Community and Mentorship

STUDENT SENATE
Beginning in 10th grade, students can participate in the Student Senate. The Mission Statement for the Student Senate reads:

The Student Senate of Geneva School of Boerne serves the Rhetoric School student body in order to exercise responsibility, mold godly character, and create a more effective learning environment where students realize the importance of a Christian and classical education.

Through the Student Senate, students take an active role in determining the culture of the campus by deciding upon, planning, and implementing traditions, clubs, social events, dances, banquets, and ministry projects.

Additionally, to some degree, the Student Senate may affect policy through representing concerns of the student body to the administration. Most importantly, however, the Student Senate has the responsibility of maintaining the standards and direction of the school through servant leadership. Each senator is, by default, a member of what was formerly called the “Honor Council”, and responsible for facilitating the student body’s adherence to the Honor Code. Senators are chosen to represent both their grades and their houses.

SERVICE HOURS
Students in Rhetoric School are encouraged to keep track of their service hours. There is not a service hour graduation requirement at Geneva, but students are encouraged to give back to our school community and the community at large. To help keep track of these hours, Service Hour Verification forms are available from the Rhetoric administration office and may be returned to the box in the office. In addition to aiding a student’s college resume, service hours earn the student’s house valuable points. Only those hours recorded on Service Hour Verification forms will count towards house points. Though there are occasional group service projects in Rhetoric School, the primary emphasis is placed upon the student and his or her own motivation and heart.

Service opportunities become available and are advertised through several vehicles: Student Senate, student committees, administration, GCL, houses, Booster Club, etc. Of course, students are also encouraged to pursue serving others through their churches’ ministries or through other agencies or from personal conviction. In other words, service should be an ongoing part of who we are as disciples of Christ.

One further word needs to be offered regarding service and service hours. True Christ-like service is, by nature, selfless. Students are encouraged to serve out of love, compassion, obedience, and duty and allow the hours and resume and points to take care of themselves.

RHETORIC SCHOOL HOUSE SYSTEM

Reminiscent of traditional British schools, all Rhetoric students (and all RS faculty) are divided into houses. To be sure, in the traditional boarding schools the students actually lived in and with these houses, but our system is a bit less ambitious. Besides the natural fun that comes along with such a system, the house system affords additional opportunities for

• Nurturing relationships across Rhetoric School grade levels
• Leadership, friendly competition, and service
• Faculty involvement with students on a different relational level
• Positive peer pressure and mentorship

The Geneva Rhetoric School Houses include the following:

CHAUCER HOUSE
Named after Geoffrey Chaucer (1343-1400), philosopher, scholar, translator, and poet/writer. Most famous for The Canterbury Tales, he is often called the father of English literature because he pioneered the use of English instead of Latin as a medium for literary art and as a means of scholarship. Chaucer: Champion of the English Language.

MILTON HOUSE
Named after John Milton (1608-1674). A writer of often quite fiery theological argument and political activism, he is best known for Paradise Lost, a retelling in classical epic form of the story of the Fall of Man. This combination of the epic form and biblical material has rendered Milton’s Paradise Lost one of the foundational works of western culture. Milton: Champion of the Biblical Epic.

LEWIS HOUSE
Named after C.S. Lewis (1898-1963), author, literary scholar, and Christian apologist. He is probably best known for his children’s classic The Chronicles of Narnia, but he is widely regarded as the most influential Christian voice of the 20th century. His works on the Christian faith continue to show Christianity’s relevance in the worldwide marketplace of ideas. Lewis: Champion of the Christian Worldview.

SAYERS HOUSE
Named after Dorothy Sayers (1893-1957), author, playwright, theologian, and translator of Dante’s Divine Comedy. Perhaps best known for her Lord Peter Wimsey mystery novels, she is also one of the champions of the classical Christian education movement. Her 1947 Oxford address entitled “The Lost Tools of Learning” spawned what we see today as the resurgence of the classical method. Sayers: Champion of the Classical Method.

1. STUDENT PLACEMENT IN HOUSES
   To ensure that houses are not “stacked,” an anonymous selection committee of faculty places the students into their houses, doing their best to ensure an equal distribution of students. Selections are not discussed, and selections are final. Factors considered when placing students in houses include academic aptitude, athletic ability, extracurricular engagement, gender, and personality. As in traditional British house systems, family members are in the same house. All faculty members are placed in a house as well. For students and faculty, once a member of that house, always a member of that house. Because we have chosen to place family members in the same house, grammar and logic school students who have siblings in a house already know their future house affiliation. Incoming freshmen discover their house affiliation in the spring of their eighth grade year at a special House Induction Assembly. Uniform accessories distinguish members of houses.
2. HOUSE ORGANIZATION  
   There are two basic levels of organization: student and adult. Students elect students from their house for each grade to serve as house captains. The 12th grade rep is the senior house captain. All house captains serve as student senate representatives, thus affording one student from each house in each grade as representatives in the student government. Further house organization is left to the individual house (most go with traditional student council officer positions), thus affording even more avenues for student leadership. All faculty members are in a house, but two full-time faculty members are chosen to be the house deans. Parent volunteers also have the opportunity to serve as house parents. The senior house captain (with the deans’ input and supervision) presides at all house meetings which are held as needed during assembly periods. Most are planning meetings for the various responsibilities/activities of the houses.

