Classical education is increasingly reaching every child, affirming that the Great Books and the Great Conversation are the educational birthright of all. Guided by the vision of education as a means of intellectual cultivation for every student, the conviction that the best education should be universally accessible, and the principle that a single rigorous curriculum can unite rather than divide, this talk explores how schools are making Plato, Shakespeare, and Frederick Douglass accessible to all, while preserving the rigor and depth that make classical learning transformative. At once a philosophical celebration of education’s higher purposes and a practical roadmap for educators, the session demonstrates how classical education can serve every child, regardless of background or zip code.

Anna Julia Cooper fulfills the remarkable promise of America, a land where a person furthest from opportunity can be a tremendous success. Born into slavery and eventually earning a doctorate at the Sorbonne, Dr. Cooper lived a life committed to the notion that a classical education should be the curriculum for all people. She led a school and a university devoted to her belief in classical education and she proved in her person that to be classically trained is to be free. In this session, participants will learn about Dr. Cooper’s remarkable biography and participate in a seminar focused on one of her educational treatises. Participants will leave with resources for teaching about Dr. Cooper and with an appreciation for the power of classical education to speak to all people at all times.

Following a rich discussion of how to create “doxological” classrooms of welcome in the first-ever pre-conference to the National Symposium for Classical Education (please see the symposium website for more information!), Tom will dive deeper into the concept of “the cult of normalcy” that saturates the modern vision of disability. Through a rough historical sketch and discussion, participants will come to understand how our society’s difficulty with human vulnerability paves the way for well-intentioned acts of cruelty. Ultimately, we will establish a connection between our philosophical anthropology and what we value, and consequently what (and more importantly who) we consider to be burdensome. Understanding this concept is at the root of changing our vision for creating schools of welcome, particularly for parents and teachers. As such, participants will also engage in a rich discussion of how to recast a vision of education for members of their community, especially the parents of students with learning needs and differences.

This panel brings together educators and thought leaders from diverse backgrounds to explore the moral and cultural imperative of making the Western Canon accessible to all. Rooted in the transformative tradition of classical education, the conversation will examine how participation in the Great Conversation fosters human flourishing and intellectual dignity. Panelists will reflect on their personal and professional journeys, highlighting how the classical tradition has shaped lives across boundaries of geography, race, and socioeconomic status. Together, they will affirm that the riches of the Canon are not the privilege of a few, but the rightful inheritance of every human soul — and discuss practical pathways for expanding access without compromising rigor or depth.

This is an experiential session that offers the opportunity to apply principles and practice with a structured format to help students de-escalate when they experience intense emotions like anger. It covers self-preparation, the relationship or language and brain function, five principles of interaction, and a systematic approach to de-escalation.

A practical framework for implementing Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS) within classical charter schools will be presented, specifically addressing academic intervention in mathematics and reading. Participants will explore how to maintain the integrity of the classical curriculum while providing targeted support for struggling learners. Drawing from Great Hearts’ comprehensive MTSS Framework implementation, the session covers assessment protocols, intervention strategies, and coordination structures that enable all students to access the rich cream of a classical education. Attendees will leave with actionable strategies for identifying students in need of support, implementing evidence-based interventions, and measuring progress while preserving the distinctive character of classical pedagogy.

Using the Trivium Grammar, Logic, and Rhetoric as a framework to support language acquisition and identity formation.
Key Points:
• Grammar Stage: Building foundational English through memorization, chants, and etymology.
• Logic Stage: Helping ELLs analyze language and arguments through logic puzzles and structured debate.
• Rhetoric Stage: Empowering ELLs to articulate their stories and perspectives through writing and oration.

The session will comprise four major arguments about why Latin is beneficial (and should be a required subject) for all students at classical schools, even those from academically disadvantaged backgrounds: 1) Latin, at most schools, represents for students disadvantaged vis-à-vis English a sort of academic “fresh start;” it is a rare example of a subject after Kindergarten in which students have a new opportunity to be excellent, starting with the fundamentals. 2) Latin continues to afford students a privileged inroad into learning advanced English vocabulary, the knowledge of which is important for reading advanced literature (not to mention college admissions essays, standardized texts, etc.). Crucially, this vocabulary instruction presumes less prior linguistic knowledge and, if taught well, strains the memory less than it would in an English class, in which the concrete, physical etymology of such words is less apparent. 3) Latin also continues to give students a synoptic view of the way in which languages as a whole are structured, and it does so by periodically examining it as a system “from the outside;” because of the fact that it is no student’s native language, and because it is so heavily inflected, it spurs reflection on the deep structures underlying human language as such. 4) At a classical, liberal arts school, Latin provides students with unique access to the rest of the curriculum, familiarizing them with stories encountered in other classes, and giving them the lexical and grammatical tool set which will make their thinking and writing about canonical literature more intellectually rigorous.