The private Christian school got its start in 2006 when a small cluster of families, called “the founding families,” started their own school in Northwest Austin, according to Admissions Coordinator Casey Sollock. Thirteen years later, Sterling Classical School has grown into a 14-acre campus in Leander that instructs 260 pre-K-12 students.
Students attend classes from two to four days a week depending on their age, needs and course load, according to the school curriculum. Parents are then tasked with making sure their children complete their homework.
“We are a private school-homeschool blend,” Sollock said. “It’s really a partnership between the parents and teachers. Parents don’t really instruct the children; they just oversee that students get their work done at home.”
As the children grow older and mature, parents are tasked with less monitoring in the hopes that students mature and become more independent.
“Responsibility falls more and more on the student as they get older,” Sollock said.
Last November, the school moved from the crowded confines of an office park to the new campus in west Leander.
“It gave us more elbow room inside and more nature opportunities outside,” Sollock said.
The school follows the Trivium approach to learning, which is divided into grammar, logic and rhetoric, according to the school’s website. The school also follows the Charlotte Mason approach, which encourages hands-on instruction, according to school officials.
According to Sollock, grammar is taught at the elementary level and emphasizes a mastery of knowledge. The logic stage occurs in middle school and helps develop a student’s reasoning. Once a student is in high school, the rhetoric stage emphasizes communication and sharing of thoughts and ideas.
Sterling’s unique approach to learning has resulted in 100% of its graduates attending four-year universities, according to Sollock.
“We incorporate this philosophy through the reading of great book[s] and novels, rather than just textbooks, getting outside in nature, and through hands-on learning [and] projects,” Sollock said. “It really brings learning to life here at Sterling.”
Christian faith is a keystone in the school’s curriculum, Sollock said. The school’s website states that the school is “unapologetically Christian,” and students are asked to evaluate all assignments “in light of Biblical truth.”
Trivium teaching model
1. Grammar: Taught at the elementary level (first-fourth grades at Sterling), it emphasizes a mastery of knowledge. At this stage, students are absorbing and mastering important information.
2. Logic: Taught in middle school (fifth-eighth at Sterling), it is introduced when students' capacity for formal reasoning begins to develop. At this stage, students are learning correct methods of reasoning. This is when they do a lot of questioning and challenging of ideas and begin to form their own opinions about life.
3. Rhetoric: Taught in high school (ninth-12th), this stage encourages students to learn effective presentation and sharing of their thoughts and ideas. It brings knowledge and understanding together, at which point students are taught to express themselves persuasively and effectively.
Timeline
2006: "Founding families" open Classical Enrichment Academy in Northwest Austin
2008: Sterling Classical School opens in Leander
2013: Receives accreditation from Southern Association of Colleges and Schools
2015: First class of seniors graduates
2018: Sterling moves into new 14-acre campus