3. COMPETITION BETWEEN THE HOUSES
   Of course, much of the impetus behind the system is ongoing friendly competition. Houses earn points towards earning the honor of being the “House of the Quarter” and each year one house is awarded “House of the Year.” All faculty and administration are involved in the constant rewarding or docking of points based on individual student behavior and attitude. [Point breakdown: +/- 10 points for individual acts.] House deans receive copies of all teachers’ point tally sheets. To help curb system manipulation, students should be mindful of the following:

   • A teacher may ask you to do something for house points, but asking for points from the teacher because you think you’ve done something noteworthy can actually cost you points.
   • When you actually ask for points, “selfless” acts become selfish.
   • Grumbling about who got points or how they have been given or taken is the surest way to lose points.
   • The best points are awarded when you are not aware of it.
   • Instead of worrying about how to earn points, simply stop being a knucklehead and costing your house points.

   House point totals are posted on a weekly basis so that students know where they stand; however, final point tallies for determining the House of the Quarter must await bonus quarter-ending points. The point system operates as follows:

   • Each quarter, the houses start fresh with 0 points.
   • Daily point awards or deductions are tallied on a weekly basis and these ongoing point standings are posted. Teachers submit house point tally sheets every Thursday so that house point standings can be posted on Fridays.
   • To aid in knowing where points have been gained or lost, points in these weekly postings are categorized under three broad headings: dress code, behavior, and service/spirit. Only these week-to-week student points are what count towards earning House of the Quarter.
   • To prevent point stacking, only a fixed number of points are available each week for dress code. Additionally, on the house point tally sheets, teachers may only grant 10 points or deduct 10 points for any student for any act.
   • Bonus quarter-ending house points are awarded for highest house GPA, most faculty commendations, most service hours, most extra-curricular participation, fewest absences, and fewest tardies.
   • Everything else like big events, homecoming stuff, lunches, induction, Quidditch, field day, goodies for the teachers, decorating my office, tailgates, service projects, etc. are tallied by the administration during the year and go towards House of the Year standing.
      

   The house with the most points becomes the House of the Quarter for the subsequent quarter.

COLLEGE PREP
Guidance counseling for college admissions is provided by the College and Academic Advisor. Beginning in 10th grade, students are given guidelines and cumulative notebooks for preparation. Naturally, this preparation time ramps up significantly during the junior and senior years.

College Advising at Geneva School of Boerne starts with the understanding that every student is made in imago dei – created in the image of God. The purpose of the College Advising office is to partner with students and their families to help identify the students’ God-given giftings and aspirations and to help match the students to the colleges that best fit their academic, career and spiritual goals.

Our process is guided by scripture, with an emphasis on Psalm 139. Through scripture, we know the following truths about God and His role over our process:

God’s Design
God knit you together – Psalm 139:13

God’s Sovereignty
God ordains all your days – Psalm 139:16
God has prepared you to do good works – Ephesians 2:10

God’s Peace 
God knows your heart – Psalm 139:23
God’s peace guards your heart and mind – Philippians 4:7

God’s Glory Not to you but to God’s name be the glory – Psalm 115:1

You have been made for the good of others and to reflect God’s glory. Your life is in His gracious and capable hands. Knowing this means you can approach the college admission process with the peace that passes all understanding and the joy of discovery because living for His purposes is deeply satisfying. Having confidence that God individually cares for you means resting in knowing He is perfectly leading and guiding you and has a place for you in your next stage of life. This should change how you handle the fear, pressure and anxiety normally associated with this process.

TUTORING
If a student is encountering difficulty in a particular subject, the first step is to seek extra help from the teacher involved. Teachers are more than willing to schedule extra time before school, during lunch, or during study halls. In any case, students should approach the teacher and make an appointment for the mutually convenient time. Teachers may tutor students in their classes for a short duration only and may not accept payment. Students in need of more assistance must seek outside, professional tutoring.

Additionally, many of our upperclassmen are willing to tutor. Students who might desire help from a peer should notify the teacher or the office. Students who wish to offer some time to tutor others should notify the office as well.