Capstone Classical Today

Tom Tucker (00:01.506)
A lot of great and exciting things happening at Capstone Classical Academy here in Fargo, North Dakota. And joining me now to talk about it all is Paul Fisher. He is the headmaster at Capstone. My name is Tom Tucker. I'm director of advancement for Capstone Classical Academy. Paul, it's great to connect with you for our first podcast interview conversation. We've talked about doing this for a while and it's great to finally connect to be doing this here.

Paul Fisher (00:30.255)
Yep, it's great.

Tom Tucker (00:31.726)
We're going to be talking about four main topics here. We're going to talk about our new building in South Fargo, a beautiful new facility. We're going to talk about the latest on the enrollment season with a really strong number showing right now, goals for next year and hiring and recruitment. So as you know, we are now into our third week in our new facility. How has it been for you? What are some of your thoughts, your feelings, your reaction at this point?

Paul Fisher (01:01.806)
Well, I, you know, we've been in three campuses for the first semester, two campuses for two years prior to that. And never have we been able to see the full scope of our ministry all in one place. And I think, you know, I mentioned lunch to a lot of people when I talk about it, because it's when I see the most kids in one place to see the number of lives that are impacted every day now in one site, in one room to gather as we do for chapel and

multiple campuses coming together. The grammar school filling one whole side of the gym and the bleachers, you know, is a thrilling thing just to understand the scope of the human ministry that we're in. And then spending that quality time together in shared space with all of our colleagues. Those are the greatest blessings of the new campus. That's what most of us are thinking about. There are other things, like it's the first time I've had an office really since we opened for classes.

But that really doesn't seem like that big of a deal. It's nice. It's a perk. Teachers have larger classrooms. Those kinds of things matter. But I think being together is the thing that I would focus on the most.

Tom Tucker (02:12.278)
Yeah, this facility is beautiful and amazing by all accounts. It's a 92,000 square foot facility built thanks to phase one of our capital campaign in which we're nearing $55 million. You've been at this now for a good few years with the growth and the planning and the building, the construction, the temporary buildings. How are you feeling at this point as you just kind of look and marvel at what has been accomplished so far?

Paul Fisher (02:43.477)
sense of satisfaction. We're not easily satisfied, so that doesn't last terribly long. But when we stop and we look back, I think those of us who've been around the founding team, the board, which is the founding group of board members myself, it's in for families that joined first thing, you know, who signed on in January of 22 and knew before then that they were going to sign on to start that August. I think for all of us, it's a sense of it's gratifying.

It's a great sense of gratitude. And so that's where we're living at the moment is just something that was a vision that all of us when we met in admissions visits talked about this school that didn't exist. And then we talked about a building that didn't exist. you know, every, it seems like every year we're talking about something that doesn't exist that we expect we will one day have and hold. And to see those things happen is a fulfillment of the faith of a lot of people.

I think the biblical definition is it's faith is something that you hope for even though you can't see it, but you have a certainty about it. And that's how we've built this was with the great certainty that these days would come. And so there's this great worship, worshipful spirit of gratitude that comes into play after that where you say, well, we stepped out, we believed he was going to do it and he did, he being God, you know, opening up the hearts and

and bank accounts and you know, that followed for people to give to this school. So nothing but satisfaction, but I think ultimately, Tom, it's not satisfaction in what a great job we've done. It's satisfaction in seeing hopes and dreams fulfilled in a bigger way than we are even talented enough to create. So we recognize there's a greater hand at play in this and we're grateful to him.

Tom Tucker (04:34.766)
Most of the construction on the building is complete, but there are a couple things that are still yet to be finished, and of course that's the chapel and the library. Can you maybe give us a little bit of a timeline on when those two parts of the project will be finished?

Paul Fisher (04:54.585)
the library we believe will be ready for the students in March. Yeah, we'll see. It's fine craftsmanship. The woodwork in there takes time. You don't rush it. You don't want to rush it. We want it to be enjoyed for, I hope, centuries. And so it's going to happen when it happens. We think March for the library, the chapel, we believe if it finishes this school year, it's going to be on our way out the door. We may get to gather in the chapel.

