curriculum guide can help teachers teach more effectively. Does yours? Participants will learn how a curriculum guide can equip their teachers to teach more...

Construction projects are exciting times for a school community, but also can be extremely challenging for school leadership to effectively oversee. Unless a school has...

Working in a school necessarily means that you will hear complaints. Many have commented that when you are educating a child of a Christian family,...

Attracting and retaining families in today's chaotic culture can feel overwhelming. You might feel unsure of how to stand firm against shifting norms—but there's hope....

"Culture eats strategy for breakfast" is a well-worn phrase from Peter Drucker, often quoted at conferences. Although the insight highlights the importance of organizational culture,...

Christ modeled how to handle conflict in multiple situations. Following His model, school leaders will learn how to handle those inevitable hard conversations and challenging...

This session will explore the benefits of adopting a center school approach to include: 1) gaining more clarity on the particular theological stance held by...

We will explore what the bible says about planning and why it is important to cast a strong vision, set Christ centered goals, and plan...

Keith Nix has served as the Head of School at Veritas School in Richmond, VA, since 2010. Prior to his tenure at Veritas, he served...

Keith Nix has served as the Head of School at Veritas School in Richmond, VA, since 2010. Prior to his tenure at Veritas, he served...

This session will provide an overview of SCL accreditation, followed by a Q&A with experienced leaders who have been accredited and served on accreditation teams....

In recent years, school choice—particularly education savings accounts (ESAs)—has expanded rapidly. While these funds are often intended to have "no strings attached," schools must be...

Years of educational research concludes that teachers develop best through working together (and in their own locales) to share, evaluate, and hone what they have...

Are you confused about how to ask people for money? Does there seem to be a strange power dynamic at work when you think about...

As leaders in Classical Christian education, you understand that a school's success hinges on the ability to clearly, authentically, and persuasively communicate who you are...

The contemporary classical education movement has grown rapidly, but what exactly is classical education? This talk attempts to answer that question by explaining ten principles...

On the first day of class, I ask my students why they are there. Most often, they can't tell me. I spend the rest of...

This talk weighs the theological grounds for the strong attraction humans, especially children, have to story and storytelling. Delighting in this desire as a good...

Coming Soon!

This two part series will examine educational philosophy in America and how our classical Christian commitments should shape our own educational perspectives. John Dewey believed...

The second session in a two part series examining educational philosophy in America and how our classical Christian commitments should shape our own educational perspectives....

There are many components of shaping school and family culture. Two that are often overlooked in practical ways are how we deal with conflict and...

Following his plenary talk, join us for this breakout session with Neil Anderson. This session will dig deeper into Anderson's plenary material, while leaving...

No education is truly classical or Christian without music. We often sing hymns at our schools because of their theological value, historical rootedness, and other...

After a brief discussion on Beauty as integritas, consonantia, and claritas, we'll look at how Beauty might be applied in practical ways in the school...

Following his plenary talk, join us for this breakout session with Justin Whitmel Earley. This session will dig deeper into Earley's "Habits in Christ"...

This session will offer a better understanding of the unique expectations and assumptions that Millennial and Gen Z parents are bringing to our schools and...

Following his plenary talk, join us for this breakout session with John Piper. This session will dig deeper into Piper's "Preeminence of Christ" material,...

More than any other subject, he painted Biblical stories. This multi-media presentation is a study of the life of Henry Ossawa Tanner, the first globally...

Most of us have had at least one good teacher. If we have, we can still remember that teacher, and almost always because that teacher...

This session intends to introduce classical Christian teachers and leaders to one of the biggest factors in English education's recent success story: Dylan Wiliam's formative...

Attendees will have catharsis for the weight of leading, as well as a new playbook for how to outlast expectations without coming in last physically....

No one is ever bored in the presence of something truly beautiful. This statement is not true; I have experienced the contrary. I have seen...

Classical educators face unique challenges in the modern classroom. As the wisdom of the Western Tradition is passed on to students in the 21st century,...

AI—specifically large language models like ChatGPT are radically transforming knowledge work—and threatening the notions of human creation, thinking, intelligence, and identity. Our work—to cultivate students'...

If the ministry of teaching is to instruct and propel students into a life of discipleship, and if learning personally engages and impacts the learner,...

Every school desires to have an engaged and thoughtful student body, and yet many struggle to fight apathy, boredom, or frustration in their students. Learn...

In the classroom, we do not deal with merely poor behavior choices but rather with an internal heart condition that is their cause. While we...

"Screwtape Proposes a Toast" is a veil of fiction that satirizes the American and British education systems in the 1950s. It also reveals Lewis's philosophy...

The fine arts play a vital role in educating students' emotions, teaching them to see and feel in ways that form them as contemplative, embodied,...

Attendees will leave with practical, actionable steps to either start or improve their school's Upper School House system. Key takeaways include: 1. Identifying Core Pillars:...

Do your faculty complain when a student misses class because of an away game? Does your athletic program feel like a "necessary evil" to keep...

The best lessons drive students to connect their heart, head, and hands, but it's challenging to weave together a lesson plan that accounts for safety,...

Raising children at any age presents unique parenting challenges, and schools can play a vital role in offering support and encouragement to parents as they...

This presentation is designed to expose musicians, teachers, and administrators to the practices of antiquity (recorded by Aristotle, Plato, Boethius, Augustine, and others) and provide...

This session will provide groundwork and insight for the various aspects of supporting students at classical Christian schools through a sharing of ideas, encouragement, wisdom,...