Happy Thanksgiving

As I sit here in the last couple of hours before we break for Thanksgiving, I am overwhelmed by the flood of gratitude that I am feeling about where we are as a school. It has been an amazing year so far, with highlight after highlight. The list is long and runs the gamut from the incredible academic successes and recognition that our students have already attained, to the performances of our three fall sports in their respective State Championships this past week; from the beautiful chapels that we’ve been able to experience on both campuses (Bravo, Mr. Fuller, and see the link to today’s Thanksgiving Chapel from the Kindergarten in the Falcon Forecast for an example) to the stellar production of The Addams Family musical and the truly unbelievable musical performances of our own ESA Music Collective; and if you haven’t spent some time in the Lafayette Campus Enrichment Center to see the art works hanging on the walls, you are truly missing out.

I am beyond thankful for this place that brings out the best in our children. And I found something this week that I’d like to share with you. Of all things, I was reading the ESA Handbooks and ran across the section called Educational Philosophy. I didn’t remember writing that. I asked Mr. Chrysler if he wrote it, and he didn’t. So I went searching. This philosophy was written in January 1978 in the original documents that set forth the guiding principles of the school and its curriculum one year before it opened. It was kind of like finding original documents of the founding fathers.

Our school began in 1979, and we have had this educational philosophy from the very beginning. It is as relevant and as true today as it was 43 years ago.

Educational Philosophy

Episcopal School of Acadiana holds as its basic purpose the development of an academic environment in which a student's intellectual, emotional, social, and physical growth are accompanied by a corresponding spiritual and moral growth. We are an Episcopal School, a community which professes the Christian Faith as stated in the Apostles' and Nicene Creeds.

Within this environment and using the resources of the Christian Faith as practiced within the Episcopal Church, we emphasize that true learning is a cooperative effort among students, parents, faculty, administrators, and staff to stimulate critical thinking, self-reliance and academic competence in a rapidly changing world.

We also believe that each student, upon graduation, should be well-prepared to continue his/her education on the college level. As an Episcopal school, we affirm the educational tradition of academic freedom.

The school provides opportunities for each student to achieve self-fulfillment as an individual and as a member of a community. Activities in and out of the classroom help students to recognize the need for self-discipline, a sense of citizenship within the democratic process and the development of their spiritual dimension and moral responsibilities. To these ends, we recognize that superior faculty, as well as supportive and involved parents, are of paramount importance.

We recognize the importance of physical well-being in the holistic development of the individual, as well as the role of the arts in our lives as essential to understanding the culture man has created. Recreational activities promote attitudes of fair play, teamwork and leadership.

Episcopal School of Acadiana seeks to instill in each student self-confidence, an awareness of one's relationship to God and man, and a continuing development of mind, body and spirit.

Lastly, as we head into a well-deserved and needed break, I’d like to leave us with these words written by a colleague from the Oregon Episcopal School:

“An Episcopal School is founded on love. This is not a peculiarly Anglican idea but so fundamental to the Christian view that it can be overlooked. Love for students, for their value as children of God, for their unique gifts, must undergird everything we do. We must act out of love, teach love, model love, and love one another in our community above all else, or all else will be meaningless.”

I’m so grateful to be a part of this community that is rooted in an enduring educational philosophy and filled with love for one another. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving. Areté!

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Happy Thanksgiving

Episcopal School of Acadiana

Episcopal School of Acadiana (Lafayette Campus)

Episcopal School of Acadiana (Cade Campus)