Letter from the Headmaster

Parents of CLC students,


As we stand on the precipice of some major milestones this coming school year (Lord-willing, our first CLC graduates and formal accreditation), it would be easy ruminate on the past 8 years rather than the past 1. But the last year has been a remarkable and action-packed one. By God’s grace we grew to 2 campuses and 130+ students. As we look ahead to fill our staffing needs for next year, we remember how blessed CLC was by the excellent additions to our staff who came aboard for the last year. We have seen encouraging growth in our students academically (with strong school-wide results from standardized tests), but more importantly, we have seen spiritual and relational growth in students in every grade from PreK-11th. For Emily and me, the 2021-22 school year was extra special as we got to experience the joy and comfort of sending our beloved Landry John to CLC. In this blessing, the presence of CLC has taken on additional import, as I am regularly thankful, with fresh eyes, for the committed work and ministry of our dedicated staff. God has surely been gracious to us in supplying for this need.


As I have reflected on the 2021-22 school year in recent weeks, 2 things have occurred to me:
1. We are no longer small and we aren’t yet big. 
We are firmly shifting (is that an oxymoron?!?) from a little startup school to a developed school of some consequence (size and otherwise). Evidences of growing pains (the good kind of pains) are all around me: a larger staff, two campuses, policies and procedures that need adjustment, etc.


But maybe the thing that is highest on my radar as we grow is…


2. Connection with you, the CLC parents:
I have thoroughly enjoyed the partnership in classical & Christian education with all of you and your children throughout CLC’s “startup” phase. And I know that, as with any organization that grows, one person cannot possibility maintain the close knit personal and professional relationships I have been blessed to have with many of you. I am glad for the growth of our enrollment and for the many close-knit relationships I have with many of you, but I rejoice further when I see families whose primary connection to this school is something or someone other than one of its founders. 


However, there is one thing I am eager to establish/retain as we continue to grow, and that is the willingness for you, as parents, to come to me (or to any current or future administrator) with encouragements and concerns. As I often say to people to make their way to my office, “Lay it on me, I can handle it!!”  That is to say, I want to be the kind of Headmaster and I want us to be the kind of school that is willing to hear and understand things from another perspective, while simultaneously being open and transparent with our own. Of course, this doesn’t mean that there will always be perfect agreement or immediate change. But it does mean that we want to hear it. I was very encouraged by the feedback that we received from the Parent surveys – both the positive comments and the suggestions for improvement. Thank you for taking the time to do those, and know that there is a Board and a Headmaster at CLC who desires to know what you’re thinking.


Many challenges, but even more and greater joys await us in the year ahead. Thank you again for your desire for your children to have a place to pursue objective truth, beauty and goodness as we seek  to graduate culture-shaping students who love that which is worth loving.

Dr. Cory Gerdts
Headmaster
Clear Lake Classical
[email protected]
www.clearlakeclassical.org​