Via the Union Tribune San Diego
Unable to find right school,
mom starts her own
![JeanKim-UT-SD](https://www.cambridgeclassical.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/JeanKim-UT-SD.jpg)
In 2006, after searching for the right school for her son, Jean Kim founded the Cambridge School, a classical Christian campus in Carmel Valley that this year has enrolled 202 students. Photo by Tom Pfingsten (Union Tribune)
CARMEL VALLEY — Eight years ago, when Jean Kim’s eldest son was in kindergarten, she knew exactly what kind of education she wanted for him: challenging and academically sound, but also spiritual — something that “cared both about head and heart, about character as well as intelligence.”
She knew its name, as well: classical education. Think Greek and Roman, “great books” and parliamentary debate.
Kim went looking for a classical Christian school for Josh, now 13, but her search came up empty. Not a single campus in San Diego County fit the bill.
“I decided, well, I could home school classically, or I could start a school,” Kim recalled last week, when I sat down with her on the Carmel Valley campus. “The more I thought about it and prayed about it, I realized this was such a rich form of education … and I really wanted it to be a blessing for the community at large, not just my own children.
“I decided to be the crazy lady … and start a school from scratch,” she said. “I had no money, I had no location, no families who were interested at that point, but hey, we’re going to start a school!”