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Veritas Preparatory Academy is a charter school in Phoenix, Arizona and a member of the Great Hearts Academies charter network. Founded on the ideals of Truth, Beauty, and Goodness, Veritas offers a Great Books curriculum that includes the writings of Homer, Plato, Hemingway, Dostoyevsky, Locke, and other influential Western thinkers.

Its students outscored peers in every country in the recent Programme for International Student Assessment, which the BBC called the “world cup of school standards” and “the world’s most important exam.”

School philosophy

As a charter school Veritas Prep offers a Great Books education centering on fundamental texts in the Western canon. Veritas Prep's philosophy includes small class sizes and education using the Socratic method.

Teachers ask questions, awakening a sense of wonder in the students and prompting them to think deeply about the subject matter. A key idea or assignment might require that the teacher present material to the class, but the forward progress of the class is driven by the questions that the teacher asks of the students, the answers that they give, and the further questions that those answers inspire.

Curriculum Overview

All students seeking graduation from Veritas Preparatory Academy must take at least one course in latin. While high school students have the opportunity to choose between Spanish, French, Latin, and Ancient Greek, all 6th, 7th, and 8th grade students take latin.

High school students are required to take two years of honors physics, including kinetics, dynamics, electricity, magnetism, mechanical waves, light, and sound. Students also take a year of honors chemistry, honors biology, as well as natural, life, and earth science. These courses are taken along side two years of honors Calculus, hours Euclidean Geometry, and honors Algebra II/Trig.

Throughout middle and high school, students take four years of music, three years of studio art, and two years of honors economics, drama, and poetry.

Admission

As a public school in the state of Arizona, Veritas Preparatory Academy has no entrance requirements but limited enrollment. Interested families must apply for the school's annual admissions lottery, which takes place in the spring of each school year. However, if a family has one child enrolled, any other children automatically receive a spot. Software designed by alumnus Joseph Irvine is used to perform these lotteries randomly. An addition in the 2010-2011 school year was one class of sixth grade.

Senior Thesis

Senior students at Veritas Prep must complete a written thesis and defense before receiving a diploma from the school. The Senior thesis is the culmination of the student’s years at the academy. It is a yearlong project completed in addition to the normal course load. The student, under the supervision of a faculty advisor, explores one of the “Six Great Ideas”of humanity (Truth, Justice, Liberty, Equality, Beauty and Goodness) through the close reading of three works from the Western Intellectual Tradition. During spring semester the student produces a 15-25 page paper examining a thesis developed during the readings and discussions with the advisor. The project is completed by a public defense of the final draft of the thesis before a committee of faculty members.

Facilities

Academic Facilities

• The central location of the campus is housed on the Quayle Campus, named after the son of former United States Vice President Dan Quayle, a donor and Great Hearts Academies board member.
• Lund Center for Performing Arts, houses the school's seasonal choir concerts, drama performances, and speeches from visiting guests. Speakers have included Governor Doug Ducey, Russian-American Conductor Ignat Solzhenitsyn, and author Rod Dreher
• John X. Evans Library, houses the Veritas Preparatory Academy Library stacks, as well as serves as a hub for social and academic life at the school.

Athletic Facilities

• Van Brunt Gymnasium, dedicated to a founding member of Veritas Preparatory Academy, is home to the Falcon basketball and State Champion volleyball teams.
• Hall Family Weight Room, named after Great Hearts Academies board member, President and CEO of the Arizona Diamondbacks, Derrick Hall, serves as the primary work-out facility for all Veritas sporting teams.
• Full football and soccer fields, south of academic facilities

Student Life

House System

Students take part in a house system. Students are assigned to houses and compete in field days for the house cup. Each house is led by a senior consul and two proconsuls. These groups of students organize athletic competitions, coffee houses, and mentor programs.

Extracurricular Activities

Veritas Preparatory Academy offers over 35 extracurricular clubs and activities. These groups compete in local choir festivals, debate competitions, and the National Science Bowl competition organized by the U.S. Department of Energy. There are three newspapers published by these student groups, including a Humanitas Newsletter, Veritas Math Magazine (VM-Squared), and Linguistic Fellowship Publication.

Student Traditions

The Senior Trip is a long-standing and capstone experience at Veritas Preparatory Academy, where students explore together their heritage contained in great art and architecture, scientific and technological marvels, religious, political and cultural achievements in and around the Federal City, Washington, D.C. and in Virginia. It is an exercise in cultivated leisure, a kind for which they have been uniquely prepared. Students engage in mutual reflections on profound things, ideas and reality come together, and as a consequence they learn more deeply Aristotle’s teaching on friendship as shared experiences.

Students newly transferring into Veritas Preparatory Academy, and anyone in need of practicing day-to-day classroom skills enroll in Veritas' Study Skills Workshop and Mentor Program, an event that helps students adjust more effectively to the rigorous academic and cultural expectations and practices of Veritas. Under the guidance of veteran Veritas teachers, students practice essential skills such as organization and time management, math operations skills, note-taking, active and critical reading, and Socratic discussion.

As incoming high school students, all ninth graders partake in the ninth grade retreat, organized and run by upper class-men. At the event, students stay overnight at school and participate in student lead games and leadership building events.

Athletics

For high school sports, Veritas Prep competes in the Arizona Interscholastic Association and is a member of its 1A Conference. Great Hearts operates its own sports league for its junior high students. Veritas is home to over 15 competing varsity athletic teams and nearly 15 junior varsity and middle school teams.

The Falcons have won 5 State Championships in Volleyball and 2 State Championships in Swimming.

References

1. "http://veritasprepacademy.org/downloads/VPA_2015_2PG.pdf"
2. http://humanitasnewsletter.blogspot.com
3. www.advanc-ed.org/oasis2/u/par/accreditation/summary/pdf;jsessionid=BE9F5D8B58C7E52548D943FC3D1191BE?institutionId=37743
4. http://www.veritasprepacademy.org/downloads/Curriculum%20Overview%202015.pdf
5. http://www.greatheartsaz.org/about-us-mainmenu-26/leadership-team
6. http://www.veritasprepacademy.org/downloads/VPA%20Extra-Curricular%20Catalogue%2020151006.pdf

• Charter schools in Arizona
• Educational institutions established in 2002
• High schools in Phoenix, Arizona
• Public high schools in Arizona
• 2002 establishments in Arizona