Cincinnati Classical Academy

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Your summer back back of information. I love how they
just cover everything. Fifty five KRC the talk station atoh five,
the fifty five KRC, the talk station by the Times
here wishing everybody very happy Thursday slash Friday. Bottom of
the r I heard media aviation expert Jay Ratliff and
as with a distinct pleasure to welcome back to the

(00:23):
fifty five KRC Morning Show doctor Jed Hardings, who is
the president of the Cincinnati Classical Academy. You can find
them online. It's sincey with y sincy Classical dot org.
Get in line. It is an amazing education opportunity, classical
education and this is the kind of thing and it's
really truly amazing. Welcome back, doctor Hardings. It's a pleasure
to have you on the program. Every time I see

(00:44):
your website, I just stare in awe. You got almost
one thousand students from sixty three zip codes in the
greater Cincinnati area. That is a huge draw. If you
build it, they will come. And in terms of people
clamoring for a better education for their children, guess what
you find it It's in Santa Classical Academy. Welcome back,

(01:05):
Doctor Harding's pleasure to have you here.

Speaker 2 (01:07):
Thanks so much, Brian.

Speaker 1 (01:10):
Is there a line all the way around the block
to get in? I know you're accepting applications at least
cording to the website for the twenty five to twenty
six school year, currently it's K through nine correct.

Speaker 2 (01:21):
That's correct. Yep, We're going to have nine hundred sixty
students this fall, just in a few weeks here in
kindergarten through ninth grade, and then we'll of course be
adding a grade level each year until we're fully through
the twelfth grade with thirteen hundred students.

Speaker 1 (01:39):
Well, demand, I imagine his outstrips supply in terms of space.
How many people will be applying for these nine hundred
and sixty spots.

Speaker 2 (01:48):
Well, they've already applied. I mean, that's nine hundred and
sixty that we have room for, and then there's a
further wait list over five hundred long. So yeah, it's
been a real struggle to meet the growth and the
demand through these years, especially on a charter school budget.

(02:10):
But you know, the big news now is that we
do have that solution in place. We bought the property
in Blue ash By Summit Park, signed the purchase agreement
just less than eighteen months ago, and now we're ready
to open it as our middle and high school campus.

Speaker 1 (02:28):
Oh that's fantastic.

Speaker 2 (02:31):
Yeah, it's really wonderful. And you know, we're going to
have a grand opening celebration on August eighteen. This is
open to the public. It's an open house for two
hours from four thirty to six thirty, with a formal
ribbon cutting ceremony and everything. You know, maybe, Brian, we
hope you'll consider coming out to join us, because really

(02:52):
just thirty minutes of visiting the school will give you
a different idea of what education can and should be well.

Speaker 1 (02:59):
And you know, I look at your curriculum and it's
really just so healthy and refreshing to see how you
approach learning explicit phonics, you know Latin. I mean, I
know you teach Latin at the SINSI Classical Academy. There's
a lot of reasons that people should still be, you know,
learning Latin because it's the core foundation for our language.

(03:20):
Classics reading, and I love reading the classics and I
still do as an adult, and I think that's fantastic.
Talk about building your thought processes and your logic and
learning ability by reading classical education. You got the seventeen
seventy six curriculum and Singapore math. What is Singapore math
as opposed to the kind of math or teaching in

(03:41):
public schools for example.

Speaker 2 (03:45):
Singapore. It's based on a program used in Singapore, which
has been the number one country globally in math instruction
for a decade in running. So they must be doing
something right. But it's just it's it's no, it's not
the new quote new maths as we've heard about in

(04:06):
public schools. It's just common sense maths the way you
would you would have been taught and I was taught.
But it's also it's also explaining a little bit more
about the concepts underlying the arithmetic manipulations rather than just
memorizing the rules for for instance, how to do long divisions.

Speaker 1 (04:29):
And you've had some great success with students who've been
through the since a classical academy. Are you tracking where
what they have done after lead departing the since classical
academy and the success that they're having.

Speaker 2 (04:42):
Well, of course we don't have graduates yet, we're just
starting our first freshman class. But the test results, Brian
has been you know, off the charts. The school exceeds. Well,
we just calculated this, which is that a student at
Cincinnati Class School Academy is three and a half more
times likely to test as proficient in math, reading, and

(05:05):
science compared to the Ohio average Ohio public school three
and a half times more likely to be proficient.

Speaker 1 (05:14):
That's outstanding. But I imagine, you know, the children who've
left the since I classical academy, say at grade nine,
probably have a profound advantage and leaps ahead of folks
in the same situation who've been through K through nine
in the public schools. I mean that might serve they
might be a little bored when they get over to

(05:34):
public school after leaving the classical academy.

Speaker 2 (05:38):
Yeah, well you would think so. But there are many
students where we can look to see if that happens.
Because we've had a retention rate at the school between
ninety right around ninety eight percent, so very students are leaving,
and we were particularly cited that ninety five percent of

(06:02):
our eighth graders from last year have returned to the
school for high school.

Speaker 1 (06:08):
I have to think, and you correct me if I'm wrong,
Doctor Harding's that a parent who hears about the Sinsant
Classical Academy and enrolls their child there and whatever efforts
they have to go through to get their child from
wherever they're living over to the Sinsant Classical Academy physical location.
Those folks are truly concerned about ensuring that their children
get a great education. I have to imagine that parents

(06:31):
like that who would go through this process and through
the extra logistical hurdles to get there, get their children
there each and every day. The children are probably I
have to imagine, very disciplined. They're not problematic, and they're
not disruptive. Coming from a solid background, you have less
interruptions in classroom and better opportunity to actually teach as

(06:52):
opposed to deal with disciplinary issues.

