Summary: "Leading Atlanta Classical Academy"

Hillsdale College K-12 Classical Education Podcast
Date: September 11, 2025
Host: Scot Bertram
Episode Length: ~20 minutes

Episode Overview

This episode features a candid and heartfelt presentation from a leader at Atlanta Classical Academy, part of the Hillsdale College network of classical schools. The speaker, addressing peers at a Hoagland Center for Teacher Excellence seminar, discusses the distinctive mission, challenges, and leadership required in classical education today. Through stories and personal reflections, the talk explores how classical schools nurture knowledge, virtue, and responsible citizenship, contrasting the current landscape of American public education with the aspirations and outcomes of Hillsdale-affiliated institutions.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

The Role of Storytelling in Leadership ([02:17])

• The speaker opens with humility, sharing personal anecdotes about not being a math teacher, but emphasizes the leadership role as "storyteller."
• Teachers (and leaders) are likened to guides in great works of literature, narrating both the students' educational journey and the broader institutional mission.
  • Quote ([03:15]):
    “When I think about the work of leading one of these schools... the first job that occurs to me is that of storyteller.”

The Senior Thesis Experience ([04:40])

• Describes Atlanta Classical Academy's senior thesis—a yearlong capstone involving a 15-page paper, guided by a faculty advisor and culminating in an oral defense before a panel and community audience.
• Highlights the symbolic tradition where each advisor gifts a book to their advisee, accompanied by a personal letter.
  • This act reflects the school’s central “preoccupation with stories” and great literature.

Concerns in Contemporary Education ([06:15])

• References a recent article noting that elite college freshmen have rarely read a book “cover to cover” in high school.
• Attributes this to educational trends discouraging book reading in favor of media studies—a decision authors describe as intentional, not accidental.
  • Quote ([07:35]):
    “This isn’t accidental. The fact that books are not read is not a mistake... there is a kind of intention behind it.”
• Cites also the abandonment of the "Work Hard, Be Nice" motto in a major charter network due to concerns about promoting “the illusion of meritocracy.”
  • Suggests pervasive, defeatist messaging to students—particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds.

Anecdotes from Early Teaching ([09:26])

The Story of David—Limits Without a Mission

• Describes first teaching job at a Detroit public high school under chaotic and demoralizing circumstances (100 students on a class roster, minimal support).
• Shares story of David, a brilliant student who internalizes the limits imposed by his environment, lacking hope or vision for his future.
  • Quote ([12:18]):
    “You are brilliant. You are the kind of kid that should have every single door in the world open up to you. And your school has not given you a vision of what is possible in your life.”

The Consequences of an Education Lacking Higher Purpose

• School’s sole focus was job placement, rotating featured occupations annually, lacking a meaningful or elevating mission.
• Argues both gifted and struggling students crave purpose and transcendence, not just employability.

The Classical School Difference ([14:28])

• Describes Atlanta Classical’s “beautiful and bold mission”:
  1. Forming Knowledge
  2. Forming Virtue
  3. Making Citizens
• High demand demonstrates the appeal—2,000 students on the waiting list for a 700-student school.
• Notes the challenge of finding capable and mission-driven leaders for new classical charter schools.

Mission in Depth: Knowledge, Virtue, Citizenship ([15:36])

Knowledge

• Knowledge of specific texts, stories, and principles is foundational—not merely a “skills-based” education.
• Shared readings establish common ground necessary for genuine civic discourse.

Virtue

• Knowledge without virtue is dangerous; virtue orients knowledge toward wisdom.

Citizenship

• Students are called to duty and obligation, not just personal freedom.

• Institutions should shape character, not merely serve as platforms for self-branding.

  • Quote ([17:18]):
    “We want our best institutions to shape the character, to mold our human beings into citizens.”

The True Aim of Education ([18:02])

• Rejects the popular idea that the goal of education is only "to teach students how to think" (critical thinking skills).
• Education, especially in classical schools, is about the “ordering of loves”—what students think about and what they love.
  • Quote ([18:48]):
    “Beyond teaching students how to think, we have to consider this. What are you thinking about and what do you love?”

The Realities of School Leadership ([19:04])

• Leadership often feels like endless “whack-a-mole,” dealing with a barrage of problems: dissatisfied parents, sick teachers, rogue coaches.
• If only seen as problem-solving, the work is hollow—it must remain centered on the positive project of forming students, faculty, and communities.
  • Quote ([19:30]):
    “When you remember that your work is actually about forming the loves, suddenly you have a positive vision for what education is about.”

The Danger of Defining Ourselves by Opposition ([20:03])

• Warns classical educators against being defined merely by what they oppose; must be known instead for what they cherish and love.
  • Quote ([20:17]):
    “I would much rather be known for what we love, what we support, the goodness that we are trying to realize in the lives of our students.”

Personal and Transformative Impact ([20:25])

• Leadership can feel overwhelming, but participation in a mission-driven school makes one "a better man."

• Daily engagement with curriculum and students ought to inspire and ennoble leaders themselves.

  • Quote ([20:48]):
    “Being at this school makes me a better man. I am more earnestly in pursuit of virtue because I’m part of a school that names truth and goodness and beauty as the end of an education.” (Recounted from a colleague)

Final Story: Why These Schools Must Exist ([21:30])

• Shares the story of Amani, a student struggling with homelessness, who is moved to participate while reading Homer’s Odyssey, finding resonance in Telemachus’s plight.
  • Quote ([22:00]):
    “I know what it means to be Telemachus... I know what it’s like to feel responsible for my mother and to not know what to do, to feel utterly hopeless.”
• This moment affirms the necessity of schools that direct students toward meaningful, purposeful, and virtuous lives, regardless of their background or struggles.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “[Teachers] are narrators. They tell the story of what’s happening to their students. To show nothing that’s going on is accidental.” ([03:50])
• “There is a kind of intention behind [decentering books in education].” ([07:35])
• “Our whole mission was to get kids jobs... for a brilliant student, they’re looking for something more.” ([11:55])
• “We want our best institutions to shape the character, to mold our human beings into citizens.” ([17:18])
• “What are you thinking about, and what do you love?” ([18:48])
• “I would much rather be known for what we love... the goodness that we are trying to realize in the lives of our students.” ([20:17])
• “[Classical education] makes me a better man.” ([20:48])
• “Meaning is abundant and it is ready to be received if you’ll chase it.” ([23:45])

Important Timestamps

• [02:17] — Leadership as Storytelling
• [04:40] — Senior Thesis Tradition
• [06:15] — The Decline of Reading in American Schools
• [09:26] — Early Teaching Story: David and Limits of Vision
• [14:28] — The Mission of Classical Schools
• [15:36] — Deep Dive: Knowledge, Virtue, Citizenship
• [18:02] — The True Purpose: Ordering of Loves
• [20:03] — Avoiding a Defensive Identity
• [21:30] — Amani’s Story & The Living Purpose of Education
• [23:45] — Final Reflections on Leadership and Meaning

Conclusion

This episode provides an authentic, compelling articulation of the power and necessity of classical education, particularly for those students most in need of meaning, virtue, and hope. Leadership in such schools—while often daunting—draws its purpose from the transformative impact it has on both students and educators. Through narrative, mission, and shared love of the true, good, and beautiful, classical schools strive to form not just thinkers, but citizens, guided by wisdom and virtue.