It is our mission to inspire in each child the curiosityto learn, the self-confidenceto lead, and the compassion to serve.
MOTTO
TOLEARN • TO LEAD • TO SERVE
CORE VALUES
Shaping the Culture of the School Community
While the School’s mission determines our institutional direction, our core values shape the culture of our school community. We believe that by promoting and teaching moral courage, personal responsibility, active kindness, and intellectual purpose we will, within a matter of a few years, create a culture and climate that will to a greater degree than ever before “inspire in each student the curiosity to learn, the self-confidence to lead, and the compassion to serve.”
We believe that while serendipity can be a useful source of learning, the lessons that we value most should not be left to chance. For example, a student may ultimately embrace personal responsibility without any instruction or encouragement from parents or teachers; but the odds of this happening are greatly enhanced when the adults who are invested in that child’s education are actively engaged in teaching the value of responsible conduct. We recognize that it is not the School’s place to shape the character of its students without the active support of parents; but their support is more likely to be forthcoming if the School delineates those “core values” that are at the heart of Heritage Hall’s program of ethical education.
Churchill once remarked, “Courage is rightly esteemed the first of human qualities . . . because it is the quality which guarantees all others.” With regard to our mission statement, whether learning, leading, or serving, the need for moral courage is self-evident. Teachers who model and promote moral courage will inevitably improve the overall quality of behavior in our educational community by encouraging and urging students to do what they know to be right and decent.
Not a single element of our mission statement can be achieved without the broad and consistent application of personal responsibility. Helping students to accept responsibility for their decisions and for their conduct is an essential element in a Heritage Hall education. Incorporating this topic into our conversation with students on a regular basis is, indeed, part of our own professional responsibility as educators.
No community can long endure without the nurturing and healing influence of kind and considerate behavior. Although we might learn and lead without conveying kindness, the quality of our learning and leadership certainly would be diminished by its absence. And the notion that there can be meaningful service without kindness is akin to suggesting that there can be love without active human engagement. Nevertheless, we believe that kindness is not merely a state of mind or an attitude; it is an intentional activity that requires directed effort as well as a good heart.
When we speak of intellectual purpose, we are referring to determination as applied to reason and understanding. In other words, we want to encourage students to engage in intellectual pursuits with a sense of direction and the resolve to follow through. The “curiosity to learn” must be buttressed by the determination to learn, just as the “compassion to serve” must occasionally be bolstered by moral courage. Intellectual purpose recognizes that learning is not always easy; but we assert that a firm resolve to grasp new ideas will bring rewards that transcend grades.
1800 NW 122nd Street, Oklahoma City, OK 73120 PHONE 405.749.3001 FAX 405.751.7372
Heritage Hall is a co-educational college preparatory school in Oklahoma City. As one of the few secular private schools in the state, we offer a challenging academic curriculum for students from preschool through grade 12, as well as unique leadership opportunities, a wide spectrum of athletics, and a well developed fine arts program.