Character Goes Back To School

At Talent House Private School, which serves elementary and middle school students in the Washington suburb of Fairfax, Va., character education starts early. How early? In the school's nursery, where parents can park future students as young as six weeks old before heading to work in their Land Rovers and Cherokees, the walls are festooned with posters boosting the values of good character. This month's value is Helpfulness. So as the caregivers diaper and burp their gurgling little charges, the infants stare up at a sign that reads THE SEEDS OF HELPFULNESS BLOOM EARLY.

Though unaffiliated with any religious denomination, Talent...