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
Further Forward, Never Froward
As we inch forward, it bears briefly reviewing some of the lessons we have learned since last March.
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?
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from Mr. Anderson
Please read this seasonal message from Mr. Anderson.
COVID Update
We want to provide you with a brief update about our school’s operations during the pandemic.
Unseasonable Beginnings
For students, the first day of each new school year is generally fraught with a mishmash of anxiety, giddiness, and weariness. For most adults, a memory of these distinct feelings persists.
Commencement Address | 2020
Welcome parents and students, faculty and staff, friends, neighbors, and all others who are joining us today to celebrate the achievements of these students.
On Motherhood
This Mother’s Day both mothers and their children may have gotten a bit more of one another than either bargained for. Too much contact, too many frayed nerves, too much taken for granted. We ask a lot of mothers all year round, but we invariably ask more of them during times of uncertainty.
On Leadership
Leadership is a word that has been subject to abusive overuse in education circles for the better part of decade or more. Like so much else that schooling is supposed to provide, every student is to be prepared as a leader just as every student is supposed to be above average in all his accomplishments.
An Education for Life
Over the last two weeks, our seniors have presented their theses much as their predecessors have for the past twenty years. Of course, the notable difference was that all of the presentations this year were streamed live.
Goodness from Hardness
As we return from Easter Break, it is with some relief that a clearer picture begins to emerge showing how our sacrifices, as historically meager as they may be, have prevented deaths and slowed the spread of this disease to a pace our hospitals can manage. While it would be premature to describe this good news as a trend, and too early to declare victory, the evidence presently available suggests that there has been a point to all of these inconveniences and disruptions.
The Implementation of Apta superaque
The first week of online learning at Ridgeview was marked by many, and sometimes contradictory, qualities. We saw the initiative and determination of individual teachers, the adaptability and perseverance of students, and no little determination and patience from our parents.
An Education Interrupted
Few of us have experienced an event as widespread or as unsettling as the one which now besieges our world. While we have some knowledge of wars, recessions, and pandemics, we have known nothing on this scale. If it feels at all familiar, it is because our memory turns to science fiction novels and dystopian films to find a relatable corollary. While we have been admonished and implored to re-learn how to sacrifice or make the best of austere conditions, for the vast majority of Americans, the challenge is one of mindset rather than material destitution.