Frequently Asked Questions

The Geneva School is named for the city of Geneva, Switzerland, which played a pivotal role in the Protestant Reformation in the 1500s. The transforming effect of the Reformation was felt throughout the city of Geneva, which in turn wielded cultural, social, religious, educational, and political influence over its region and over other parts of Europe. Christian classical education flourished there and contributed to the changes brought about by the Reformation. The city of Geneva adopted as its official motto the expression post tenebras lux (“after darkness, light”) as a testimony to the transformation that God had brought about.

At its founding, the board of The Geneva School adopted the name Geneva and post tenebras lux as the motto of our official crest. It is our goal to foster the growth of the Christian classical movement, so that its transformative effects will be as enduring and widespread as was the city of Geneva.

No, Geneva is an independent school, not affiliated with any church or denomination.

While being a Christian is not a requirement for entrance to Geneva, about 90% of our students attend a Christian church regularly.

Each year, our seniors are accepted to a broad range of schools, including some very prestigious colleges and universities (e.g., Davidson, Emory, Johns Hopkins, NYU, Purdue, Rice, Richmond, UF, UVA, and Wheaton). In making their college decisions, Geneva students do their research, talk with their parents, receive guidance from our college counselor, and visit their top choices. Each Geneva graduate confidently attends the college or university that is the best academic, spiritual, geographic, and social fit for that particular individual.
Note: Please see our Upper School Profile for a full list of schools of acceptance.

Our youngest children are K4 students.
K4: Children should be 4 years old by September 1
Kindergarten: Children should be 5 years old by September 1.
Please note that all students applying to Geneva will be assessed in order to determine their readiness for the grade for which they are applying. Please refer to the Apply Now page.

Information on school hours, drop-of and pick up times, early dismissal, lunch schedules, and the upper school bell schedule can be found on the School Hours/Schedules page.

The Geneva School believes that uniforms play an important role in maintaining a culture conducive to cultivating virtuous scholars. In many respects, the uniform is the face of Geneva. Uniforms encourage a sense of school identity and cohesion and also help to raise the standards of the school’s academic and cultural pursuits.

In addition to cohesion and identity, uniforms also serve to minimize distractions in the classroom thus contributing to a stronger learning environment. Non-conformity to the uniform code is a distraction we seek to avoid. This principle applies equally to distractive hair styles, hair color, makeup, and also to distractive behavior. Minimizing distractions allows us to maximize learning.

For specifics about the uniform guidelines and where to purchase uniforms, please visit the Uniform Guidelines page.

The Geneva School lunch program is run as a fundraiser for our athletic department. It is also our hope that this program will be cost-effective, enjoyable, and convenient for you and your family.

Geneva’s lunch program is for students in K4–12th grade and begins the first day of school.

For further information about the lunch program and to submit an order, please visit the lunch program page.

At Geneva, engagement in learning does not stop at the end of May. Each summer, Geneva offers a variety of summer camps for students of all ages.

Information about the Summer Camp Program can be found HERE.

Geneva does not currently have programs in place to accommodate children with significant special needs/learning differences. However, if a child’s condition is mild in nature, it may be possible for them to succeed at Geneva. The school employs a learning specialist and has a student services office to assist students and families. Please contact Candace Houk in the admission department to discuss your child’s individual needs.

Field trips are integral to Geneva’s ideal of an incarnational and experiential education. The best education appeals to all five senses. Experiencing on some level what they are studying will contribute more substantively to the students’ learning than merely reading something in a book or acting something out in a classroom. Students, particularly in the grammar school, participate in age-appropriate, curriculum-related field trips and in-school events.

More information on the overnight field trips offered to students in grades 5–12 can be found on the field trip pages.

The majority of learning takes place in the classroom. Our teachers assign homework to reinforce classroom lessons. The amount of time a student needs to complete homework varies from day to day, from grade to grade, and from student to student. A general daily guideline is about 10 minutes for each accumulated grade level in the grammar school (i.e., 10 minutes per day for a first grade student and 1 hour per day for a sixth grade student) and 10–15 minutes a day for each accumulated grade level in the dialectic and rhetoric (i.e., 70–105 minutes a day for a seventh grade student and 120–180 minutes for a senior).

Geneva’s curricular objectives are determined not by publishing companies but by what comports best with the western liberal arts tradition—the humanities, mathematics, and the sciences—and with the fine and performing arts. We employ the best texts, materials, and resources that we can find in order to accomplish these objectives. For more information, please visit the academic pages of this website. Specific details about the curriculum at each grade level can be found on the grammar school pages, dialectic school pages, and rhetoric school pages.

Latin studies begin in third grade and continue as a required course through the eighth grade. Latin in grades 3–6 emphasizes acquisition of vocabulary and an introduction to the case system and verb conjugations. Graded Latin readings are also undertaken in order to develop reading fluency. Grades 7 and 8 (Latin Ia and Ib, respectively) refine the student’s understanding of Latin even more, through an extensive graded reading, further expanding the student’s vocabulary and giving the opportunity to discuss in more depth various important aspects of Latin syntax.

