Core Virtues

Cultivating good character and sound minds for the sake of a life well lived.

Students at Founders Classical Academy pursue a moral and intellectual education and are expected to behave in accordance with the following core virtues.

Each virtue is accompanied by an explanatory statement intended to help students understand the virtue and the ways in which its associated vices can take root in the character of a young person. We speak about virtue in the same way in all grades because we want students to understand that virtue is for all human beings no matter their age.

The school's virtues are taken from Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics, the first and greatest book about virtue. The virtues are taught in ascending order and students are encouraged to practice the virtues with the understanding that the higher virtues will become easier as the lower virtues become habits. This is one lesson of the Nicomachean Ethics--that intellectual virtue is higher than moral virtue but depends upon it. To live a good life a person must cultivate good character as a foundation for intellectual virtues.