Category: Article

Convincing families and students to sign up for classical languages — no simple task — just might be the easy part. Whether we believe the primary reason is to improve SAT scores, the formation of the student’s faculty for analytical thought, or the acquisition of a functional language to be used for reading (or even writing and communicating), what are the methods most effective of these ends? Inevitably we will be unable to accomplish everything in just one course; what are the hard choices we have to make among competing…

“I’ll take the L,” he shrugged and reached into his pocket to pull out his phone. I squinted up at him with new fascination as he laid it on the table in front of me. “Thank you.” I had just confiscated a phone during a study hall from a student whom I knew to be innocent. We had all been sitting there studying in the quiet of the high-domed, skylit, largest classroom in the school, and then the tinkling, tinny sound of a notification cascaded into the silence. One of…

Even in high school, it’s important to make sure students learn how to practice financial responsibility. Here are the 8 most common financial mistakes that high schoolers (and beyond) can make.

Admissions Directors at Liberal Arts Schools, the Fate of the West Rests in Your Hands. Hyperbolic opening sentence to a web article?  Check. Honestly, though, we really should revisit the importance of our work in order to recharge ourselves for the mission-critical tasks that are just one season away.  Admissions can be a grind–the exhaustion of the Fall roadshow, the relentless pace of Winter, and an emotional rollercoaster during the Spring; happy calls, angry calls, heartbreaking calls.  It’s a blissful grind, then blessed Summer sets in. Lest we be tempted…

Classroom dynamics, cramped schedules, and misunderstandings can make it hard to imagine teaching writing as one would teach math or science. Joe Breslin reviews five things we’re doing wrong with writing instruction, and offers five preferred strategies.

Unless a boy is free to make some decisions on his own, he will not be as capable of making good decisions as a young man. Boys need to be given freedom so that they have the chance to “opt-in” to all that is good in the world.

In the first of Joe Bissex’s series on using drama as a teaching tool, he discusses how the exercise of process drama can help a student learn through personal discovery. Learn how blending drama into a conventional curriculum can result in an arts-integrated classroom.

Here are some ways that high school students can begin the journey to financial stability, which often goes hand in hand with peace. It’s not about getting rich quick; it is about making choices that lead to contentment.

In our most recent webinar, How to Keep a Nature Journal, Eric Heil and Peter Vitz expose the importance of journaling. They talked specifically about why and how nature journaling, the act of recording observations of the natural world in a notebook, can be of benefit to children and adults. A recording of this webinar (as well as past webinars) is available for free on The Heights Academy Webinars Archive. During the webinar, Eric and Peter list some reading recommendations for parents and teachers for studying, reference, or lesson-planning. That list is…

When I was in middle school, it felt like every kid and his mother owned a guitar. I’ll confess, about less than a third of them could really play (sorry guys, but only knowing “Wonderwall” and/or the first part of “Stairway to Heaven” doesn’t count), but it seemed that everyone was inspired to attempt the journey of acquiring this new ability. Of course, it’s not uncommon for boys to begin some hobby and then drop it right when things get difficult or less exciting; but think about how much they’d…