Latin electives through AP Latin (Latin II–V/AP) are taught in the rhetoric school. These electives focus on an in-depth reading of various Latin authors from a variety of genres.

One of the hallmarks of the Christian classical model of education is that it provides deep and foundational training to every student. And we believe that all true education begins in wonder and depends on the imagination to flourish. Therefore, we are intentional about the electives offered, ensuring that they provide opportunities to teach the whole person so that students can learn to think for themselves and live God-honoring lives of purpose and meaning.

Beginning in seventh grade, students choose their performing arts elective (choir, orchestra, band, or drama). In eighth grade, students may choose to continue to pursue art instead of choir, orchestra, band, or drama. In the ninth–twelfth grade, students choose their foreign language course (Latin, Greek, French, or Spanish), their fine/performing arts elective (drama, stagecraft, yearbook/journalism, digital photography, studio art, choir, guitar, or orchestra), and an additional half-credit elective (see the rhetoric curriculum page for what is offered this year). In eleventh and twelfth grade, students choose from several options in math and science. For further information, please consult the rhetoric curriculum page.

Yes. Many of the courses offered to students in the rhetoric school (grades 9–12) are at the honors, AP, or dual credit. We also offer honors algebra I to students in eighth grade. For more detailed information on the courses offered to students in the dialectic and rhetoric school, please see the dialectic school and rhetoric school pages on the academic navigational pulldown.

All students in 2nd–8th grade take the ERB CTP (Comprehensive Testing Program) assessment test in the spring. CTP is a reasoning/achievement test battery that is available to more than 1,600 ERB-member public and independent schools. It is designed as a challenging test to measure learning and distinguish achievement even among the higher-level students.

For more information about the ERB test, visit the ERB website.

All 9th–11th grade students take the College Board’s PSAT test in October. When taken in their 11th grade year, this test also serves as the National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (NMSQT). The PSAT/NMSQT is a standardized test that provides firsthand practice for the SAT®. It also gives 11th grade students a chance to enter NMSC scholarship programs and gain access to college and career planning tools. The PSAT/NMSQT measures critical reading skills, math problem-solving skills, and writing skills.

Latin is taught at Geneva using a unified curriculum that begins in third grade and continues through seventh and eighth grade respectively, and, if a student elects to continue in their study of Latin, culminates with AP Latin in twelfth grade.

Students who enter The Geneva School in seventh grade will take Latin Ia. Students who begin in eighth grade with no prior Latin instruction will not take Latin and will instead have a study hall period.

In many instances, if a student comes in from an academically rigorous college preparatory and/or a liberal arts preparatory curriculum, the answer is generally “yes.” Over the last number of years, we have done our best to accommodate students who are transferring from other schools or homeschool but which do not conform to our “classical distinctive requirements”—especially with regard to the teaching of logic, Latin, philosophy, theology, and rhetoric—thus still allowing them to graduate from The Geneva School. The closer a student is to graduation, the more difficult it is to make accommodation. All of our graduates, however, need to meet or exceed the requirements for Florida Bright Futures Scholarship, which we believe to be the bare minimum.

At The Geneva School, we introduce students to technological tools and resources beginning in the grammar school seeking to employ them where it helps us meet our overarching educational goals.

We understand technology to be tools used by man to accomplish tasks. However, these tools are not inert or neutral—much to the contrary. As a tool, technology is a fundamental way that humans shape, come to know, and seek to understand the world in which they live. These two principles—the notion that technology is a tool and the recognition of the limits and possibilities—form the basis of how we employ technology.

In a child’s most formative years, the most important interactions are with parents, teachers, and other children, not devices or media. Faculty members use technology to present and demonstrate concepts and skills already presented in the classroom to reinforce student discovery when appropriate. By design, student use of computers will not be required in the early grammar school years; however, some optional activities are computer-based. The importance of the classroom teacher during these years cannot be overstated.

In fifth and sixth grade, students begin to use computers at home for web-based sources to supplement the books they are provided with in class for various research projects. The science teacher also provides students with specific websites to explore for monthly “Science Internet Projects” that are completed for homework.

Students in 7th and 8th grade are given a Google Apps for Education account and are expected to have access to a computer with internet capabilities and a printer at home. They are not required or allowed to bring a device to school since a school-provided and managed Chromebook will be used in 7th and 8th grade classes when needed for classroom assignments.

Students in ninth through twelfth grade are given a Google Apps for Education account. For general classroom use, students in 9th grade may bring a device to school if they wish but are not required to do so. Students in 10th–12th grade are required to bring a device to school for general classroom use. A low-cost Chromebook (11-inch screen recommended) is an excellent device for general classroom use. Please note that 9th–12th grade students in some rhetoric elective classes (Journalism/Yearbook, Photography, Student Magazine, Introduction to Computer Science, Audio Visual Arts & Sciences) are required to bring a Windows or Mac laptop. In addition, students should have access to the internet and a printer at home.