Our Team
We are dedicated to instilling children with a desire for learning and wisdom not for the sake of gaining a secret treasure of knowledge within oneself, but rather to utilize this wisdom in the service of the world through the creation of useful things and businesses wielded for the greatest benefit to mankind.
With a good work ethic, Tim was Co-Valedictorian of his 534 student graduating class at a public Missouri 5A High School. Sharing such a prestigious award with 12 other classmates never really made sense to him. It was only later in life that he began to think about things like grade inflation and why the smartest students didn't always have the best grades or highest achievements. Tim used the same level of hard work to graduate from Vanderbilt University in only 3 years. During that time, he found that despite being the top of his large sub-urban high school graduating class in a state typically ranked in the middle of US states for high school educations, he was ill prepared for college with the majority of students coming from elite private schools throughout the country. After owning a few real estate related business in the Atlanta area, he and his wife had their first child. It was only then that Tim began to consider what the top private schools do differently, how U.S. education has changed over time, and why his public school education was insufficient despite his own best efforts and the good teachers he had. Like most parents, Tim was determined to provide the best possible situation for his children. Countless hours of research into elite schools, educational methodologies, and the best practices for raising a wise child in an ever changing world led him to create The School of Seven Sages.
When not homeschooling his children, or working in his various businesses, Tim enjoys playing soccer, coaching youth soccer, volunteering and travel.
Kerry Binder
Grammar Teacher
(grades 1-4)
Ms. Binder brings many sought after qualities to the classroom, and the development of our students. She has been teaching children for 26 years in various capacities. She is a mother who home schooled her 3 children at different points during their education. She has business experience in operating her own day care center. She has 6 years of experience teaching in private and public elementary schools – including teaching mixed grades in the same classroom. She has experience working with gifted children. She has been a parent, business owner, teacher, and tutor. In short, she is exceptional and we are very pleased to have her join our team.
The following are Kerry's own words.
I became a parent 26 years ago. It did not take long for me to realize that teaching the young happened every day and quite naturally in all that we did together. I soon felt inspired to share the learning experience with other children while at the same time create a safe social environment for my young daughter. I opened what was intended to be an at home day care center, but quickly became an early educational preschool center. I filled my days with socializing and educating young minds in the beginnings of phonics, number familiarity and usage, and letter recognition and word structure. After 2 years the children were ready for either Pre-Kindergarten or Kindergarten and each one proved well prepared for the years of learning ahead of them. What had begun as my way of parenting and educating my own child proved to be the beginning of my lifelong passion for educating children.
It was 10 years later that I, once again, found myself inspired to create the best possible learning environment for my child. Our local public school was not offering strong academics, nor did it provide stimulation for the above average learner that my daughter was. I made the decision to homeschool her. It was by far, one of my better decisions where my children are concerned. I taught her not only the subject matter that she needed and so enjoyed learning, I also taught her study habits, research strategies and time management skills. Homeschooling opened my eyes to teaching that provided a quality of education far above the typical standards of public education. In turn, my son and younger daughter received the same foundation of education that has seen them on to high school, college and graduate school with confidence and success.
My previous classroom position came after years of subbing in the local school district. The principal had seen my work in several of her classrooms and she knew I had experience working with the parents of this highly academically motivated and involved community. The class was a combined class of 8 first graders and 17 second graders and it became mine. Due to the tense conditions under which the previous teacher left, there was a significant amount of character restoration necessary. The parents soon saw what I was committed to doing for their children. I reinstated the lessons that had been dropped and maintained high standards for each of them, many of whom were GATE (Gifted And Talented Education) students. When they reached their personal goal, I raised the bar. No one was left behind, no one went without, everyone was challenged, and everyone succeeded. The year ended with the parents overjoyed that their child had been in my class and convinced that what had seemed a disaster in September had actually been a blessing for us all. For me, the experience was one of those gifts that only teachers receive, the gift of having connected with a child and made a difference in their life, even in a small way, one day when they were 7.
I am honored with the role as teacher at the School of the Seven Sages. And it is with my ability to teach a lesson to your elementary student that they will learn, excel and progress. Yet it is my ability to connect with each of my students, to know them, to appreciate them for all that they are and for all that they will become that will allow me to mentor them. It is my life’s passion to identify my students’ interests and to guide them on, to recognize their strengths and challenge them further, to consider their struggles and lift them up to new accomplishments and to discover their unique qualities and celebrate their very being.