Valor South Austin

Letter From the Headmaster

Dear friends,

Welcome to Valor South Austin. I want to speak to you about two things that are often misunderstood in education: the heart and the mind.

The life of the mind is vital to our aim here at Valor. We exercise and train our minds, but not merely so that we will do well on tests and get ahead in life. Instead, we believe the life of the mind is an end in itself. When we learn to study a Euclidean proposition or to observe the life of a butterfly, we are engaged in something lofty and freeing, the contemplation of the highest things, the beholding of the mysteries of reality and of nature, the glorious adventure of pursuing the truth. Sapientia per admirationem. This phrase encapsulates the life of the mind: wisdom does begin in wonder.

But perhaps even more importantly, at Valor we seek to bring the heart to be spirited about things that are good and beautiful. We seek to educate not only the mind but the heart, that center of our being, the locus of the will. We look to acclimate the heart to the appreciation of beauty by surrounding our students with great and inspiring art, music, poetry, and literature.

We seek to turn the students’ will to the good by developing a moral intelligence in the literature we read, by having high standards, and by lovingly encouraging them along the way. At Valor, we know not only with our minds but “by heart.”

Pursuing wisdom through wonder and virtue through exposure to beautiful things is not done by isolated individuals but by a community. And a community directed in this way naturally welcomes friendship of the highest order. Friendships developed in our community share the freedom of the mind, the pursuit of wisdom for its own sake, and a heart filled with joy.