Grades 9-12

“For it is with pleasures and pains that moral goodness is concerned... Hence the importance of having been trained in some way from infancy to feel joy and grief at the right things: true education is precisely this.”

ARISTOTLE

OUR CURRICULUM

Upper School Course of Studies (9-12)

For a more in-depth overview of the coursework and academic vision of Tulsa Classical Academy, as well as how it meets Oklahoma state requirements, download the prospectus.

English Language and Literature
Mathematics
History and Geography
Science
World Languages
Moral and Political Philosophy
Musical & Visual Arts
Physical Education
Literature for 9-12

Graduation Requirements

The Senior Thesis Course: A Defense of Rightly Ordered Loves

The Senior Thesis course at Tulsa Classical Academy represents the high point of our students’ intellectual and moral journey. The Senior Thesis paper and defense are a defining moment in the lives of a TCA student. Students are asked to reflect upon the wisdom of one of the timeless texts of Western Tradition, in light of all that they have learned and to write and speak about its transcendent nature. It is an integral part of their intellectual and moral formation. It provides an opportunity to consider the journey from Kindergarten to Graduation. The Senior Thesis is the place where the three roads meet; grammar, logic, and rhetoric, the entirety of a student’s intellectual experience is on display. The object of the Senior Thesis is to challenge students to employ the skills of reading, reasoning, and rhetoric in the pursuit of the truest, best, most beautiful things. The course provides a forum for students to reflect on wisdom acquired, defend truths that can be known, and rest in rightly ordered loves.

Portrait of a Graduate

Human rights can only be assured among a virtuous people.

– George Washington

The end of education is human flourishing. This phrase is built on the notion that being precedes truth, and that truth precedes the good. In other words, I exist and I know that I exist in a knowable universe. But what is my place in that universe and what is my end? The true education helps individual persons come to know themselves in light of transcendent truth, the universe of which they are part. The pursuit of excellence in a liberal arts education offers more than a mastery of calculus, it helps us to a mastery of our soul. A liberal arts education helps us to order our soul well. It compels students to continually pursue a deeper understanding of the universal truths of nature and the universe so that their heart (will) may be inclined by the truth that it knows, to prefer the good in all human activity. The end of man is his happiness, there is no human happiness without virtue.

Aristotle says that in considering how to become good men, “we must apply our minds to the problem of how our actions should be performed.” The beginning of all virtue is prudence, it is the measure of justice, fortitude, and temperance. These four are considered the four Cardinal Virtues, from which all other moral virtue is derived. It is the final goal of a TCA education to produce a great-souled man or woman. For this reason we extol the Four Cardinal virtues along with six others. The following are the TCA’s ten virtues and they are at the heart of our portrait of a graduate.

Tulsa Classical Lionhearts Graduates:

Prudence

Make good practical judgements about how to properly order their human activity.
Recognize their freedom can be used for good or ill and discipline themselves for the good.
Are articulate and prefer to engage in thoughtful civil discourse.

Justice

Recognize that every human person has inherent dignity which is worthy of preservation.
Understand that their duties to self, family, and country demand self-sacrifice.
Understand their patriotic duty to preserve Western Tradition.

Fortitude

Have the courage to live lives that promote all that is true, good, and beautiful.
Have the courage to lead others well, regardless of conflict with perceived cultural norms.
Will endure difficult things in difficult times for the sake of the truth.

Moderation (Temperance)

Order their desire for human pleasure according to right reason.
Delight in the noble goods which are ordered to human flourishing.
Order their thoughts, words, and deeds with discernment.

Senior Trips

The question may arise in the hearts of our youth, why should I study the Ancients? What need is there for me to know what they did or said? These are not unusual questions. Many of these questions are answered through the curriculum and classroom experience. However, making the trip to Europe to visit the ancient sites which are the subject of classroom study generally deepens a student’s understanding of the Ancients and their place in history and our lives today.

The American government was built on features from England, Rome, Jerusalem and Greece. Greece was a direct democracy. James Madison said that a direct democracy was a “spectacle of turbulence and contention.” While Alexander Hamilton held that democracy was “tyrannical by nature,” Cinncinatus feared that a Republic would give way to an “aristocracy.” In order to combat these concerns, the Founding Fathers crafted a Constitution, in the vein of England’s constitutional monarchy. This became the law upon which they built a representative form of government, wherein the people vote for their representatives. It is commonly known as a democratic republic. Visiting these sacred sites, opens students to a deeper love of the Ancients’ contribution to American life.

Sophomores who travel to England will visit a variety of sites in London, including:

Thames River
Trafalgar Square
Piccadilly Circus
Buckingham Palace
Big Ben
Houses of Parliament
Westminster Abbey
St. Paul’s Cathedral
Shakespeare’s Birthplace

Seniors who travel to Greece and Italy will visit a variety of sites, including:

The Acropolis
The Parthenon
Cultural Greek food, dancing, and music
The Temple of Apollo
The Oracle at Delphi/Delphi Archaeological Museum
Ghiberti’s Baptistry Doors
Piazza Della Signoria – Political center of Florence
Michelangelo’s David
The Colosseum
The Vatican Museum
St. Peters Basilica
The Sistine Chapel

House System

The House System is designed to foster a strong sense of community, responsibility, and school spirit among students and faculty. Rooted in classical principles, the system will provide students with consistent peer groups and teacher mentors throughout their time in both Grammar School and Upper School. At TCA, we have four student Houses: Aquila (Eagle), Equus (Horse), Ursus (Bear), and Vulpes (Fox). Each of these Houses represent–and are oriented toward–the development of the four cardinal virtues: Prudence, Justice, Fortitude, and Temperance

Athletics

TCA’s approach to athletics is simply to coach the sport and the virtue necessary to win with humility and to lose with humility. We currently offer three sports, Cross Country in the fall, Basketball in the winter, and soccer in the spring. We are in the process of starting a ladies volleyball team. We are hopeful that our athletic program will continue to grow as the school grows.

Cross Country

Basketball

Soccer

Cheerleading

Clubs & Extracurriculars

AP Classes & Honors Program

Oklahoma law (70 O.S. § 1210.704) stipulates that all public high schools offer at least four Advanced Placement (AP) courses starting with the 2024-2025 school year. However, Tulsa Classical Academy is not required to offer any AP courses at present until the school advances to twelfth grade, when at such a time the law will go into effect. While the Tulsa Classical Academy does not currently offer AP classes, students are free to take AP exams if they choose to do so. TCA administration believes that their curriculum will adequately prepare students for the AP exams.

Tulsa Classical Academy will offer the following:

Elective Classes

Students have a variety of elective classes to choose from to enrich their degree.

Other English Elective (Senior Thesis undertaken in 12th grade)
Other Mathematics Credit (Calculus taken 12th)
Other History Elective (Ancient World History taken in 9th grade)
Other History Elective (Medieval & European History taken in 10th grade)
Other History Elective (Modern World History taken in 12th grade)
Art
Music
Yearbook

A Call to Courage, Commitment, and Community

At Tulsa Classical Academy (TCA), we are part of something bigger than a school—we are leading a movement of education reform in Oklahoma. Rooted in the classical tradition, we aim not just to educate, but to shape young people into virtuous, wise, and courageous citizens.

In a world where education often chases fleeting trends, TCA is committed to timeless truths: the pursuit of wisdom, moral character, and civic virtue. From our founding in 2023 as Oklahoma’s first classical charter school, we’ve grown with purpose—adding a grade each year toward our vision of serving grades K–12 by 2028.

Now, we’re ready to take the next bold step. Through Roar Forward, we will expand our campus to create spaces where our students can flourish—academically, athletically, and as a community.