Marks of a Classical Lutheran School
CCLE
I. The School confesses and incorporates a commitment to the Gospel of our Lord Jesus
Christ in all aspects of its educational mission as it is taught and confessed in the inspired
sacred Scriptures and the confessional writings of the Evangelical Lutheran Church.
A. This faith commitment is explicitly articulated in the school’s charter as expressed in
the constitution and bylaws of the sponsoring congregation or governing body.
B. This faith commitment shapes -and is reflected in – the school’s faculty, staff,
instructional program, educational philosophy, and worship life.
1. Faculty and Staff confess and reflect this commitment in their personal faith,
worship life, and professional service to the school.
2. A Lutheran, Christian world-view shapes, integrates and unites, the
instructional programs of the school – its courses of study, educational
resources, and priorities.
3. Catechesis – teaching of the faith with confession and prayer – is central in
the instructional life of the school on all grade levels in accord with the
school’s confessional commitment.
4. Worship life uses and teaches the historic forms of liturgy and hymnody as
they express and convey the gifts of the pure Gospel in Word and
Sacrament.
II. The school demonstrates a commitment to a classical approach to curriculum and
instruction within the framework of its confessional, Lutheran character.
A. The school’s curriculum and instruction is shaped on all levels by a pedagogy
that nurtures the basic language skills – grammar, logic, rhetoric – to progressively
equip learners to carry out successfully their own inquiries into what is true, good,
and beautiful.
1. These skills are taught and exemplified by instructional strategies that
are informed and shaped by levels of student intellectual maturity and
aptitude – grammar in the lower grades; logic, and rhetoric added at
learning-appropriate higher grades levels.
2. All faculty and staff are committed to the classical approach in
education and exhibit an enthusiastic willingness to grow in their
understanding, skills, and appreciation of this approach to pedagogy.
3. Each member of the faculty demonstrates being an enthusiastic
ongoing learner in their assigned teaching areas of responsibility in
and out of the classroom.
4. The school’s governance possesses and implements ways and means
for the continuing education of its staff in the classical approach –
appropriate to the levels of the school’s educational program.
B. The scope and sequence of the schools curricular and co-curricular programs
are normed by the goal to raise up a virtuous, educated person for heavenly and
earthly citizenship – the life of faith in Christ and loving service to neighbor in the
offices of one’s vocation.
1. The courses of study to be mastered by students are shaped by the
significant fund of information to be passed on to the next
generation for responsible citizenship in the Church and world.
2. The basic subject areas of English language skills (reading, spelling,
vocabulary, and writing), Latin, mathematics, history, science,
geography, literature, music, art, physical education, and theology
form the primary courses of study on all elementary levels of
instruction.
3. The higher language skills of dialectical thinking and analysis, and
then later, rhetorical uses of language (written and oral) are
exemplified by instructors on all levels but then, integrated into
strategies for student mastery in the higher grades 7-12.
4. Instruction in Latin, even in the early grades, is integrated into the
strategies of teaching linguistic grammar and syntax and serves as a
foundation for increased mastery of English and other foreign
languages.
5. The upper grades instructional program (grades 7-12) will reflect an
increasingly sophisticated exposure and mastery of the primary
resources of the literature of the Western Canon (The Great Books)
that are age appropriate.
III. The school’s institutional governance establishes and expresses clearly articulated rules,
regulations, and responsibilities that are in harmony with God’s revealed orders of creation –
for students, parents, and school staff.
A. The school has written faculty, parent, and student policy manuals and has
secured appropriate commitments.
B. Staff, parents, and students give ample evidence to their knowledge and
compliance of the school’s policies for conduct and responsibilities.
IV. A regular evaluative strategy is in place to continually evaluate all aspects of the school’s
performance in light of its confessional commitments with established ways and means to
implement improvement.
Adopted unanimously by the Board of Directors of the CCLE
April 27, 2006
Revised: January 29, 2010