# Ridgeview Classical Schools

Ridgeview Classical Schools, or Ridgeview, is a free public K-12 charter school located at 1800 South Lemay, Fort Collins, Colorado, Larimer County, United States. Ridgeview is chartered through the Poudre School District and serves approximately 750 students, as of 2019. The school is accountable to its charter, the local school district, and the state of Colorado.

## Elementary and middle school

Grades K-8 follow a curriculum that was originally inspired by the Core Knowledge Sequence. Since Ridgeview's inception in 2001, it has enriched this curriculum substantially. Elementary students begin studying Latin in kindergarten and continue it through eighth grade. Additionally, they begin studying Greek in third grade. Ridgeview also begins teaching students cursive penmanship in third grade in a program that was developed by Michael Sull and Marie Hornback. All elementary students also study art, music, and martial arts. Students in the elementary use the Riggs phonics system to learn to read and become proficient in diagramming sentences to improve their understanding of English grammar. Ridgeview's math program is heavily influenced by the Singapore Math program, though elements of Saxon Math have also been incorporated. Character education is integrated throughout the curriculum.

## The Outdoor Program

Ridgeview places an emphasis on developing a reverence of nature in their students. Through day trips taken with their classes, Student Ambassador trips, Student Council trips and more, students are provided a myriad of opportunities to get outside and explore the beauty of Colorado. Students learn skills such as wilderness first aid, winter survival skills, and navigation. Students are also given the opportunity to attend more intensive trips that involve caving, rock climbing, ice climbing, backpacking, and cross-country skiing.

## High school

Grades 9-12 continue with a classical, liberal arts curriculum. Ridgeview's high school courses make strong use of primary sources, and where possible, Socratic discussion in classes. Students working towards a diploma take an equal number of courses in the humanities and natural sciences. This means four years of history, science, literature, and mathematics. Additionally, students are required to take courses in government, economics, and moral philosophy. Students are required to have a proficiency in Latin in order to graduate, and they also complete a 7,000-word senior thesis and complete a three-hour, written leaving exam. Students present the senior thesis to their peers and the faculty and are required to defend it. Additionally, a variety of electives are offered, including not only AP courses, but concurrent enrollment courses through the University of Colorado (CU). A broad assortment of other electives are available to students ranging from neuroscience, robotics, computer programming, Russian literature, Dante, psychology of religion, along with many others. Modern language electives include Spanish, French, and German. All modern languages are taught by native speakers.

## Hoplite Radio

Ridgeview's Headmaster Derek Anderson hosts a podcast called Hoplite Radio. The podcast covers a variety of educational topics and features guests such as Ridgeview Faculty, Board members, students, and parents.

## Achievements and recognitions

U.S. News & World Report ranked United States high schools and awarded Ridgeview Classical Schools a gold medal. It is ranked 3rd out of 522 high schools in Colorado, 39th among the nation's charter high schools, 156th among high schools nationally, and 158th in STEM high schools nationally. Nearly 20,000 schools are ranked nationally.