THE GENEVA SCHOOL, INC.
CASSELBERRY, FLORIDA

The carpool line takes vehicles behind the building to the far side and then along the front. Staff are present to help students out of cars and to supervise with them at the picnic tables prior to 8:00 am. The Geneva School believes that uniforms play an important role in maintaining a culture conducive to cultivating virtuous scholars. In many respects the uniform is the face of Geneva. Uniforms encourage a sense of school identity and cohesion and also help to raise the standards of the school’s academic and cultural pursuits. The Geneva School lunch program is run as a fundraiser for our athletic department. It is also our hope that this program will be cost effective, enjoyable, and convenient for you and your family. The parable is told of three stone masons working together at a construction site. The first mason, being asked what he was doing, replied, “I’m cutting and shaping stones.” When asked the same question the second stone mason responded, “I’m building a wall with these stones.” Much to the delight of the interviewer, the third mason answered the same question by asserting, “I am building a cathedral!” What hard, arduous work it must have been, day after day, month after month, and year after year for the first two stone masons. With such limited perspective, no vision for the greater accomplishments of their labor, it must have seemed like nothing but drudgery to go to work each day and have no more idea of why they were cutting and shaping each stone. By contrast, what an exciting prospect each day must have held for the third mason despite the fact that he was doing exactly the same work as the other two each day. When translated to education the parable may have similar application. In the same classroom one student might answer the question of what she is doing by saying, “I go from class to class to class all day long.” A second might respond by volunteering, “I’m fulfilling state graduation requirements so as to go to college so as to go to yet more classes in the hope of getting more good grades.” The visionary third student is eager to make it known that she is hoping to attain the stature of a virtuous scholar whose lifelong learning will contribute to a flourishing Christian life. Only the third student will build a cathedral with her life. The Geneva School is about casting a vision for building living cathedrals. Our goal is to cast a vision before each one of our students concerning the true and proper ends for which they are being privileged with a Christian and classical education. Our goal for each one is not so short-sighted as to be only about grades and test scores and transcripts, regardless of how significant they are in attaining the ultimate goal. Our goals for them include being a responsible servant leader in the Kingdom of God. We aspire for them to attain wisdom and scholarship by cultivating the virtues of faith, hope, and love conjoined to goodness, truth, and beauty. We trust that each student will maximize his and her academic capabilities as well as their artistic, athletic, and leadership skills. We intend to educate and lead souls; our fervent desire is to see students grow into the image of Christ, and to bear the fruit of the Spirit, including love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Let’s build living cathedrals at The Geneva School! He holds MA and PhD degrees in American History from the University of Notre Dame, where he studied under George Marsden and was a Pew Younger Scholar; while there, he also served as assistant to the director of graduate studies in the history department. Prior to his time at Notre Dame, Grant earned an MA in Church History from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, where he was a President’s Scholar and had the privilege of taking courses at Harvard Divinity School through the Boston Theological Institute, and he earned a BA, double majoring in History and Philosophy, from the University of Northern Iowa. Rhetoric has sometimes been described as the art of moving souls. The Geneva School strives to give each student the ability to think well, using wisdom and discernment, and to polish and refine his/her oral and writing skills to communicate winsomely. Alec Ortiz, a current eighth grader, came to The Geneva School when he was four years old. His family loves to reminisce about one of the seminal moments that confirmed the value of the education he is receiving. The Bowser family says they weren’t looking for a school for their daughter, but rather, The Geneva School found them! Katherine Bowser explains how they found TGS and the impact the school is having on their daughter Abigail. As my husband and I sat in a small room with about twenty other parents and listened to the speaker talk about the school’s values, mission, and philosophy of education, we kept looking at each other and smiling. We couldn’t believe what he was saying! He was describing the kind of education that we had been trying so hard to provide at home. He was describing exactly what we wanted for our kids—the culture, values, and community we wanted them to grow up with. He talked about teaching children how to think, rather than what to think and instilling in students a desire to love beauty, think deeply, and pursue Christ’s calling. We weren’t sure if any school could actually pull this off, but we wanted to believe him. Mr. Ingram gave us a tour of the school and it didn’t take long for us to decide that this was it. When we found out Abigail had been accepted, we were so excited! We had high expectations and everyone at The Geneva School has surpassed our expectations in every way. One might think the school’s mission, “To love beauty, think deeply, and pursue Christ’s calling” would be out of reach for four and five year olds, but that is not so! One night as I was tucking Abigail into bed, she said, “Mom, I sin.” “What?” I asked. “Sometimes I sin,” she continued. I was surprised because this wasn’t something we had talked about yet. She explained, “Sin makes my heart black, but when I pray and Jesus forgives me, he comes in like an eraser and makes my heart clean again.” It was such beautiful imagery and I immediately knew where it came from. I texted her teacher who told me about her lesson to the children that morning using a white board and eraser to explain sin and Jesus’ forgiveness. This lesson in their morning devotion demonstrated perfectly to me the love that the teachers show these kids and how they’re pointing them to Christ every day.