Please see our reading list via this link: https://www.greatheartsamerica.org/great-hearts-life/great-hearts-curriculum/curriculum-overview/

We are heavily indebted to the work of E.D. Hirsch Jr. who developed the Core Knowledge sequence. https://www.coreknowledge.org/

We prefer to keep current politics out of our classrooms and schools as we believe it is a distraction to learning. We will not have mock elections or other events of a similar nature as we believe these can be unnecessarily divisive.

There will be opportunities for individual projects in each grade, each year. Our seniors all graduate having written and publicly defended a Thesis. Socratic teaching, at its heart, is directed by the teacher who assists the student in the pursuit of Truth, Goodness, and Beauty.

Our focus is on the rich heritage our Classical, Liberal Arts Curriculum. We believe that the study of the great texts and the philosophical questions that man has wrestled with for centuries is the best way to form a student to be a truly free human being.

We have a full Special Education department in each school that seeks to assist every student in their care to participate as fully and as richly with our curriculum as possible. Those students for whom academics are less challenging will find our emphasis on providing explanations for statements and proof for answers to be a substantial challenge.

We continue to challenge students to know that which is being studied as thoroughly as possible. This often means that getting an answer “right”, merely is the first step in the exploration of truth. In literature and history, we are often challenging students to support their answers with proof from the shared text being read, while in math we are often insisting that students prove that their answer is correct, allowing them to demonstrate that they can explain the solution from a variety of different angles.

Great Hearts Forest Heights will start Latin at Kindergarten. In high school our students will get to choose between continuing in the Classics or moving to a modern foreign language.

First and foremost, we believe that the study of Latin, in and of itself is good. It is also a foundational language of many of the arts we study, including science and grammar.

Our Spalding phonetic study will end after the 5th or 6th grade. Each year the students will be reintroduced to the phonograms, manuscript and cursive writing. The word list at which each grade begins will get progressively more difficult and complex.

We are very committed to a full and vibrant athletic community. At this time, we can not commit to the full availability of athletics, as this requires trained coaches, community interest, and appropriate facilities. Our first full high school in Texas, Great Hearts Monte Vista North has the most fully developed athletic program and should serve as an example for our own community. https://greatheartsmontevistaathletics.org

Please look up the academic calendars of some of our sister schools for examples:
Great Hearts Northern Oaks: http://files.constantcontact.com/79ccc661501/8610fa67-e964-48d3-827e-7739dabde36f.pdf
Great Hearts Westen Hills: https://westernhills.greatheartsamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/31/2018/04/2018-2019-GHWH-School-Calendar.pdf

An estimated start and end time will be 8:00 a.m. and 3:30 p.m.

Students can bring their own, purchase one at school or receive a free or reduced lunch (if eligible).

Kinder through 2nd grade will receive at least 2 recesses per day of about 20 minutes each, 3rd grade and above will have one recess of at least 20 minutes.

We ask our teachers to teach, not to be disciplinarians. We use gentle reminders and other attention forming techniques to assist our students to stay on task. Students whose behavior distracts from the teaching task at hand are escorted to one of the administrators who will continue the disciplinary process allowing the teacher to focus on teaching.

Phase 2, which will house the future middle and high school will be built 2021-2022, our third year, and will include a gym and high school building. Our multi-purpose room and our gym also serve as our cafeterias.

Maps will be published detailing the route over the summer. Prue/Research road is the only main road our site has access to.

At least monthly.

Some are, some are not. We love our certified teachers, but we also have the freedom to hire teachers who are morally good, passionate about children and learning, and who don’t have certification.

First year teachers will spend about 6 weeks prior to the school opening in subject specific training. Weekly staff meetings will also consist of group training foci, but the bulk of training will be handled by myself through intense classroom observation and coaching feedback sessions.

I will be highly present in each teacher’s classroom right from the beginning of the year to the end and will constantly be coaching their pedagogy, testing, and classroom management skills.

Each Lead Teacher, as opposed to the Teacher’s Apprentice, must have at least a bachelor’s degree.

We are a not-for-profit charter school.

Yes. These develop throughout the school year.

January 16.

We are open enrollment. We have no selection filters. We ask no questions of race, socio-economic status, intellectual ability or academic prowess prior to applying to our school.

Our school will be opening as a Kinder – 6th grade and will have three classes of thirty students at each grade.

All students find there is a bit of an adjustment to our schools. The ease of adjustment depends largely on how similar the student’s prior scholastic environment was to our own. Those who come from joyful and ordered environments adjust quite quickly.

Yes! For more information, please email the director of our co-curricular program, Christine Jagge for information about our Athenaeum program: Christine.Jagge@GreatHeartsTX.org