Portrait of a Graduate

List of 7 items.

• Understand and believe the Gospel, enjoying a growing faith in Jesus Christ.

  We believe that the first three statements of the Portrait of a Graduate are fundamental to living as a Christian - there is nothing more important in one’s life than to be reconciled with God, living in union with Him. It is faith in Jesus that reconciles us to God and allows His image in us to be restored.

• Participate in the local body of Christ.

  Christians are not meant to be isolated as they understand and live in the light of the Gospel; rather, they participate in the body of Christ—the Church—which Scripture says is the “fullness of Him who fills all in all.” While we never stop teaching and reminding our students of the Gospel, we do not attempt to take the place of the local church, and we support our families to participate fully in their own congregations.

• Study Scripture, pray, and serve faithfully.

  At Veritas, the rhythms of faith pervade all that we do and say as a school, and we give our students daily training and practice in the spiritual disciplines. Participation in a local church provides the necessary and ongoing formation of Christians through worship that connects them to God’s Kingdom, and we endeavor to continue this work of Christian formation by providing opportunities to practice the disciplines of studying Scripture, praying, and serving.

• Read deeply and charitably; reason truthfully and rigorously.

  In keeping with the classical tradition, we train our students in the verbal arts, also known as the Trivium: grammar, logic, and rhetoric. Grammar is both the art and mechanics of reading, and in teaching our students how to read, we teach them to read deeply, not settling for shallow or simplistic interpretations. We also teach them to read charitably, which means that they learn to understand a text and the author’s point of view without immediate criticism.
  
  Logic is the skill of reasoning, and we train our students to use this skill to follow questions and find arguments. However, fallacies abound in our world, and not all arguments are valid or sound. Thus, students must also be committed to the truth, which demands reasoning with rigor and thoroughness.
  
  Even though these verbal arts are directed toward the purpose of teaching students how to think and learn, we also teach them what is most worth considering and can best lead to wisdom. Writers, books, and ideas from the Christian Tradition make up the majority of our curriculum and direct our students to wise ideas from the past that have stood the test of time.

• Speak and write with wisdom and eloquence.

  Rhetoric is the skill of persuading others of what is true, good, and beautiful. The only way to do that properly is by speaking and writing with wisdom and eloquence, as one without the other is either ineffective or destructive.

• Engage creation with wonder, pursuing beauty and working diligently.

  This statement is directly related to the training we give our students in the mathematical arts, also known as the Quadrivium, which dovetails with the sciences and fine arts.
  
  The beauty of God and His creation awakens wonder, which causes us to desire to participate in that beauty more thoroughly. Created in God’s image, we also long to be creative. The more our students understand the purpose and form of creation, the better suited they are to work with its material and mechanisms. This requires that they attain the skills of mathematics, which—far from being a collection of techniques—teaches them how numbers, whether discrete or continuous, applying to motion or to rest, allow understanding of the rhythms of the cosmos. 

  
  Joined with the persistence gained through hard work, the student whose wonder is shaped by beauty and who has attained the skills of mathematics is equipped to participate in the sciences and fine arts productively and delightfully.

• Love and serve Christ the King, bringing shalom by sharing the Gospel and acting for the good of others.

  Our Portrait of a Graduate concludes with a statement about how we want our graduates to live as Christians in the world. When their highest allegiance is to Christ, loving and serving Him goes hand in hand with loving and serving their neighbors. Shalom encompasses both peace and prosperity. Jesus said that He came to give life and give it abundantly; therefore, as His followers, we should spread this abundance wherever we go by proclaiming the Gospel; caring for the needs of those around us; defending the defenseless; striving for peace; and exhibiting joy through feasting, laughter, and friendship.