Properly inspired, people love to learn. Teens are no exception. We believe that students thrive in an environment where:

• Thinking and questioning are emphasized over repetition and conformity
• Trust, not authority, is the basis for a cohesive academic community
• Teachers model genuine intellectual passion and a sincere respect for different styles of learning
• Students are encouraged to develop, articulate, and refine their unique intellectual identities
• Students' interests and ideas are recognized through authentic participation in curriculum planning
• School administration is democratic and participatory

Expected Schoolwide Learning Results

An Areté graduate embraces the challenge of meaningful inquiry, excels in the arts of rhetoric and discourse, and appreciates the difference between acquisition of facts and thoughtful analysis. As the trusted proprietors of their own intellectual growth, our students enter higher education ready to discover themselves in a complex world of knowledge and ideas.

An Areté Student Will:

• Learn by creating and exploring meaningful questions.
• Develop a variety of methods to attack complex problems.
• Value the quest for knowledge as much as the outcome.
• Reach beyond easy explanations and unexamined assumptions to seek in-depth understanding.
• Understand that education is a collaborative partnership between student and teacher.
• Appreciate the value of a variety of learning styles, abilities, and points of view.
• Express her or himself confidently through a variety of media, including discourse, writing, performance, teaching, and the arts.
• Develop genuine academic passion, leading to a unique identity as a scholar.
• Enter higher education with the skills to succeed both academically and personally.