About Us

“A society that wishes to be both ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, wants what never was, and never will be.” - Thomas Jefferson

Thomas Jefferson Classical Academy is a public charter school in Rutherford County, North Carolina. Using the classical education model, we have been a college preparatory school option for our community for over twenty years. This model follows the Trivium, the three natural stages of human development involving Grammar, Logic, and Rhetoric. 

At TJCA, we aim to impart knowledge to our students and equip them to think and learn for themselves for the rest of their lives. The Trivium does this by grounding students early on with the Grammar stage: during elementary and middle school, students use observation and memorization to master basic facts about history, literature, art, science, and mathematics. They are then ready for the Logic stage, starting in middle school and progressing into high school. Through the Socratic method, students build the skills of discursive reasoning, learning to form and defend sound arguments. In the Rhetoric stage (high school), students develop the ability to communicate persuasively; they express the knowledge and logic they have acquired through public speaking, culminating in a senior thesis presentation and defense. These three steps build on each other to produce well-rounded, thoughtful students who understand the purpose of education and are ready to learn independently. 

In addition to the usual North Carolina standard courses, our classical curriculum requires two courses in Latin (with an emphasis on grammar), a logic course, a rhetoric course, and an art history course. Beyond academics, we offer an arts program for our many musicians, actors, and painters, and we have plenty of athletic opportunities ranging from football and soccer to basketball and tennis. Together, our students develop their scholastic abilities, creative talents, and physical skills to become well-developed and virtuous people.