Theme of the Year

In a world increasingly marked by distraction and screens, this year at Regents, we are studying the countercultural virtue of beauty. When we first studied beauty as a school in the 2017-2018 school year, I was a newcomer to classical education and it felt like an odd choice compared to studying truth or goodness. Over the years my children have been at Regents, I've come to a greater appreciation for how the outward affects the inward. Teaching students to recognize and delight in beauty invites them to participate in the divine and helps them to cultivate rightly ordered souls.
 
Plato once said that “Beauty is the splendor of truth,” - a reminder that it used to be a given that beauty was more than mere preference. As Christians, however, we can go a step farther than Plato because we know that beauty is an absolute reality flowing from God’s own character. Beauty is revealed in Creation, and resonates through great literature, art and music. When students at Regents encounter beauty with guided attention, their imaginations are lifted beyond themselves toward the eternal.

Why focus on beauty as a community this year?
 
Nurturing the Soul
Beauty is soul-shaping. Just as a steady diet of fast food weakens the body, exposure to shallow counterfeits dulls the heart. By contrast, gazing upon Audubon’s bird prints or contemplating the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel (like our students get to do!) enriches the inner life. In these moments, students are being formed by something higher and more enduring than the distractions of easy entertainment.
 
Fostering a Love of Learning
Beauty is magnetic. A beautiful story awakens the imagination; a well-crafted poem trains the ear to delight in language; an elegant mathematical proof sparks awe at the order woven into creation. Beauty woos gently and fosters curiosity and joy that make learning a delight rather than a duty.
 
Connecting with God
Because beauty reflects the Creator, it becomes a bridge to knowing Him. When students perceive the order of algebra, the symmetry of a leaf, or the majesty of a hymn, they glimpse divine perfection. To love beauty rightly is to love God more deeply.

Developing Discernment
In a culture saturated with trivial pleasures, cultivating a taste for true beauty helps students distinguish what is worthy from what is hollow. This equips them to resist the constant lure of phones by giving them something richer to desire.
 
Beauty in Practice
At Regents, beauty is a daily reality, starting with the natural world that surrounds our campus. Inside the classroom, students in every grade recite poetry and read great books that form their affections. Masterpieces of art hang in every room. Grammar School students conclude each day by singing our hymn of the month together. Each grade (K-6th) studies two or three artists and composers throughout the year, learning to recognize and delight in their work. Classical music fills the air during lunch.
 
By cultivating the affections through Scripture, literature, art, music, and nature at Regents, we train students to love what is lovely and to desire what is eternal. In a world where screens compete endlessly for attention, beauty offers something far greater—eternal, soul-restoring, and divine. May we as parents, teachers, and leaders join together in this vision, guiding our children to love what is truly beautiful and, through it, to love God more deeply!

Jackie Jamison, Director of College Counseling and Development