Debie Mowery

St. Andrew's Academy

The mission of St. Andrew's Academy is to equip our students with the tools of learning and to endow them with the wisdom of the ages so that they may serve God and their fellow man with virtue and strength. St. Andrew's Academy is not ultimately about developing graduates that are "smarter" or "better" by someone's standard of what smarter or better means. It is neither to have graduates that can "write their own tickets" to the schools and scholarships of their choice. Rather our mission is all about character formation. In other words, what one can do is nothing compared to how and why one does it. The "Tools of Learning" St. Andrew's graduates know how to learn. The phrase, "The lost tools of learning," comes from the famous essay by Dorothy Sayers in which she describes the Trivium, which embodies the human learning process as initial formulated by the Ancients as the first three Liberal Arts in the West. Learning is a lifelong calling, and St. Andrew's students embrace intellectual challenge because these Tools are readily available. The "Wisdom of the Ages" The lack of historical, literary, and philosophical knowledge inevitably leads to a culture's demise. St. Andrew's students spend much time reading and studying that which has gone before giving context to contemporary ideas and issues, and preparing them to be effective leaders. The Motto of St. Andrew's Academy Oratio • Studium • Labor Prayer • Study • Work The motto of St. Andrew's Academy reflects the daily priorities of the school community. Every school day is bracketed with prayer, acknowledging our dependence on and accountability to God. The majority of the day, of course, is spent on rigorous studies. Each Middle and High student takes Latin and Greek, English and Literature, History, Math, Science, Bible, and Logic, Philosophy or Rhetoric. The concepts of work and service pervade the ethos of St. Andrew's.