01 — Attention & Presence
A childhood not governed by a screen.
Verae Valores believes that a child's attention is among the most valuable resources entrusted to a school.
The Phone-Free Campus
Technology remains a tool. It is never the environment in which childhood takes place.
The campus will remain free from personal smartphones, social media, and unnecessary digital interruption throughout the school day. Students will be expected to engage directly with their teachers, classmates, surroundings, and responsibilities.
Secured for the Day
Phones and other personal communication devices are secured upon arrival and returned at departure.
Purpose Before Access
School-approved technology may be used when it serves a defined educational purpose — never as a default.
The Family Technology Covenant
We ask families to delay, not just restrict.
The school will strongly encourage families to delay personal smartphones and unrestricted social-media access until their children demonstrate sufficient maturity and responsibility. Families will be offered practical alternatives and a shared technology covenant designed to protect:
Sleep
Attention
Privacy
Family Relationships
Healthy Development
The Morning World Briefing
A phone-free childhood does not mean an uninformed childhood.
Each morning, students participate in a world briefing covering important developments in the United States and abroad.
What
happened
Where
it happened
Who
is affected
Why
it matters
What
remains uncertain
Multiple serious perspectives, not a single interpretation.
Whenever appropriate, students will encounter multiple serious perspectives rather than a single political interpretation. Students are asked to:
- Examine evidence rather than accept a headline
- Identify the assumptions behind an argument
- Express their own view, clearly and respectfully
- Listen carefully when someone disagrees
- Explain what might cause them to reconsider a conclusion
The objective is to form students who are neither consumed by the news nor ignorant of the world. They should become attentive, informed, thoughtful, and capable of forming judgments of their own.
The Founding Circle
Attention creates the conditions in which purpose can develop.
Each student's formation is guided by an evolving personal plan, built around their own abilities, interests, and calling.