The reasons for Ridgeview’s opposition to this testing regime have been documented elsewhere, but our commitment to opposing that regime remains unwavering.

At Ridgeview, we do not do well enough. This is a school of self-examination, and as Oliver Cromwell wrote during Britain’s Interregnum, “He who stops being better stops being good.” With that in mind, it is my intention to make some improvements next year to ensure that writing and its corollaries – reading, thinking, and speaking – remain among the strongest traits of Ridgeview graduates.

We strive, we persist, we persevere, and as our unofficial motto has it, we suffer. We learn by suffering. Such an education is a hard sell in a world inhabited by people who behave much like water wherein they follow the path of least resistance.

Ridgeview, after years of honoring King by teaching students about him and being accused of racism for remaining in school on this day, has bowed to the conventions of our time, and now teach our students about him in advance of the day.

Every spring our seniors set out to answer a ponderous question, which they conclude by writing a senior thesis and defending it before the faculty. Even the most eloquent theses contain only the beginnings of an answer that will hopefully be contemplated for a long time to come. So, it may be of interest to see how one seventeen-year old boy at a school far from ours attempted to answer this question knowing that he would not enjoy a long life in which to contemplate it.

The word ‘elitism’ has become a weapon when used in its accusatory tones, much like the term racism. Humorously, elitism is usually levelled by elites and racism by racists. It is assumed, of course, that the public has neither the time nor interest in a more nuanced consideration of the terms, though I suspect that few of them are against taking enough pride in the raising of their children to hope that they rise above the fray.

There are episodes in history by which one is judged and from which we may not shirk or wait for the safest moment to speak. History, I believe, more often finds us in such moments than we are wont to acknowledge.

At a school like Ridgeview, we do not often have the opportunity to talk about sports, which is a shame all its own. As a consequence, we too often neglect the topic of sportsmanship. There are a great many things that playing sports can teach us that books cannot.

Ridgeview’s preferred setting for this conversation is for parents and students to visit classrooms, read classic texts, and engage in the life of the mind. School choice means not abrogating one’s duty to their child by delegating it entirely to someone else regardless of how qualified they claim to be. It means working in cooperation with someone else YOU HAVE CHOSEN to ensure that your child is the recipient of a proper education.