Mission Statements

What is our mission statement for this project?


Phil & Tess: We aim to found a school where the culture promotes a democratic, participatory lifestyle by utilizing inquiry-based pedagogy, an open-source curriculum and cultivating a community cohesion without enforcing uniformity. We seek to write a grant which will allow for research and development of all the various aspects of founding the school (administration, human relations, staffing, budget, tuition costs, IT integration, etc).


Rachel: (posted Exeter's MS, which is as follows): The founder of Phillips Exeter Academy defined its mission more than two centuries ago. "Above all," John Phillips stated, "it is expected that the attention of instructors to the disposition of the minds and morals of the youth under their charge will exceed every other care; well considering that though goodness without knowledge is weak and feeble, yet knowledge without goodness is dangerous, and that both united form the noblest character, and lay the surest foundation of usefulness to mankind."

Exeter today continues the commitment to unite knowledge and goodness. It seeks students who combine proven academic ability, intellectual curiosity, and tenacity with decency and good character. At the Academy, exacting inquiry and thoughtful discourse foster the life of the mind, instruction and activity promote fitness and health, and the daily interactions of a residential school nurture integrity, empathy, and kindness. Because learning and growth at Exeter arise from each individual's engagement with others, the richness of education here requires diversity in all its dimensions; students and faculty value the differences they bring to the community they share.The challenges that students meet at Exeter and the support they receive have a common purpose: to stimulate their development as individuals and as members of society. Exeter seeks to graduate young people whose creativity and independence of thought sustain their continuing inquiry and reflection, whose interest in others and the world around them surpasses their self-concern, and whose passion for learning impels them beyond what they already know.-1991

Answering the question: "What student group might be best served by the focus of this school project? What's a more coherent and concise way to talk about what we're doing here? Two sentences tops." [This may also be posted elsewhere later.]

Jess: We aim to find a solution to educating the future (i.e. minors) that accounts for abilities, disabilities, sensibilities, rationalities, and human respect. Our goal is to provide this education with a focus on developing core skills in executive function, logical reasoning, health consciousness, and a general sense of community and social responsibility at a developmentally appropriate for the child.

Phil: I would like to add environmental awareness to the principles to ensure they have an ecosystem to grow into.