Educational Philosophy

Starr King School’s educational philosophy is rooted in Unitarian Universalist values. We educate in ways that:

  • trust in an empowering and liberating grace that is larger than ourselves,
  • call forth the full, authentic presence of people,
  • welcome silenced knowledge, feeling and experience,
  • undergird human wholeness, integrity, interdependence and agency,
  • foster self-awareness and self-respect,
  • strengthen relational capacities and the ethics of community,
  • deepen knowledge and wisdom arising from engagement with primary texts and primary experience,
  • embody an ongoing practice of inquiry, study, action and reflection.

Our Educational Practices

Starr King School emphasizes student-centered, holistic learning that cultivates habits for successful ministry and effective religious leadership.

Our Educational Model

Starr King’s Emergent Educational Model advances Starr King as a school with “permeable walls” and opens the School to enrollment growth by making our programs more flexible, focused on student-centered education. It asks each student to engage in three modes of learning: on-line learning, residential learning, and immersion learning. Learn more about our Educational Design.

Educating to Counter Oppressions and Create Just Communities

In our work we strive to embody what we hope to see in the world — a just, loving humanity and community in which people are free to be themselves fully and without fear; a community where no one is exiled, silenced or exploited because of gender, gender expression, race, color, ethnic or national origin, religion, sexual/affectional orientation, age, class, physical character or disability.