We are unashamedly Christian in our approach. That is because the hope we offer is an eternal hope only found in our Lord Jesus Christ. For this reason, we believe that everything—including education—centers on Christ. Which is why we seek to not only teach our Residents how to be Christians, but to walk with them along the “Way” that Christ has set out before all of us, to see and show how the gospel cuts through our hearts and our classrooms.

We are committed to classical pedagogy and seek to not only explain what this method is, but to employ its benefits in equipping our Residents. So not only will you learn about this pedagogy, you will be immersed in it and formed by it as Residents.

We recognize that classical education can often overlook the present and future to give deference to the past. This approach could sometimes even be critiqued as trying to swap contemporary culture for an ancient one. However, we don’t think the old world is at odds with our modern age. This is why we want to help our Residents navigate and utilize the classics to inform and reorient their current context rather than replace (or overlook) it.

We think education happens best in real life, with real people and real issues. This is why “place” is a critical part of our Residency curriculum. The city of Austin, therefore, is not only our home, it is an educational partner in everything we seek to do through the Residency.

We think education happens best in a diverse community aimed at the same purposes in the same location and in the same time zone. To this end, we want our Residents to experience interpersonal classrooms with real life, face to face engagement for the future of education. Which is why our Residency will model incarnational learning in real time with real teachers, real students, facing real problems awaiting the Residents’ solutions.

We are convinced that education concerns the flourishing of the whole-person—not just for the student but also (and perhaps primarily) for the educator. Teachers can’t offer what they don’t have themselves. That is why here at the Residency we seek to train the residents’ full anthropology, including their emotional, intellectual, spiritual, volitional, and even physical lives. And it is why we want to help our residents see their students (and their curriculum) from this same holistic perspective.

We hold that schools are often disrupted by staff and faculty divisions. In response, we invite our Residents into every sphere of Regents—from Senior Staff meetings to the kindergarten classroom. Even more, we want our Residents to have a 360 degree view of Classical education so they can, with our help, properly assess their future purpose and place within this movement.

We are committed to building lives and classrooms on the rhythms and structures of Christian hope and service. Thus, the liturgical calendar will not only influence the events and experience of the Residency, but we will challenge our Residents to integrate God’s timing and rhythms into their personal lives along with the structures and patterns of their future classes and vocation.

God has been kind to assemble such a brilliant and gifted faculty at Regents. But beyond their capabilities, they are also servant hearted. They aren’t just focused on their classes; many are focused on the next generation of classical, Christian leaders as well. For that reason, the Regents’ approach to residential mentorship goes above and beyond the usual student-teacher experience. It is personal, intentional, challenging, and encouraging all at the same time.

We have found that educational “success” is too often defined by standardized test scores or, more broadly, earth-bound (and often idolatrous) goals. To counter this, the Residency will seek to implement an eternal perspective on education, in order to let God’s ultimate reality inform and (re)direct our temporal experience.

Education works toward virtue formation, or, in Christian vernacular, transformation into the image of God’s Son. To that end, we want our Residents to not only be acquainted with the True, Good, and Beautiful, but to be changed by the One who is the Source of All Truth, Goodness, and Beauty.

We think good teachers deserve good schools, and vice versa. So, part of the Residency will be helping our Residents match well with like-minded schools across the US and the World. We hope to create a portal for Classical Christian schools to connect with our residents and other leaders in our community. Likewise, we will offer practical helps and guidance for each stage of the job search.

We think that lifelong learning is not only central to classical education, but also central to the life of classical educators. Therefore, we see the 8 months in Austin as just the beginning of the Residency. As the Residency grows, we will be developing an alumni network along with annual events centered on continuing education that seeks to realign and enliven our passions and our relationships through the Residency community.

We think Regents is poised to encourage the development of the broader classical, Christian movement. We want to help match the quantitative multiplication of these schools with qualitative discipleship of educators and leaders this growth demands. We know Regents isn’t perfect but we also know the Lord’s provisions here aren’t ours to possess. But we want to be true to our name. We want to be Regents—those who steward God’s gifts for this educational movement—and more importantly for his glory.