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The Geneva School is so called in honor of Geneva, Switzerland, and the pivotal role it played in the Protestant Reformation in the 1500s. The transforming effect of the Gospel was felt throughout the city of Geneva, and it in turn had cultural, social, religious, educational, and political impact upon the region, country, and other parts of Europe. Christian classical education flourished there and was a contributing factor to the changes brought about by the Reformation. The city of Geneva adopted as its official motto the expression “post tenebras lux” (after darkness, light) as evidence of the transforming power of the Gospel.
When The Geneva School was begun its founding Board decided upon the name Geneva as well as “post tenebras lux” as the motto of our official crest. It continues to be our hope that we will help the Christian classical movement flourish in our day, and that its transformational effects will be as enduring and widespread as was the city of Geneva under the leadership of men like John Calvin and his successors.
The Geneva School is accredited by the Florida Council of Independent Schools (FCIS) and the Florida Kindergarten Council (FKC). FCIS was founded in 1954 by a group of independent private school leaders to establish high standards for non-public schools. It is a professional educational association that evaluates and accredits independent schools throughout Florida. FCIS has grown to become one of the nation's largest organizations of independent schools with over 73,000 students enrolled in 159 member schools. FKC, founded in1968, is a member of the Florida Association of Academic Nonpublic Schools (FAANS) and as such has been recognized as an official evaluating and accrediting organization for the nonpublic early childhood schools in the State of Florida.
No, Geneva is an independent school, not affiliated with any church or denomination.
Because Geneva’s curricula objectives are those of the liberal arts tradition—the letters, the maths, and the sciences—and in the fine and performing art, Geneva embraces and employs in the classroom the best texts, materials, and resources we can find and afford in order to accomplish our curricula objectives, which themselves are determined not by a publishing company, but by the great western humanities tradition.
One of the most outstanding and distinguishing characteristics of the liberal arts tradition is its broad, deep, and solid common-canon of curriculum in a student’s education, leaving any kind of elective course pursuit until later in the educational process. One would not find nearly so many electives at The Geneva School as in some other situations, not simply because we are not big enough or not resourced enough to provide them, instead because we believe there is a common canon, a common currency, a cultural literacy that all of our students need. We want to allow for diversification and the embracing of individual giftedness, ability, and interests only after a common, broad, and deep foundation is laid.
So what kind of elective courses do we offer? Beyond the rigors of the general educational requirements for The Geneva School, there are opportunities in the fine and performing arts, in the humanities, in the maths, and in the sciences. We offer electives in modern and classical foreign languages after requirements are met. In the maths, four years of math are required, and anything beyond that is elective. Likewise, in the sciences, three sciences are required, and anything beyond that is elective.
It should be noted that there are a number of electives that Geneva is neither equipped to offer nor, in principal, likely ever will.
Yes, many of the courses offered to students in the rhetoric school (grades 9–12) are at the honors or AP level. We also offer honors geometry to students in eighth grade. For more detailed information on the courses offered to students in the dialectic and rhetoric school, please see the Dialectic & Rhetoric Academic Handbook.
For some years now, and probably some to come, many of the students coming into Geneva have come in from the side–that is to say they have entered Geneva in grades 1–12 and not in Pre-K or Kindergarten. This includes not only students in our grammar school, but also students in the upper grades of the dialectic and rhetoric school. They may come in from different traditions, with different sets of courses they have already taken, on a trajectory that is perhaps far different from The Geneva School.
So, if a highschool student is looking to transfer to Geneva will he or she be able to meet Geneva’s graduation requirements? In many instances if a student comes in from an academically rigorous college-preparatory and/or a fundamentally liberal arts preparatory curriculum, the answer is generally yes. Over the last number of years we have done our best to accommodate those students who have come in from good educations elsewhere, but which do not conform to our requirements for classical distinctive—with logic, with Latin, with rhetoric, with aesthetics—thus still allowing them to graduate from The Geneva School. However, all of our graduates need to meet or exceed the requirements for Florida Bright Futures Scholarship which, at a foundational level, we believe to be the bare minimum.
A student coming into The Geneva School in seventh grade who has never studied Latin is, in a sense, in a good spot because Latin I (a course for which the students will receive a high school credit) is taught in the seventh grade. This course does not assume any prior Latin knowledge. Students coming to Geneva in eighth grade who have not had Latin I, have the opportunity of taking Latin I with seventh graders.
If, however, a student coming into Geneva in the seventh or eighth grade with no prior Latin education has the opportunity to be introduced to the language either through a summer Latin course, through an independent tutorial, or through some sort of virtual educational model, we highly recommend it. Any running start will be better for the student since he/she will be sharing the classroom with students who have up to four years of Latin under their belts.
Geneva School’s rationale for learning classical languages is very simple: we learn classical languages in order to be able to read literature written in them. This is, in the final analysis, the most compelling reason to learn these languages. Other potential benefits also exist: better standardized test scores in their language components; a deeper understanding of English vocabulary, some 60% of which is directly or indirectly derived from Latin; a firm foundation for the study of modern languages, particularly the Romance languages. Ultimately, however, our goal for Latin at Geneva is to read Augustine, Vergil, Horace, and other authors in their own words.
