THE MEANING BEHIND A LOGO
The Arete logo symbolizes the philosophy behind classical education. The tree is analogous to the three stages of classical learning, or the trivium. The roots represent the grammar stage where the foundation for learning is built by filling children’s minds with a love for stories, facts and nature. The trunk of the tree is likened to the dialectic stage where students take learning to a new level by asking questions and testing boundaries. The branches symbolize the third stage of learning: the rhetoric stage. Rhetoric students “branch out” by learning how to articulate their knowledge. The cross in the middle of the tree reminds us that all knowledge is based on God, revealed through his Word and his world. The book emphasizes that learning is rooted in books, starting with the Bible. Just as a tree has three parts that must all be nourished for a healthy plant to grow, children are God’s image bearers, with hearts, minds, and souls that must be cultivated, The crux of a Christian, classical education is to do just that.
