In this episode, Headmaster Heaton discusses how to prepare young children to be ready for a Grammar School environment. His guests are Grammar School Principal, Bridges Spiva, and veteran kindergarten teacher, Julie Haley who has taught young children for nearly 30 years. Their insights are worth listening to regardless of the ages of your children because they discuss not only what children need for school, but also what all parents should be practicing at home. Give it a listen!
24 Aug 2026
Episode 12: "Into the Fold - A Review of the Odyssey"
Episode 12: “Into the Fold-A Review of the Odyssey.” Students at New Covenant Schools first encounter this poem in grade 3 and read the entire book in grade 9. As you know, the epic was brought to the screen in Christopher Nolan’s summer blockbuster movie, so Mr. Heaton sat down with Nick Olson (Camden-10 and Harvey-7th), who taught English at Liberty University for 13 years. They will be joined by the Rev’d Davidson Morse (Aidan-17 and Virginia-24), our former Instructor in History and Theology, now serving as the Rector of All Saints Church, the school’s affiliate parish. We have a lively discussion of the movie and the book.
5 May 2026
Episode 11 - Predictability and Support
The are several factors that makes New Covenant unique among schools. We could point to the classical, Christian tradition from which the curriculum has been deeply shaped. While that is a key factor, it doesn’t completely explain the culture of the school. There are two other things that should be considered. Our consultants at Independent School Management (ISM) have conducted longitudinal research to determine the factors that contribute most powerfully to student success and well-being. With data from more than 4,000 schools they have found incontrovertibly that the biggest drivers in student success are predictability and support. Predictability, by which we mean the “rule-reward” structure is strong, but also intelligible and fair from the student perspective; and support, which we define as an environment in which students perceive that the entire faculty, administration, and coaching staffs genuinely seek the students’ success and work to achieve that success without inflated reinforcement. We can think of these factors as the two rails on which a train runs. The rails are not the main thing - the train is - so these two “rails” are carefully maintained in our school. Join me and our Principals for a discussion in this month’s Gentle Folk Podcast.
7 Apr 2026
Episode 10 - Writing Literacy: From Threshold to Thesis
Speech, both oral and written, is a distinguishing feature of human beings. Yet learning to write is an arduous task that requires attention to rules and lots of practice. Not surprisingly, the classical tradition provides a time-tested method of developing this skill. A student at New Covenant begins to acquire this skill from the threshold of literacy on the first day of school to the completion of a thesis by the last. Both in college and in later vocational contexts, our students demonstrate notable ability to express themselves. It doesn’t happen by chance. In this episode Middle School Instructor, Natalie Olenik and School of Rhetoric Principal, Dr. Erin Uminn, discuss the precise way we teach students the art of writing.
2 Mar 2026
Season 2 Episode 9 - Leisure and Learning
Dr. Erin Uminn, Principal of the School of Rhetoric, discusses the ancient Greek concept of "schole" and its connection to leisure and learning in this interview.
5 Jan 2026
Season 2 Episode 8 - The Necessity of Beauty at School
Headmaster Heaton interviews Derek Brooks of Benedictus Art, exploring the vital role of beauty in education and its impact on students.
1 Dec 2025
Season 2 Episode 7 - Teach Us to Pray: The Book of Common Prayer in the Life of the School Community
Headmaster Heaton and faculty members Lukas Stock, Jacob Webb, and Jonathan Hart explore the Book of Common Prayer and its impact on worship and daily life within their school community in this interview episode.
4 Nov 2025
Season 2 Episode 6 - Living Heart to Heart and Life to Life: The Virtue of Generosity
Headmaster Heaton interviews Nancy Hall and Dayna Renalds about how living generously cultivates unexpected happiness and strengthens community bonds.
6 Oct 2025
Season 2 Episode 5 - Where We're From and Why We're Here
Headmaster Heaton discusses the diverse backgrounds of students at New Covenant Schools and how they converge on a shared educational journey.
2 Sept 2025
Season 2 Episode 4 - Understanding the Middle School Student
Headmaster Heaton interviews Middle School Principal Kathryn Martin about understanding middle school students and guiding parents through early teenage years.
4 Aug 2025
Five "Heresies" in Classical Education
Alex Julian of Arcadia Education discusses five practices considered divergent from classical education norms in an interview with Mr. Heaton.
1 Jul 2025
Supporting The Non-Traditional Learner
Headmaster Heaton interviews Amee Newsome, who directs student support, about effectively aiding non-traditional learners in classical education settings.
16 Jun 2025
How to Look Back and How to Move Forward
The Headmaster recounts childhood stories and reflects on coming of age, offering life lessons and encouragement relevant to the class of 2025.
30 May 2025
Classical Education as a Way of Becoming and Being
Industry experts explore classical education, examining its potential as a transformative approach to shaping one's character and existence.
6 May 2025
Four Tests of an Education
This podcast explores the ideas of how to think, how to learn, what to love and how to live.
9 Apr 2025
What is Classical Christian Education?
In this episode, the heads of school dive into the pedagogy, literature, and virtue of Classical Education.
Who has been a guest on Gentle Folk
Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.
Erin Uminn
Derek Brooks
Nancy Hall
Dayna Renalds
Kathryn Martin
Reach and audience
Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.
Apple Podcasts (US)
5.0 / 5
9 ratings
Spotify
5.0 / 5
2 ratings
Podcast Authority Score: 8 / 100
A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.
Quality
4
Social presence
0
YouTube
0
Engagement
32
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