Valor Leander

Letter From the Headmaster

Dear Families,

The beginning of any great story includes a certain sense of mystery—a mystery which includes particular truths which are already known (and known with certainty!) and others which are yet to be discovered. In these founding moments of our new community of friends at Valor Leander, there is indeed a sense of journeying into the mystery.

One thing we know with certainty is that the “world is so full of a number of things; I’m sure we should all be as happy as kings” (Robert Louis Stevenson). At Valor Leander we will revel in the beauty of our world so full of these things—things which are marvelous, beautiful, and good. We will experience the thrill of discovering the sounds of letters, the meaning of new words, and the beauty of composed sentences. We will sit at the feet of the greatest thinkers in the tradition to learn from their wisdom.

We will look through the windows of great literature to marvel at the depths of human experience. We will delight in careful observations of the complexity of nature and find beautiful patterns in the ordered language of mathematics. We will strive together after greatness in athletic competition.

We will learn to make a gift of ourselves and forge new relationships with people with differing backgrounds, ages, and circumstances in the Human Encounter program. We will learn to rest and contemplate in the silence of the Utah wilderness on our wilderness expeditions. And we will do all of this together—building a community where deep friendships will be born of shared loves discovered together. And this will be very good!

But there is much also which is unknown, and likely to be difficult! The Valor vision for education draws us daily further up and further in as we pursue wisdom and virtue. This is a grand adventure which will demand much of us as faculty, parents, students, and friends. As we together respond to this call, things will not be comfortable or easy, but things of the greatest worth rarely are.

I hope you will choose to join us as we seek to deepen our encounter with this mystery together and build a community where all can learn to be more truly free and fully alive.