Values

The following are the foundational values of the BFEA. They guide our thinking, our decisions, and our actions. Our mentors and staff hold these values dear, and they teach them to the students. We regularly celebrate them at the academy.

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Christianity

America and the West were founded upon Christianity and Greco-Roman ideas of representative government. Religion has been a major pillar of all successful civilizations, securing the society and regulating behavior with a set of ethics and a belief in something greater than the flawed and often petty trials and tribulations of human existence. America is a Christian nation. Though our Constitution does not establish a government-sanctioned religion and protects our freedom to practice the religion of our choice, Christianity has been the foundation of American morality and religious belief since the founding of the United States, and our justice system is based on Christian ethics. Christian ethics and theology allowed the West to obtain supremacy in culture, politics, and economics. At the BFEA, we offer certificates in Christian history and theology, we observe Christian holidays, and we invite Christian leaders as guest speakers occasionally. 

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Family

The family unit is the building block of most societies, including the United States. We value men and women having children and creating and extending families, and we value loving and supporting family members. We practice this value at the BFEA by not taking the choices of what students learn and how they learn away from families and by not monopolizing our students' time by assigning school work and homework, thus allowing students to spend more time with their families and to contribute to the daily enjoyment and work of their families at home.

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Patriotism and Nationalism

We believe in the sovereignty of the United States as its own nation, governed by its people. We promote the learning of the good and bad of U.S. history, but we recognize and celebrate the outstanding figures in our history (including our academy's namesake) and the tremendous good brought about by the American people. We are extremely grateful for the fortune of being citizens of the greatest nation in the world, and we have a deep sense of responsibility to do our part in maintaining our nation's greatness. Patriotic celebrations are a regular feature of the BFEA.

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Duty, Responsibility, and Hard Work

Duty, responsibility, and hard work, willingly and honorably born by individuals all across America, are what make our nation function and thrive at the practical level. These three virtues are an unalienable part of who we are. In addition to personal growth and refinement and a greater enjoyment of our lives and the world, the reason we pursue education and intellectual excellence is so that we may be optimally fit to contribute, to the best of our abilities, to the prosperity of our families, our communities, and our nation.

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Humility, Courage, and Honesty​

We strive to uphold these virtues in all that we do.

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Truth and Beauty, and Education

As scholars, we are committed to, and unquenchably passionate about, the pursuit of truth and beauty. We believe in objective, universal truth and an ultimate truth toward which we continually strive. We also believe in objective, universal beauty and that the appreciation of beauty is the ultimate state of being. Some things are more true than others, and some things are more beautiful than others. Education is the process by which we search for and attempt to comprehend that which is more true and more beautiful. We value education, and it is one of the top priorities throughout our lives.

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Self-Reliance and Independence

From the settlers in Jamestown to the patriots of the American Revolution, from the pioneers of the western frontier to the heroes of classic Hollywood westerns and action films, self-reliance and independence have pumped from the hearts of Americans and have defined our nation throughout our history. We are naturally skeptical of all authority other than God, and we find honor in doing things ourselves, with our own two hands, unless we absolutely cannot. This has been one of the potent fuels of American success. Although, unfortunately, these two virtues have been somewhat diminished in America due to progressive political movements, the growth of U.S. government, and the comforts of modern life, they abide yet in the minds, flesh, and bones of most individual Americans. It is up to us to uphold the tradition of self-reliance and independence and to pass them onto future generations. At the BFEA, we do not have teachers who plan every step of the learning process with lesson plans and assignments, accommodate students with elaborate instructions for assignments, supply resources for completing assignments, and provide students with graphic organizers, sentence stems, extra credit, curved grading to raise students' grades, repetitive inquiries of "Do you need any help?," and a myriad other infantilizing and debilitating supports. Instead, mentors serve as role models and provide mentorship and guidance, but students learn to be adult Americans by assuming the responsibility of setting their own goals and achieving those goals. Benjamin Franklin, in whose honor this academy is named, was self-educated and became a renowned and highly impactful author, politician, inventor, and scientist among American colonists and Europeans during his time.

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Entrepreneurialism

America is admired throughout the world for its entrepreneurialism and its innovation, which have made it the premier economy and hub of technological advancement. The entrepreneurial spirit has driven many Americans to greatness throughout our nation's history. The creation of the BFEA is an entrepreneurial endeavor as is every BFEA student's enterprise to achieve his or her self-made goals, to achieve excellence in education and character development, and to become the man or women he or she wants to become.​

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Natural Rights, Popular Sovereignty, Limited Government, and the Constitution

The American government has proven to be a creation of genius by our founding fathers. We value the Constitution and strive to maintain its integrity as responsible citizens. We also value the values upon which the Constitution was founded. People are born with God-given natural rights - including life, liberty, sovereignty, property, and the pursuit of happiness - and governments are established to protect those rights. Government should be as limited as possible to ensure the maximum amount of liberty while still maintaining a reasonably safe and secure society in which our rights are protected. This is why the BFEA will always be superior to any public high school. Government operated schools have resulted in a terrible education system, low student performance, much wasted time and money, and a mandatory curriculum corrupted by ideology forced upon students. Unfortunately, most private schools have adopted the public school model. In contrast, the BFEA is an American school, not controlled by the government, where students have the liberty to strive for their potentials.

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American Culture

The BFEA celebrates traditional American culture and accepts its duty to assist parents in passing the culture onto future generations. We will work with families to clearly define this culture for our community.

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Western Culture

The BFEA also celebrates Western culture. Students are encouraged to study Eastern culture and other cultures as well. However, America has its roots in Western culture, and we recognize its many superior characteristics. We regard it above all others. We celebrate the contributions of Aristotle, Homer, Aquinas, da Vinci, Shakespeare, Rembrandt, Beethoven, Mozart, Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, Dickens, etc.