For the four teachers who founded Abelard, the goal was to provide small classes and a focus on liberal arts. Abelard would take a group of students for walks in the forest to talk about ideas and the groups were small enough to be interactive, not just a teacher spoonfeeding his students. He really emphasized critical thinking. But this 12th-century philosopher was also notorious for having had a scandalous love affair with one of his students his own niece Heloise for which he later was castrated. There's no escape for students when classes are this small.
Kids simply learn better in small classes.
If they fall behind for any reason, I can respond in ways I could never do with a class of 20 to 30 kids. Maharaj and Rossinsky taught at the now defunct Thornton Hall, a private school in Toronto's Forest Hill district that stressed the arts and classics for nearly half a century. When it closed several years ago, Maharaj and Rossinsky teamed up with classics teacher Brian Blair and English specialist Michelle Lefolii to launch a new school based on many of Thornton Hall's values, especially the focus on liberal arts. All students must take either music, art or drama each year, regardless of their area of specialty. Despite the school's small staff of six teachers and two part-time instructors, it offers classes in ancient Greek, Latin, classical civilization and philosophy, and students mount a play every year.