Tremendous amount. I thought we had all of the the trim and all of the you know decorative molding and things in already But they weren't all in the building. There was a parade of it coming in today from storage containers outside so there's a lot of work to be done on the chapel, but I think I'd said to somebody recently we really like delayed gratification here at capstone so if you wait you become a better person in the waiting and then the tasting is all the sweeter so

We're not in a rush, but we're excited about that day.

Tom Tucker (05:55.384)
Yeah, for those of us who have already been inside the building and have seen just the basic outlines of the library and the chapel and have also seen the artist renderings, both of these parts of the building are going to be stunningly beautiful. And it's just so neat and appropriate that they are located directly in the center of the building and how everything else flows outward from that chapel and from that library.

Paul Fisher (06:16.09)
That's right.

Paul Fisher (06:21.23)
Mm-hmm.

Tom Tucker (06:22.144)
roles literally and figuratively in our approach to education.

Paul Fisher (06:26.148)
Yeah, yeah, I mean, there when you put when you get all five buildings built there, there will be five, you know, there there's the center education building that you pull up to now. And then there's four that kind of flank it on the corners. And one of them is in place. So we have three more. And at the very geographic center of all of that is the chapel in the library and and Founders Hall. And so all of those things at the center are potent.

not just in what they give to the students in the ministry itself, but what they speak about our priorities and what's at the heart of what we do. As some people talk about, it's the integrating core of our school's mission. so, yeah, it's pretty thrilling to have those spaces rising as they are up out of the North Dakota plains. And that's not all. You know, the top of the building is missing the focal point. And so we can talk about the chap on the library, but...

when you see spotlights up on the top of the building right now, I'm sure some of our neighbors might think it's complete. Maybe some of our parents do, but there's actually a whole architectural lantern and a 10 foot cross that goes on top of that. So that was supposed to go up in earlier in December and then we found out we'd have to wait. So when that goes up, feel like that's kind of the apex of the building, literally.

It's also the focal point of our mission, so it's going to be exciting to see that go up.

Tom Tucker (07:53.226)
sure. Let's move on to enrollment season which is now underway. You tell me that the numbers right now are very strong.

Paul Fisher (08:02.042)
They are. Yeah, we're having our strongest January, strongest early enrollment period. The most applications we've seen, you know, this is our third enrollment season and we're far outpacing. And so you would predict that we shouldn't have any trouble hitting our numbers for the fall. Economies unpredictable. How deep is the market? I don't know. That's a crass term for students, but you know, in terms of families in the market, so to speak, who

who want to purchase this kind of education for their children. We don't know, but based on history, we'd say we should be over 300 students in the fall. And that will keep us on track for becoming a school that's fully sustainable and funded by its families, its tuition dollars. And up to this point, that's not been the case. Our donors have funded the gap between what we charge and what it costs to deliver the program. And then someday,

because of the number of students that we're going into. The donors will only need to invest in scholarships for families who can't afford to come otherwise and in future improvements to campus. So we're excited about reaching that. 300 will keep us on track.

Tom Tucker (09:13.87)
Speaking of scholarships, it would probably be good for us to mention that we are participating in Giving Hearts Day coming up on February 13th. Our goal is to raise $100,000, all of which will go toward our Golden Griffin Fund, which of course is for our need-based scholarships for students here at Capstone. Currently, I believe it's about 30 % of families at the school.

do receive this scholarship support. So we are very proud of being able to support families this way. And we're looking forward to a strong Giving Heart State campaign. We think that goal is really pretty attainable and reachable. I don't think it's too far out necessarily, Paul. There's a lot of other organizations here in the FM Metro that shoot for much bigger numbers. But I think we feel pretty good about this number considering how much our generous community has already raised for us.

not only for the Golden Griffin Fund, but certainly for Phase One of the capital campaign as well.

Paul Fisher (10:13.176)
Yeah, I think so too. One of the misconceptions about our building is something that I hope the Golden Griffin Fund undermines, and that is that it speaks of a school that's too pricey because it's beautiful. so we just, accessibility is so much at the core of our founding and the Golden Griffin Fund makes that happen. So I'm just deeply grateful at the amount of money that's raised, hundreds of thousands annually to help families.

come here and mostly raised by people who don't send their children to the school. They're blessing their neighbors with this access to such an excellent education that's going to be a game changer for our community. And I think people are seeing that when they give to the fund that they're giving to more than just that family by doing so. It's really overwhelming actually to think that $400,000 or so is raised just to help kids go to school this year.

