Academics
Find your purpose
The simple question “why” gets a bad rap in most high schools; it’s often viewed as disrespectful or avoidant. Why are we doing this? Why is that important? Why do it that way? Why should I? But it’s actually a brilliant question and the only one that can reliably lead us toward a sense of purpose, which is fuel for the engine of deep learning.
So we join our students in asking this most fundamental question. But rather than try to answer it for them, we help them discover their own “why” so that everything they do is driven by a personal sense of meaning, purpose, and curiosity. As William Butler Yeats famously said, “Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.” Once the fundamental question of purpose is answered, that fire is lit.
Supportive College-Preparatory Curriculum and Instruction
Oliverian offers a rigorous and personalized college-preparatory curriculum designed to engage students intellectually while accommodating different learning styles and levels. With an average class size of about five students, we are able to meet each student where they are; we routinely offer university-level challenges for some while remediating subject-area weaknesses for others in a single class.
Our tiny class size also allows for a highly relational approach to instruction. Students form deep and caring relationships with their teachers both in and out of class, making school a safe and comfortable place to engage and learn. Not only does a strong teacher-student bond make school much more enjoyable — it also profoundly accelerates learning according to both current educational research and Oliverian experience!
Oliverian’s supportive curriculum, instruction, and college counseling results in a 90+% college matriculation rate with alums reporting a high level of success and satisfaction in college and beyond.
Student Experience > Academics
Hard work doesn’t have to be so…hard.
At Oliverian, we combine small classes, highly experiential approaches, and warm, supportive teacher-student relationships to make learning irresistible. Our classrooms are comfortable yet challenging places of discussion and inquiry where bright and often unconventional thinkers are safe to find their own best style of learning. Many students who have not thrived in traditional schools finally catch their stride academically at Oliverian, discover their intellectual interests, and learn how to learn.
