Carlbrook School Honor System

components of Carlbrook advising

The most important element of the Carlbrook philosophy is the school’s adherence to the concept of Honor, which the school defines as follows:

Honor is the reconciliation of conduct with conscience.

We believe, as Fred Bauman wrote, “You don’t make, find, or save yourself by focusing on yourself…but by aiming at something hard and high, something that is a judgment on the self.” Honor is the indispensable ally in this enterprise. If conscience is the repository of the core values that guide our lives and help us define ourselves, Honor is the reconciliation of our conduct with those values. 

Honor is the logically necessary precursor of positive perception of oneself; it is the foundation upon which we assemble character and construct our lives. Without Honor, we cannot fully realize, appreciate, nor meaningfully share either the blessings that have been bestowed upon us or the gifts that have been entrusted to us. Honor is the virtue that pays tribute to all other virtues, one that harmonizes them, establishes emotional equilibrium, underwrites personal integrity and friendship, and empowers us in joyful service to others.

Honor can thus be seen as a single, overarching concept that incorporates all of the values fundamental to the school’s mission. Honor acts as a recurring theme or motif through which the school’s academic and personal development curricula are delivered. Its various contextual components, e.g. honesty, courage, integrity, persistence, etc. provide the substantive basis for group meetings and conferences, and act as guiding principles for the overall program. Because such attributes are considered by the school to be essential to the stability and continued growth of each individual, the Honor ideal constitutes the foundation of the Carlbrook experience and impacts every aspect of life at the school.

Consistent with this approach, the school avoids reliance on an excess of rules to establish acceptable standards of student conduct and instead requires that all students adhere to the school’s Honor Code, refined and monitored by an Honor Council consisting of both students and faculty, to encourage the incorporation of character and personal responsibility in the lives of all students.