The Paideia School of Tampa Bay

What is the Paideia School of Tampa Bay?
We are a Classical Christian K-12 school located in Tampa, Florida.

We are distinctly Christian in that we teach that all of life and knowledge are grounded in our creator.

We are distinctly Classical in that we employ the time tested Trivium in the education of our students.

Please describe the Christian component of the curriculum.
We are not a school that merely attaches a chapel or devotional time to an essentially secular curriculum. We believe God is sovereign over all subjects. We further believe there is no inconsistency between what God reveals in nature and what He reveals in Scripture. Accordingly, we integrate Biblical truth into all subjects, including all of the arts and sciences.
We further require our students to memorize each week specific Bible verses and the location of particular Bible chapter concepts.

Please describe the Classical component of the curriculum.
Our students learn two classical languages – Latin from 3rd grade through 10th grade and Greek in 11th and 12th grades. They learn formal Logic in 8th and 9th grades and formal Rhetoric in 11th and 12th grades. They participate in a Great Ideas Seminar in 11th and 12th grades, using the The Great Books of the Western World.

Why do students learn Latin?
There are a number of reasons why we believe learning a classical language such as Latin is vitally important.


1.	It broadens and deepens the student’s understanding of English grammar. Over 60 percent of our English vocabulary words are derived from Latin.
2.	It promotes precision in thinking and understanding of language.
3.	It promotes cultural literacy and an appreciation for classical literature.
4.	It deepens an understanding of English literature, which frequently is full of classical allusions.
5.	It provides an excellent foundation for the study of modern languages. Romance languages such as Spanish and French are direct descendants of Latin.
6.	It boosts verbal skills and scores on tests like the SAT. Studies show that students who have studied Latin typically score 140 to 160 points higher on the SAT than their peers who have not studied Latin.

"I will say at once, quite firmly, that the best grounding for education is the Latin grammar. I say this, not because Latin is traditional and medieval, but simply because even a rudimentary knowledge of Latin cuts down the labor and pains of learning almost any other subject by at least 50 percent. It is the key to the vocabulary and structure of all Romance languages and to the structure of all Teutonic languages, as well as to the technical vocabulary of all the sciences and to the literature of the entire Mediterranean civilization, together with all its historical documents." Dorothy Sayers, from "The Lost Tools of Learning"

Is the school accredited?
The Paideia School of Tampa Bay is a member of both the Association of Classical and Christian Schools and the Association of Christian Schools International.

We are taking active steps to obtain accreditation with the Association of Classical and Christian Schools as soon as feasible, probably in the 2010-2011 school year.