Pitching business ideas Shark Tank style…
Running around the house on a scavenger hunt…
Recreating famous paintings live on Zoom…
These are just a few monthly activities Wilson Hill students enjoy in our beloved House System. While silly on the surface, House traditions like these play a vital role in fostering the genuine, enduring friendships that contribute to our school’s vibrant community.
Wilson Hill’s Four Houses and the History of the House System
Starting in 7th grade, all students join one of the four Houses named after esteemed Christian authors: St. Augustine, Jane Austen, C.S. Lewis and Flannery O’Connor. Each House has its own personality and flair, reflected in a unique crest, Bible verse, and quote from its namesake author. Yet, all four share a common goal: fostering fellowship.
Though many may associate house systems with Hogwarts, the tradition actually dates back centuries in British boarding schools. Originally designed to provide refuge, pastoral care, friendship and frivolity for students away from home, this system remains a powerful way to build community today—including at Wilson Hill.
At Wilson Hill, each House is guided by a faculty advisor and two student leaders who organize activities and lead meetings, fostering community and camaraderie. In the Austen House, the leadership team is called the Knights, derived from the House members’ nickname, Austenites. Since St. Augustine was passionate about setting people’s hearts on fire for the Lord, the Augustine House refers to themselves as the Arsonists.
In the Lewis House, the team uses the name Votary since, in his autobiography, Surprised by Joy, Lewis calls himself a “votary of the blue flower.” The blue flower was a symbol used in German literature to represent the longing for God that Lewis calls joy. Finally, Flannery O’Connor spent time in an art colony named Yaddo, which inspired the O’Connor House to borrow the name as a reminder to create beautiful things for the O’Connor House and for the Lord.
Houses formally meet six times a year for competitions, games and devotionals, but they maintain community all year long with constantly buzzing community boards and special projects, like the O’Connor House’s weekly video series Pridelings’ Tidings or the newspapers regularly produced by the other three Houses.
But silly games and creative competitions are only one reason students love their Houses. This system thrives because the Houses instill deep, genuine bonds of friendship between our students.
My idea of good company is the company of clever, well-informed people who have a great deal of conversation; that is what I call good company. —Jane Austen
Christ as a Foundation for Friendship
Taylor, a student at Wilson Hill, says she often gets the question, can you really make friends in an online school? On her blog for fellow homeschooled students, she wrote an entire post on this topic. In short, her answer is a resounding yes.
“The first friends I made at WHA were through being a part of the Austen House Newspaper as a graphic designer in ninth grade,” she writes in her post. “Being a part of this team gave me the opportunity to meet with other students outside of classes and build community in a low-pressure environment. One of my friends from this experience was even in the same class as me, so we were able to get to know each other in both settings.”
Lauren Thomson, class of 2022 Augustine House leader, deferred to the words of Jane Austen when reflecting on her own House experience, “My idea of good company is the company of clever, well-informed people who have a great deal of conversation; that is what I call good company.”
Each House certainly provides good company, and even more meaningfully, each House points students to Christ. In Confessions, St. Augustine wisely wrote, “You only love your friend truly, after all, when you love God in your friend, either because He is in him, or in order that He may be in him. That is true love and respect. There is no true friendship unless you weld it between souls that cling together by the charity poured forth in their hearts by the Holy Spirit.”
It is in this spirit that our House System operates, and we hope that this sentiment is reflected in all friendships cultivated at Wilson Hill.
Our classes are live on purpose to foster a vibrant classroom environment where students can delight in learning, delight in God and delight in each other. Lively classroom discussions, extracurricular activities and in-person celebrations allow students to form meaningful relationships built on the enduring foundation of Christ.
When families list the reasons why they return to Wilson Hill year after year, the community is often at the top of the list, and our House System is integral to that community.
Are you interested in giving your children a community where they can form deep, life-giving friendships? Download your free guide to Wilson Hill to discover the lifelong benefits of being part of a like-minded community that supports your family values and prepares your child for the future.