Tom Tucker (11:12.522)
One final point on enrollment season, you talk about the strongest numbers to date in terms of applications. Are you surprised by the numbers you're seeing right now?

Paul Fisher (11:24.154)
I'm not surprised at all that families would look at what we do and think that it's the best option for them in our community. It's distinctive enough that there's not another school like it, not even close to our model. That doesn't mean we don't have good schools. There's just not one that's distinctively like us. And so I'm not surprised by the growth when you're the only product, so to speak, again, using market terms, that is like it.

And so that gives us some confidence that we're selling something that's unique and desirable. And we'll have a market of families that say this fits our hopes for our kids. I am surprised that we're this big, this fast. So while I'm not surprised there's healthy demand, I'm surprised that we may go over that $300 mark. It usually takes schools over a decade to get there when they're a startup Christian school. And so it's way ahead of the typical schedule.

which says a lot about our people. It says a lot about our families and their satisfaction with what they're receiving that they're willing to stake their own reputation by inviting friends to come. It's a big deal to tell someone they're going to be happy with a school where they enroll their kids. So I think that's unique. And I think our community is just the right size for word to spread pretty quickly. It's easier to be known in Fargo, Moorhead area than it is.

Where I originally came from in Philadelphia or you perhaps in Southern California for so many years.

Tom Tucker (12:52.768)
sure. Let's move on to goals for next year. I know we're talking about the things that we're going to be looking to do and accomplish next year. If you could maybe give us a rundown on some of those.

Paul Fisher (13:04.152)
Well, there's, the primary thing for us right now is just continued excellent recruitment of faculty. We're not growing our grammar school a whole lot more. We've got all of our teachers, we're two classrooms or two sections at each grade level in the K through fifth program as of the fall. We'll add that second fifth. We have two through fourth grade now, so we need a fifth grade teacher, but really building the department head team, those who are the anchors in each subject area in the high school.

and in the upper school, including middle school and that. That's a big focus right now, that recruitment. The curriculum development is part of it. The Hillsdale curriculum is already there. It's an excellent scope and sequence, well curated, but our offerings are bigger than that. So there's also courses that are being designed that are electives that aren't coming from Hillsdale. So having our faculty right now working on those course descriptions and some scope and sequence.

All of that in short is building the high school program. And we're already there. It's hard to believe we're two and a half years from, or three and a half years from graduating kids as alumni of Capstone. And so the focus is very much on that, developing the sports program. We've got a sports vision and strategic planning meeting coming up here in February. Already had a lot of work done by Brady Nash, who came on as our associate head for athletics in the fall.

and Kelsey Jensen working as our activities director with him. So those are two big things, you know, and when people look at choosing a high school or staying through graduation somewhere, they're often looking at extracurriculars, electives, the quality of the faculty in the high school. So we're blessed to have, you're going to bring that topic up, I think, but we're blessed to have some really quality faculty already committing for the future here.

Tom Tucker (14:53.966)
You mentioned Hillsdale College. For those who aren't familiar with our relationship with Hillsdale, talk about that a little bit if you would.

Paul Fisher (15:01.24)
In Hillsdale is a great friend to Capstone, has been from before we ever opened, before I was hired. The board applied to be a Hillsdale member school. That's a rigorous approval process. Hillsdale doesn't want their brand just worn by any school. They want to make sure that they can trust the leadership, that the founding board and the governance board is solid. They want to make sure that the community that it's in is one in which they can predict success for that school.

So in a sense, Fargo was chosen as a good location for a Hillsdale member school to be started. This board and founding team, this community was deemed one that would be likely to succeed. And so that's exciting. I got to interview a couple of times with the Hillsdale K-12 office in that process to make sure they thought I wouldn't sink the ship. So their partnership has meant faculty training free of charge for us year over year over year.

They bring our faculty to Hillsdale, they pay for our meals, they pay for lodging, they bring people in from around the country to help equip and sharpen and inspire. And then colleagues from all the Hillsdale member schools who are great educators in their own right come together and sharpen one another and encourage one another to keep building. And so that membership's vital to us. And while we have some others, you know, the Association of Classical Christian Schools and Society for Classical Learning,

Hillsdale was kind of that seminal association that gave us the jumpstart in consulting and support and continues to in curriculum and in training. Even things like, you know, something hit the press the other day that mentioned the school in it. And somebody in Michigan is telling us before we noticed the piece in the newspaper, it's just an opinion piece on school choice, but it mentioned capstone, which is great free publicity. But,

But it's nice that we've got a team of people even in that communications marketing realm, who are just a part of our team and they're not on our payroll, but they're doing that work for us at Hillsdale. Thanks to the donors at Hillsdale because that's all funded by them.

