Delphi—A Different Approach

The somber classroom filled with textbooks, lectures and chalkboards is not something you'll see at Delphi. We focus on the practical use of an education and emphasize getting our students involved in their subjects. Demonstrated competence in subjects studied is spotlighted rather than time spent in class or "facts" accumulated. Delphi's goal is to have students really "own" their education, which means taking a very active and personal role in it.

How Learning can Work—Study Technology

Our basic assumptions are that every individual has an innate desire to learn, that learning is inherently a pleasurable experience, and that the only reason a student feels otherwise is because there's something not understood or easily grasped. That something could be a word, it could be a concept or action, or it could just be "How does this apply to me?"

American philosopher and educator L. Ron Hubbard recognized the pitfalls and identified basic barriers that prevent a student from understanding. To help overcome these barriers, and ensure a student could truly put his or her education to use, Mr. Hubbard developed what he called Study Technology (or simply Study Tech). Study Technology provides simple but powerful tools by which any subject can be understood, and Delphi students get a firm grounding in it.

Delphi Forms versus "Grades"

Rather than place or advance a student based on age or number of months spent at one level, we take the approach that each level of one's education involves acquisition and demonstration of particular abilities and knowledge. We refer to each level as a Form, and the abilities and knowledge the student acquires at each Form are mapped out in explicit graduation requirements.

Forms provide specific goals and an individualized road. Delphi students have their own programs that guide them through each Form. Students can enroll in a Form at any time during the school year. This structure makes it possible for a student to move on to a higher Form, regardless of age, once all the graduation requirements for the previous Form have been met. In this way, each student advances as rapidly as he or she is learning and demonstrating competence.

Delphi Students have Individual Programs

Students are not all the same and don't all start at Delphi on the same footing. Each arriving student is given diagnostic testing from which a program based on interests, strengths and weaknesses is designed. Some students arrive at the school with one or more "holes" in their existing educations and part of the initial task is to identify and repair those holes before they become any more of a problem. The student can then embark on a full academic program.

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