Speaker 2 (06:57):
Yeah, I think that's correct. I think that families are
driving a long way, in many cases an hour each way.
They're making a lot of sacrifices because what's more important
than the education of their children. What their children are
being exposed to for you know, forty hours a week,
and their families that have done their homework and value

(07:19):
this and seek for their children an education. Not only
that's going to you know, teach them the three RS
and you know, give them good skills, but it's going
to teach their children moral character, pacivil virtue.

Speaker 1 (07:34):
That's what I was hoping to hear from you. And
you know I've said a.

Speaker 2 (07:37):
Million times habits of mind, heart and soul.

Speaker 1 (07:40):
Mind heart, and yep, what a profound shift from the
what you get in the since they are in the
public schools generally speaking. You know, doctor, I've always said,
the second best gift my parents ever gave me, after
the gift of life, was a gift of education. I
was commenting and reflecting earlier in the program, if we
were talking to the help squad about people on life's
margins needing a leg up. Is how blessed I am

(08:01):
to not have to look back. And you know, my
parents save me from that by getting me a solid education.
I've been able to take care of myself because of
my education background. And here it is right there, Sin
Sant Classical Academy. Now, going back to your new facility
again next to the Summit Park, how many more children
are you going to be able to serve there? Beyond
the nine hundred and sixty that you take care of.

Speaker 2 (08:21):
Now we'll have capacity to go up to thirteen hundred students.
Total between our two campuses. So we have the lower
school campus K through four in Reading, Ohio, and then
three miles away at some at Park in Blue Ash
we'll have capacity for another eight hundred and fifty students,

(08:42):
which will be grades five through twelve.

Speaker 1 (08:44):
Now, you need more space to expand as the years
roll on, you keep adding an additional grade or will
this new space along with the other space satisfy your needs.

Speaker 2 (08:53):
We've built all the space in the past nine months
that we will need to go all the way through
twelfth grade. That's great, problem solved. We are excited. We're
excited to gove in this campus. We're excited to grow
over the next three years and just to focus on
education and learning. I mean for the board and for

(09:14):
all the supporters. Most of the campus development problem that
is solved. So you know, I think it's one of
the biggest stories in education in Cincinnati in the last
decade or more at least.

Speaker 1 (09:26):
Yeah. No, I just kind of wonder if you can
explain my listening audience. I know you're a Hillsdale College
member school, but this wasn't there one day and the
next thing you know, you've got a since Ani classical Academy.
How did you launch this effort? How is it that
this wonderful organization that people are that there is in
fact a line around the block trying to get in.

(09:47):
How is it that it got started and it even
exists right now?

Speaker 2 (09:50):
Doctor myself and a couple others just had the idea
when we discovered, you know, that there was this classical
education and we're enamored with it as the solution to
all of the ills that plague our other schools and
universities and colleges. We just got together and just started

(10:14):
doing the work in twenty nineteen, and it took about
three years to apply to Hillsdale and get affiliation to
use their curriculum and have the school's support in terms
of instruction and guidance, and open the doors in twenty
twenty two after three years of effort.

Speaker 1 (10:33):
Now I know my listening audience can help out. You
do accept donations to this Insie Classical Academy.

Speaker 2 (10:41):
Yes, absolutely, Go to Cincy Classical dot org and click
on the giving page. We accept gifts and all forms,
the state, gifts, one time, contributions, you name it. We
would love to have any one support, especially because the

(11:01):
financial challenges are real. Charter schools get about a third
less funding than the average state school. We get about
nine thousand dollars per student from the state, and compare
that to you know, twenty or twenty five thousand dollars
that you know Indian Hill or Wyoming or Sycamore school

(11:21):
districts receiving funding. So it's yeah, we're getting the same
test scores you know, or better so, and we're teaching
with some different aims. So I think it's a really
worthy cause that really transcends considerations just of where your
kids are going to school. This is a national movement,

(11:43):
a restoration of the education needed for a free thinking
and self governing citizenry. So I think that that would
be an appealing cause for everyone, regardless of whether you
have children or have children in school or not.

Speaker 1 (11:58):
Well, I wish you had the resources to take an
unlimited number of students because I know you're doing the
right thing for those young people and their education and
helping them secure a solid future where they can in
fact take care of themselves. They do think critically and
can logically and reasonably analyze things, as opposed to just
you know, churning out something that was memorized by some
woke professor or teacher. You know, God bless what you're doing,

(12:21):
Doctor Hardings. And I just encourage my listeners to check
out all the information at Sincey with a Y Sinceyclassical
dot org. If you're lucky, one of the lucky few
to get in, I'd do it for your child. You'd
be doing all lifetime's worth of benefit. Doctor Harding's anything
else you want to add for we part company today.

Speaker 2 (12:39):
No, I think that covers it. I we'd appreciate the
support of anyone who believes in teaching how to think,
not what to think, who thinks it's important to learn logic, economics, history, government,
moral philosophy. Come on out and join us on August
eighteenth for our open house four thirty to six thirty
and we'll have a celebration afterwards. And Brian, I really

(13:01):
thank you, thank you for having me.

Speaker 1 (13:02):
On August eighteen, four thirty to six thirty at the
Blue or at the Summit Park campus location. Doctor Hardings,
God bless you, sir. Keep up the great work and
look forward to another school year of learning excellence at
the Sinsante Classical Academy.

Speaker 2 (13:17):
I do too, thank you.

Speaker 1 (13:18):
Take care of my friend. It's eight eighteen right now,
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