Veritas Preparatory Academy

Veritas Preparatory Academy is a charter school in Phoenix, Arizona and a member of the Great Hearts Academies charter network. Founded on the ideals of Truth, Beauty, and Goodness, Veritas offers a Great Books curriculum that includes the writings of Homer, Plato, Hemingway, Dostoyevsky, Locke, and other influential Western thinkers.Its students outscored peers in every country in the recent Programme for International Student Assessment, which the BBC called the “world cup of school standards” and “the world’s most important exam.” Veritas was also named one of the top three high schools in all of Arizona by the Arizona Board of Regents, as nearly 20 percent of the student body is recognized as National Merit commended, semifinalists, or finalists, a percentage higher than any other school in the state, and 98% of its graduates attend four-year universities.School philosophyAs a charter school Veritas Prep offers a Great Books education centering on fundamental texts in the Western canon. Veritas Prep's philosophy includes small class sizes and education using the Socratic method.Teachers ask questions, awakening a sense of wonder in the students and prompting them to think deeply about the subject matter. A key idea or assignment might require that the teacher present material to the class, but the forward progress of the class is driven by the questions that the teacher asks of the students, the answers that they give, and the further questions that those answers inspire.