Behind the Cover: How We Select Texts That Matter

At Brilla Schools, we believe that what students read shapes who they become. Texts are more than stories—they are moral companions, intellectual blueprints, and invitations to consider one’s place in the world. This conviction anchors our classically inspired curriculum and drives the care with which we select every book placed in a scholar’s hands.

A Classical Education for a Modern World

Brilla’s classical model is rooted in the Transcendentals—Truth, Beauty, and Goodness—and invites students to contemplate ideas that have shaped humanity across cultures and time. As explored in our Teaching Toward Truth curriculum training for network leaders, classical education is not simply about returning to the past; it is about forming the wisdom and virtue needed for modern life. Because curriculum is a moral act, every text we choose is evaluated not only for academic richness but for its capacity to cultivate human flourishing through meaningful engagement with Truth, Beauty, and Goodness.

Every book passes through the Brilla Text Selection Checklist before it is approved for use in our classrooms. This rubric evaluates texts across multiple dimensions—including classical quality, cultural complexity, genre balance, cross-curricular connections, and developmental appropriateness. A text must score over a certain threshold to be considered for adoption.

This is not a theoretical exercise. Our educators read each text in full and engage in structured vetting conversations. During our Text and Content Selection trainings, staff practice evaluating texts for moral depth, knowledge richness, developmental fit, and universal themes.

In fact, we take this work so seriously that we have removed a book from our curriculum after staff read it together during the SUPer Book Club, a staff book club facilitated by our school Superintendents, and determined, upon closer scrutiny, that it did not align with Brilla’s classical and moral framework. When we say every text matters, we mean it.

A Preview of Next Year’s 6th Grade Novel Study

Across all grade levels, Brilla applies the same rigorous text-selection criteria to ensure that every novel shapes both the intellect and character of our scholars. Next year’s 6th-grade sequence offers a rich and varied journey through stories of identity, courage, justice, and the search for truth. Students begin with The Outsiders, exploring the challenges of forming connections across differences and what can be learned by stepping into someone else’s world. They then encounter themes of home, perspective, and human dignity in Return to Sender and Inside Out and Back Again, both of which invite students to consider what it means to belong. As the year continues, Treasure Island and The Hobbit immerse scholars in classic adventures that highlight ethical dilemmas, bravery, and the difficult choices that shape who we become. Students turn to Red Scarf Girl, a powerful memoir that raises complex questions about authority, truth, and moral responsibility in moments of societal upheaval. Finally, The Westing Game and A Wrinkle in Time ask students to think critically about rules, fairness, and the courage required to challenge unjust power. Each of these texts has been carefully vetted for classical merit, cultural complexity, developmental appropriateness, and cross-curricular value, ensuring that our 6th graders experience stories that entertain, enlighten, and form their hearts and minds.