Tom Tucker (17:09.132)
Let's talk about hiring and recruitment. We recently had some good news from an instructor who will be moving himself and his family from Florida, of all places, to join our team. I know you feel really good about that hire and a lot of other hirings that you're conducting right now. Talk about this process and kind of where we're at in that.

Paul Fisher (17:32.475)
Yeah, well, our approach is we like finding local talent because you always think you're going to keep the local talent. They won't come taste the winter and then go out broken. And so it was important that that candidate from Florida came during a winter storm. That was very helpful. It was fair to them. so it was.

It was good to have them come up. What we're looking for, though, is people who have the kind of scholarship and their background and the teaching experience to hit the ground as someone who can even mentor and sharpen the folks we already have here. And it's a rigorous process, Tom. I don't know if we've talked about it much before. You've at least answered. You came on board as a director of advancement. There's 11 essay questions to get an interview. And then once you've answered those, we have a sense of your intellect, your spiritual life.

your values, you know, what's your personality like? How open are you? Do you possess some humility, but also some healthy confidence? There's things we're looking for because we know it's a certain culture we're building here. So when we recruit, we look for the right culture in the person. We don't want to have to create that every time. We need someone who's really amenable to and already a good fit. And then after that, it's okay. What are your professional credentials? But the good news is with the building and with the reputation we're getting outside of our state,

It's easy for us now to get, there's a sense of permanence for Capstone, a sense of this is a successful venture. So people are now more willing to choose us over Dallas or choose us over Atlanta or these other really popular classical school hotspots to come to Fargo, which for most of them is something they've never considered before. So we need local talent, but because we do think at the end of the day, local talent's your best bet.

But if we don't get local talent, we'll go far and wide to find the people we need.

Tom Tucker (19:23.53)
And for anyone who might be listening or watching who's interested in applying or learning more about job opportunities, career opportunities and more about capstone in general, you can do that online at capstoneclassical.com. We've covered a lot of territory here, Paul, as we mentioned initially, this is our first interview in what will be our podcast interview series, and we'll look forward to covering a range of topics in the weeks and

months ahead. Look forward to having more conversations with you talking about classical Christian education, our role here in the community, and lots of other things as well. We'll look forward to talking to some of our founding board members, some of our teachers, and maybe some of our supporters as well. We've covered a few different topics here. Anything else in closing that we haven't touched upon that you think is important to mention or include?

Paul Fisher (20:10.532)
Well, let me just add this, you know, we're for our community. so while we're really for our school, we love building out our school and in the school community. The vision for Capstone is more that we're a school for this community, for the state. And if somebody doesn't send their child here, maybe there's other ways that our friendship, should we get to know one another, could be beneficial and symbiotic, if you will. I think...

you know, networking is really important to us, understanding our community. And one of the things that people tend to do is hear the word private and say, well, that's a, that's like a country club. That's something you have to be a member to really impact or be impacted by. And I would think what we'd want people to know at capstone, especially now that we're in this campus is that we want to be an asset for local community. We want to be accessible to families. And if you're like, well, I don't know, I love their mission, but I don't know what I would do at capstone. Well, go ahead and just do a general application on the website.

Let us find out what kind of person you are and then we'll build that relationship and then you don't know what follows. We always say, we're looking for God to show us the people that will probably need to be on our team, whether we know the position yet or not. So I guess it's just an invitation. You asked for one more thing. Well, I want us to be open and invitational to the community.

Tom Tucker (21:24.59)
All right, it's a wonderful thought. a capstone parent, I'm grateful for the work that you and the rest of our colleagues are doing to make this school a great school and have us in a position where we're off to what I believe is a really good start. Again, I've been speaking with the headmaster for Capstone Classical Academy here in Fargo, North Dakota, Paul Fisher. Paul, thanks so much for the visit. It's always a pleasure and we look forward to doing it again.

Paul Fisher (21:48.218)
All right, thanks, Tom, appreciate you.