We are a people of stories. Ghost stories around a bonfire, folktales and myths that have been passed down for generations, literature and films that make us laugh and cry. We are moved by hearing the stories of those around us and those who have come before us, and for many families at SLOCA, it is these very stories that have brought them to choose SLOCA for their own kids.
Read below to hear how the Pierce family came to choose SLOCA (from another family’s story!), and share this story with another family who you think might want to learn more.
Lucas Pierce: So, we live up in Cambria, and we weren’t originally looking for a hybrid school. I was also pretty skeptical of going to a private school.
Annie Tolkamp: Oh, what did you believe about private schools?
Lucas: I just thought it was maybe too privileged. We found out about [SLOCA] because we were basically deciding like, do we send [our kids] to Cambria Grammar School? They were also zoned for a school in Cayucos that a lot of parents send their kids to. When we were kind of making that decision, [my wife] Jen talked to [a SLOCA parent], and they said that they were sending their kids to SLOCA and really liked it.
I was very skeptical. I was like, “No, I don’t want to do that.” But then she’s like, “Well, let’s just go check it out, go look at it.” And then we just saw the school.
I would say the thing that sold me on it, though, is I really like the idea of classical school, partly because I read so much, and I really liked the idea that they would learn Latin. And I think the other thing that kind of sold it is I was making a career transition myself to teach at Cal Poly. I’m already driving down to SLO three days a week; I teach while they’re in school, and when I’m done, I go and pick them up. I think that kind of got me over the hump, and then since we’ve been here, I’ve really loved it, and I feel like it was the right thing.
Annie: How long have your kids been here now?
Lucas: So Pixley is now in fifth grade, and she started in kindergarten. And Wesley is in second grade.
Annie: Okay. It’s been five, six years. So are you the main home educator then if you’re free on Tuesdays and Thursdays?
Lucas: It’s an equal partnership. Jen does the grammar and spelling, and I do the rest of the grid.
Annie: Has that always been the dynamic?
Lucas: No, she initially took on more of the grid. Initially, I did the math and the history, but it kind of expanded. At one point, I took on more of the reading because she was kind of struggling with keeping our son in line, and he responded better to me. So we fluctuated a little bit, but she’s always focused on the copywork because I don’t feel like I have the right handwriting for it. And she’s pretty much always in the spelling and grammar. We often split the literature. Like right now, I’m doing the literature with our daughter, and she’s doing the literature with our son. And I’m doing Latin.
Annie: Are you actually having to learn Latin to teach it?
Lucas: This is the first year that there has been anything [at home]. It’s been purely at school up until fifth grade. I’ve heard from other parents [that they have] some anxiety that you have to be an expert in all these things. But I don’t think you need to, because you’re basically following a grid and a set of guidelines that the school is providing. It’s not like you’re independently coming up with a curriculum and having to build your lectures and all of that. You’re just supporting them.
Annie: What are some of the things that you’ve learned alongside your kids over the last several years of being at SLOCA?
Lucas: I mean, the one this year that stands out that I’m actually really excited about is starting to do Latin and starting to go through that and drilling her on the nouns and the small phrases. That’s super fun. I think some of the math is interesting. I mean, I teach math, but the Singapore math and the way that they approach some of the problems, I think, is really interesting. And so, just learning that approach, because it’s different from the way that I learned it.
Annie: I’m curious to know—because you said you weren’t interested in private school, you weren’t looking to homeschool—what has your experience been like then, in light of [SLOCA] just being different from what you planned?
Lucas: Well, I think the community is really strong here. I think that a lot of that is because parents are so involved that it’s just a lot easier. I like how much the staff and the teachers also feel like they’re part of the community. A lot of it is because they send their kids here. It doesn’t feel like there’s administration versus parents. It feels like we’re all more interconnected and I think that helps. I think there’s a lot more trust as a result.
I think one of the other benefits that wasn’t on my radar, but that I very much appreciate, is how they approach technology. And I say that as a computer science professor. I’m not anti-tech, but I do think, developmentally, schools have made a pretty catastrophic mistake by introducing too much technology too young, and I think that SLOCA’s approach there is very pedagogically sound. You don’t have a bunch of kids on tablets, and that’s the reality of a lot of public schools. And so that was not a reason [for why] we joined, but it’s definitely a reason that we stay.
I also ask our kids every year, “Do you still want to go to SLOCA? Do you like it?” And they’re always like, “Yes! Why do you ask that? Are you gonna pull us?” But I just want to make sure that there’s not something else going on, or that they don’t feel like they’re being forced. But they’re still resounding yeses.
Want to hear more from Lucas? Watch our Forward Capital Campaign video to hear Lucas share about SLOCA’s holistic philosophy of education.
