The Headmaster’s Perspective
Welcome to Ridgeview
Ridgeview Classical Schools, above all else, offers an experience as much as an education. We are fortunate to be situated along the Front Range in Fort Collins, Colorado, and we have endeavored to make the most of our location and the talented people it attracts. We take pride in cultivating curious minds and resilient spirits through a classical liberal arts education and the Socratic method. Our mission is to develop students holistically, fostering intellectual rigor, moral character, and a deep appreciation for the adventures to be found in the great books and in our native state.
At the heart of our approach is a commitment to timeless principles and texts. Our curriculum emphasizes critical thinking, articulate communication, and an unparalleled engagement with literature, history, mathematics, and the sciences. We believe that an appeal to wonder and curiosity inspires students to ask profound questions and seek Truth, Goodness, and Beauty with honesty, courage, and humility.
The school harnesses the breathtaking Colorado landscape to enrich our students’ experiences. Our rigorous outdoor program challenges students physically and mentally, develops lifelong friendships, perseverance, and an enduring connection to nature. From hiking in the Rockies to studying ecology in our backyard, students discover the joys of adventuring together and the value of stewardship.
We nurture the whole person—mind, body, and spirit. Our dedicated faculty guide students to grow not only as intelligent citizens but also as compassionate, principled individuals ready to lead and serve. By blending classicism with alpinism and combining it with a virtue-based character education, we prepare students to thrive in and adapt to an ever-changing world while remaining grounded in enduring values.
I invite you to explore our website, visit our campus, and join our community. Together, with family and school aligned, every student can be empowered to reach his or her fullest potential.
Warm regards,
Mr. Derek Anderson, Headmaster
The Spring Musical
Those fortunate enough to attend a performance of Guys and Dolls this past weekend will have some sense of how much work goes into a show of this kind.
Why Ridgeview? A Message of Welcome from our Principal
Nearly a decade and a half ago, the founders of Ridgeview set out on an experiment as much for the benefit of their own children as for the preservation and betterment of their country.
The Hoplite Hoedown
We would like to thank everyone who helped to make this year’s Hoplite Hoedown a success.
Valborgsmässoafton
Our recent break gave us thunderstorms, the last of the year's super moons, and the spring equinox. Ridgeview endeavors to welcome each of the seasons, and we welcome spring with our unique rendition of the Swedish holiday Valborgsmässoafton on Saturday, March 30 at Sylvan Dale Guest Ranch in Loveland.
Culture, Conversation, and Community
There is some question as to whether the principal writes out of an egotistical wish to be read or in attendance to his duties.
Valentine's Day
It is lamentable that schools say so little about what this day celebrates, but when one considers what they do say, it is easy to conclude that it would have been better had they instead said nothing.
On Educational Rights
Educationally, the nations of the world seem to either count the children within their borders as if they were serfs, or where the state is destitute, as burdens for which no educational remedies can be provided. It is a curiosity as to which of these is the worse scenario: the one in which a great deal happens that is passed off as education and a preparation for citizenship, or the one in which the citizens hardly recognize themselves as such so great is their freedom and their deprivation.
Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
What King dreamed of is essentially the American dream and one that Ridgeview wholeheartedly endorses.
Community and Communion
This community, the sharing and holding of something in common with others, of our mutual participation and association, is what Ridgeview aspires to when its aspirations carry it beyond the narrowness of the classroom.
On Resolutions and Resignations
Shakespeare has Macbeth deliver a nihilistic soliloquy that begins, “Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow, / Creeps in this petty pace from day to day.” When death waits for each of us, what can be the ultimate meaning of our lives regardless of how floridly or cleverly they are described in exquisite language?
Christmas' Gift
It is our custom to associate gifts with Christmas rather than to think of Christmas as a gift. In this custom we are not wrong, but fail to see deeply enough.
Thanksgiving
I would encourage all of us to embrace Thanksgiving and to make it real within our homes this year.