"Our search is for those moments and situations when we are most alive."

This quote borrowed from The Timeless Way of Building by Christopher Alexander is one of many sources of understanding and inspiration at Sonoma Country Day School that include classical literature, poetry, science, art and architecture, philosophy, mathematics, linguistics, music, learning theory, and popular culture. The quote is inscribed on the Sun Court at the main entrance to the school.

If you ask Headmaster Philip Nix what he reads and studies and uses to ground himself intellectually and stay engaged with life, he will not think your question is strange. Nor will any teacher or administrator. One of the school's goals is to give children access to ideas that inform and expand their minds—to source them so that they are re-sources for themselves and others.