Head of School's Welcome
Awards & Recognition:
-Gutterman Family Award for Excellence in Holocaust Education 2018
-Florida High Impact Teacher Governor's Award 2016, 2017, 2018
- Excellence in teaching English 2001, 2006, 2007, 2008
-Teacher of the year 1999
Hello and welcome to The Simon School! I am Ms. Simon. I love learning and love sharing that love of learning with students. I found myself teaching not long after I graduated from college, and when I saw my students have their own "aha" moments that gave them a love of learning I was hooked. 20 years later, I am still teaching and still helping students have their "aha" moments.
Years ago I dreamed of having my own school. A school where students really were at the forefront of every decision. If something isn't good for the students then it can't be good for the school. A school that was an extension of the home creating a beautiful synergy between teacher, parent, and child. I wanted to create a space where students were encouraged to learn even when it was challenging, to believe in themselves and in their God-given purpose. A school where learning was fun, but not frivolous; rigorous but not unreasonable. A school where regardless of where your start was, you became a success because your entire school community supported you on your journey without making excuses or coddling you along the way.
Throughout my career, I have seen how our educational system has declined and is failing too many of our kids, and our society as a whole. The Testing culture that prevails in both public and private schools stifles creativity, innovation, and curiosity, not to mention undermines the purpose of knowledge acquisition and often ignores fundamentally important aspects of language or history. I believe a well educated person is well versed in the humanities, is a critical thinker, strong problem solver, confident, and kind. I believe the best way to achieve this is through a Classical education balanced for the 21st century. A Classical Education is about educating the whole person, fostering a love of inquiry and a desire to engage in Socratic Thinking about everything. Its the educational process that enables us to think deeper, find connections, and nurture our humanity.
I believe students can have fun, energetic and highly rigorous academic educational experiences. Our curriculum is centered on applications-based/project-based learning a.k.a. PBL and Socratic Thinking with lessons that are measured in applicability of, and not simply regurgitation of, knowledge.
At The Simon School each student's personal gifts are important. Everyone is gifted. We have extensive experience working with neuro-divergent students and welcome the opportunity to help guide students towards their life purpose through a strong character-based school culture focused on the discovery and nurturing of our humanity. We nurture the mind and the soul. We educate the whole person.
Civility, moderation, and human connections are often lost in our modern world.
Our foundation in the Classics, Stoicism (self-discipline), and Socratic Thinking allows our students to excel as individuals and as part of a larger society be it as future college graduates, entrepreneurs, or members of our armed forces. We honor and cherish all our students' positive contributions to society.
Through a Classical Education strongly connected with parents- our entire school community gives our students roots and wings.
Like Socrates we only educate small groups of students at a time, admitting a maximum of 12 students per academic year .
We look forward to meeting you and hope your child is among those to join us in the Fall!
Sincerely,
Carolina Simon
Head of School
Our Philosophy
Our greatest gift to ourselves and our community is education.
The exercising of the mind for the sake of seeking truth is one of our greatest challenges and callings.
It takes courage to seek truth, wisdom, and virtue.
We believe we are stewards of the Earth; We are Each others keeper;
We are responsible for our behavior;
We are called to take pride in ourselves and in our work;
We must do nothing to harm ourselves or others;
and We need to leave things better than we found them.
These are our guiding principles and we apply them to every aspect of our day.
Our History
Forged out of a desire to help restore our American values, our shared Judeo-Christian values, and the development of our humanity through a Classical education, Carolina Simon saw the deterioration of these ideals in our schools as an educator for 20 years;the increasing concerns over the applicability and validity of the knowledge gained through traditional routes; We are a school created by an award winning educator who has had extensive successful classroom experiences in the secondary school and college settings and loves sharing her expertise with students in creative, energetic, and thought-provoking ways.