Why read classical authors at all? Because of their gifts for producing works of timeless beauty—beauty in style, in thought, and in content. Most published works go out of print quickly and permanently. Classical works have survived for centuries because of their often meticulously achieved beauty. And beauty is contained not only in the literally hundreds of volumes of orthodox Christian writings in Latin (and Greek), but also in many works by non-Christians who, being made in God’s image, can’t help but reflect God’s own beauty in their works. It is unfortunate that beauty is a concept that has been thoroughly sentimentalized, and often vulgarized, in our culture. Geneva intends to recapture the true biblical sense of beauty: that something is beautiful because in some way it reflects the person and character of the one true God.
When we read classical literature, we are able to enter directly into a “dialogue” with some of the wisest souls and most fertile minds that God has given us. When we read such literature in its original language, we do so without any interference from translators and their inevitably rushed publishing deadlines. Because God is merciful and delights to give good gifts to his children, we can only be made better by having done it.
For a more in-depth discussion of Geneva's philosophy of language and literature, we recommend a paper written by Edward Chandler, our Dean of Students, entitled Why Classical Languages?
Latin instruction at Geneva begins in the latter half of the third grade and continues as a required course through the eighth grade. Latin in grades 3-4 emphasizes acquisition of vocabulary and an introduction to the case system and verb conjugations. Short readings, sentence composition, and some spoken Latin are used. Grades 5-6 are transitional toward the upper school: vocabulary, cases, and verb conjugations are reviewed in tandem with more lengthy Latin readings. Grades 7 and 8 (Latin I and II, respectively) review all of Latin grammar, which is refined through an even more extensive graded reading, further expanding the student’s vocabulary and giving the opportunity to discuss in more depth various important aspects of Latin syntax.
Latin electives through Latin V are also available depending on demand. These courses focus on an in-depth reading of various Latin authors from a variety of genres.
While The Geneva School seniors are accepted to a broad range of schools each year, which always includes a list of very prestigious colleges and universities, they have the confidence to follow their heart. This may very well be a school that is always listed as one of the best in the country (i.e. Duke University, Notre Dame, Vanderbilt University, Middlebury College, Furman University, etc.) , but on the other hand it may be a “jewel” not yet discovered by the masses. The Geneva School students do their research, they talk with their parents, receive guidance from our college couselor, and they visit their top choices, which sometimes leave them surprised when they revisit their final selection. Our students confidently attend the college or university that is a best fit for them, as a unique individual, where they hope to grow, not just academically, but in all ways.
Note: Please see The Geneva School Profile for a list of schools of acceptance.
Students at Geneva study Latin in grades 3–8. In addition, French, Spanish, Latin, and Greek are offered in the rhetoric school.
In addition to many ad hoc clubs that meet during the school year, Geneva offers the following co-curricular activities:
- Athletics: Geneva offers a full athletic program for students in grades pre-K – 12.
- The Geneva Consortium: An after-school music program hosted by The Geneva School, designed to provide students with opportunities to expand their musical horizons by participating in musical ensembles and/or private lessons.
- Merely Players: Drama club for students in grades 6 – 8
- National Honor Society (NHS)
- Roundtable (Geneva’s student government)
- Yearbook
Pre-K: 8:30 am-1:30 pm. (For the first two weeks of school, Pre-K students are dismissed at 12:30 pm.)
Kindergarten: 8:30 am-2:30 pm. (For the first two weeks of school, Kindergarten students are dismissed at 1:00 pm.)
Aftercare is offered to students in grades Pre-K–6 until 5:30 pm (with a few exceptions). Click here for more detailed information on the Aftercare program.
Field trips at The Geneva School are not merely perks that we drop into the educational programming simply in order to provide some measure of additional enjoyment or pleasure to the students, albeit that they certainly do that. Instead they are tied into our understanding of incarnational education. We believe that students see, hear, touch, taste, and smell the world around them—what it is that we are asking them to learn—and thus any opportunity to appeal to all five of these learning gates, to truly experience what it is that they are studying, is an experience that will contribute more substantively to their learning than the mere reading of it in a book or the acting out of it a classroom.
Students in the grammar school participate in age appropriate curriculum-related field trips and in-school events. For more detailed information on the out-of-town field trip schedule offered to students in grades 5–12, please visit the field trip page.
Pre-K: Ideally limited to 14 per class
Kindergarten: Ideally limited to 16 per class
1st-12th grades: Ideally limited to 18 per class
Geneva does not currently have programs in place to accommodate children with significant special needs/learning disabilities. However, if a child’s condition is mild in nature it may be possible for them to succeed at Geneva. Please call our Director of Admission to discuss your child’s individual needs.
Our youngest children are Pre-K students.
Pre-K: Children must be 4 years old by September 1
Kindergarten: Children must be 5 years old by September 1.
Please note that all students applying to Geneva will be assessed/tested to determine their readiness for the grade for which they are applying. Please refer to the How to Apply page
The Geneva School offers tuition assistance to families who are determined by a third party assessment company (Family Financial Needs Assessment) to need financial assistance. This determination is made with regard to a family's entire financial picture, irrespective of how many children are enrolled at Geneva. For information on Geneva's scholarship program click here.
Yes, we love to see parents and grandparents at the school! Please sign in at the front desk upon arriving at school, and then you may proceed to the lunch tables.
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