The Classical Academy Charter School
Mission

The Classical Academy’s mission is to offer students a solidly academic middle-school education through the optimum use of:

1. A classical curriculum well proven for its educative powers;

2. Scholastic policies which support high levels of academic learning;

3. An educational climate compelling excellence in scholastic achievement;

4. Behavioral standards critical to sound character formation.

It is these factors which largely determine educational outcomes. Much of the following information concerning the distinguishing features of the Classical Academy is an elaboration of these four factors.

Succinctly expressed by a quotation from the ancient Roman historian, Livy, the Classical Academy’s mission is:

"To be educated in those studies by which one’s nature is aroused to the cultivation of a meaningful destiny." The Academy’s motto is: "nutriens principes ad seclorum posterum". (Nurturing leaders for the next generation.)

An important part of the Classical Academy’s mission, and one, which is instrumental in realizing superior educational outcomes, is the implementation of school policies and  professionalism of its teachers. By eliminating hierarchical authority of non-teaching positions, and simultaneously endowing its academic teachers with collective managerial responsibility, the Academy is a model of "teacher empowerment" and "site–based management."

As a corollary to empowering its teachers, the Academy has adopted innovative teacher compensation plans which utilize incentives and rewards based on educational results. Included in teacher compensation are individual and school-wide bonuses for success, as well as promotional opportunities for classroom teachers of academic subjects. For the first time in New Jersey public education, significant components of teacher salary will be based not solely on "longevity"—the capacity to "stick-it-out" but on talent, effort, and outcomes—the ability to excel.