For thirty years, Andrew Kern has been starting and building classical institutions. He has also been helping others start them, transition to, and build them. And he has been observing and listening to others as they open, build, and transition to classical education.  

In this pre-conference for leaders – whether they serve on boards, on the leadership team, among parent volunteers, or in the classroom – Kern shares the insights he has gained from his experiences, his research, and his conversations over those thirty years. He’s made some truly bone-headed mistakes. He understands things he wishes he didn’t have to. And he wants to help you contribute to a renewal that he loves with his whole heart.  

Kern categories his lessons under what he calls “the seven commitments”, which he argues fulfill the limited potential of the conventional concepts of vision, mission, and values.

The seven are

1. Vocation  
2. Commission 
3. Creed 
4. Principles 
5. Loves 
6. Virtues 
7. Strategy 

The reason these matter so much is simple, put positively and negatively: 

• Because they unite a school around a common and understood identity 

• Because they are what people fight about and divide over when they are not a common and understood identity. 

But beware: Kern has no intention of telling you what God has called you to and how you should execute His calling. Instead, this pre-conference is about how to hear His calling yourself and then build a home, co-op, or school on that foundation.