PROFILES IN EDUCATION

Candace Braun

Name: Sara Capps
School: Wilberforce School
Years in Education: 13
Position: Head of School
Education: bachelor's degree in interdisciplinary studies, BaylorUniversity, Waco, Texas; master's degree in Christian education, Dallas
Theological Seminary
Most Memorable Book: The Great Divorce, by C.S. Lewis
Person You Admire: "The founder of the West Dallas Community School, Robin Lewis. I admire her because she is unwavering in her commitment to do what's best for children."

As a new school enters the Princeton community, so does a new educator.

Sara Capps, 35, was recently hired as the head of the Wilberforce School, a newly founded classical Christian school located at the Lutheran Church of the Messiah. After arriving in town last week, Ms. Capps is now preparing to open the school to its first students on September 8.

Wilberforce was established this summer after two sets of parents from the Princeton area decided that there was a need for a school that would offer a classical approach to learning with a Christian outlook. They found the desired curriculum in the West Dallas Community School in Dallas, Texas, a private school for inner-city, at-risk children, in a low-income community.

A Dallas native, Ms. Capps was one of the original educators on staff at the school, which was established 11 years ago. After beginning there as a first grade teacher, she soon became a key member of the staff, first as the dean of instruction for five years, and then as head of the school, the position she held when she was called upon this summer by Howe Whitman, Jr., co-founder and president of the Wilberforce School.

Ms. Capps was first asked to help as a curriculum consultant, but since her school in Texas had a good, stable teaching staff, she decided to come to Princeton to help shape the new school in person.

Like the private school in West Dallas, the Wilberforce School will teach through the trivium methodology, which combines grammar, logic, and rhetoric into teaching methods specific to each stage of a child's development. In addition, non-denominational Christianity will be applied to every subject that is taught, rather than through a religion-specific class.

Choosing Her Cause

Growing up in an affluent community in Dallas and satisfied with her own experience in public schooling, Ms. Capps saw many children who had "fallen through the cracks" due to circumstances that had nothing to do with their intelligence or abilities.

While earning a degree in interdisciplinary studies in Waco, Ms. Capps did a student teaching program at a school that served children from low-income families. Wanting to combat what she calls "the prejudice of low expectations" among those in poverty, she decided that upon graduation, she would look for a position where she would have the opportunity to work with special needs children.

After working briefly in special education and teaching first grade in public school, she was hired at the newly-established West Dallas Community School.

"Education often uses our children as guinea pigs," said Ms. Capps, adding that she felt the methods used in both the Dallas school and now the Wilberforce School address the students and the needs of students in a way that most public schools cannot.

"The school's philosophy is that education is life," she said, adding that the teaching methods that are used in classical education encourage learning in a nurturing environment.

One of the key elements of Wilberforce's philosophy is that it focuses on connecting different subjects to one another, rather than compartmentalizing, as many public schools tend to do, she said: "That's one of the biggest faults of American education."

Under the Wilberforce curriculum, a child doesn't just read a book, but also studies the content, as well as the time period in which it takes place.

"Our school is different," she continued. "Not only is it focused on education and an academically rigorous curriculum, it also values family time," she said, mentioning that children in pre-k and kindergarten will only attend classes for half days on two or three days a week. Those in first and second grade will attend school five days, but will have half days on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

Some families are torn between home-schooling their children or sending them to a school where they would be away from home five days a week. Wilberforce caters to those families, she said, adding that the new school will help families focus on spending quality time with their children.

Subhead: Adjusting To Her Surroundings

Having arrived in town last week, Ms. Capps will be subletting a home from a Princeton University professor.

In her free time she enjoys reading, gardening, camping, and climbing. She has hiked up 14,000-foot mountains in Colorado, Missouri, and Arkansas.

Still in transition from her home state, Ms. Capps admitted she misses the "big sky and open space" of Texas, but said she is looking forward to walking and riding her bike here, where she can now enjoy having things in close proximity.

The new head of school comes from a large family, with one brother, two sisters, and three step-brothers. Working in education is in the genes, as her brother has been a history and English teacher, and one of her sisters is the principal of a private school for children with disabilities.

Ms. Capps said she was first drawn toward a career in education after being inspired by some of the teachers she had as a student. Her interest in helping those with special needs came after her experience with a niece, which showed her that traditional teaching methods that have proven to work in the past can work on all types of students, even those with disabilities.

On her own experiences in public school, she said: "I don't know that I was necessarily challenged as much as I could have been," noting that in the Wilberforce School, children are actually always studying material a grade level above most public schools.

"Children are very capable if they're given the support and opportunity that they need," she said.