Delphi—A Different Approach

All students deserve a full chance to really win at being students In fact, all students can be winners. When children have trouble in their educations, it is because of an incomplete know-how on the part of teachers—and even on the part of the children themselves—about how to teach, how to study and how to actually learn.

In study, as in all fields, it is know-how that differentiates successful ventures from unsuccessful ones. At Delphi, this know-how is referred to as Study Technology (Study Tech). It was developed by American author and educator L. Ron Hubbard to help students be able to truly understand what they study.

Starting in the early levels, every Delphi student gradually learns all the tools about how to learn, and how to overcome any barriers to learning. 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.

Keeping Students Flying Along

Some basic assumptions at Delphi 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?"

The pitfalls and basic barriers that can prevent a student from understanding and being able to use what he studies are fully identified within Study Technology and simple but powerful tools are provided to help a student to full understanding. This permits a student to tackle any subject he is interested in with confidence that it can be fully understood.

Why Forms instead of Grades at Delphi?

A grades structure advances students based on age or number of months spent at one level, not necessarily on whether the student has mastered the material or abilities for that grade. Delphi takes a different approach and ensures 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 give students an individualized road. Delphi students have their own program which guides 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 works best for him or her. Not only can a student move along rapidly in areas that he or she masters easily, but when a subject requires more care, it gets it, rather than rushing the student along at "class speed".

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 interviewed and given diagnostic testing, from which a program is designed based on the particular interests, strengths and weaknesses of that student. Some students arrive at the school with one or more "holes" in their existing education 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.