Boys’ School Affiliated With Catholic Group [Opus Dei] Draws Conservatives in Washington

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Although he has made being a home-schooling dad part of his identity, the Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum has sent two sons to The Heights. The school, for boys in grades 3-12, has also educated the sons of the Republican senators Mel Martinez and Chuck Hagel; the former F.B.I. director Louis J. Freeh; Maggie Gallagher, founder of the National Organization for Marriage; and Kate O’Beirne, an editor at National Review.
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Conservative Catholics are drawn to The Heights for its single-sex community, in which the faculty is male, and for its fidelity to Catholic teaching. More than that, parents say, they are glad to have found a community of like-minded families. Here they find a respect for church teachings that is absent even from most parish churches, where many communicants openly disagree with the pope on contraception, abortion and other topics.
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Opus Dei does not run The Heights; it appoints the chaplain and provides to the faculty a traditional reading of Catholicism to teach. The only birth control taught is abstinence. The school has daily Mass (optional for older students). The list of suggested pleasure reading is heavy on Christian authors: Augustine, Dante, C. S. Lewis, Evelyn Waugh.
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nytimes.com/2012/01/13/us/the-heights-a-catholic-school-draws-beltway-conservatives.html?src=recg

In addition to the chaplain, perhaps 15-20% of the faculty belong to Opus Dei. John Allen, who wrote a balanced book in 2005 about the organization, described the school as perfectly normal but not like the rest of Washington DC.
 
Sounds like an awesome school. 👍

There is no need to call orthodox Catholics ‘conservatives’ though. They are just practicing Catholics.
 
If I ever have sons, and if it is feasible, they are going there. Mandatory Latin? Uh, yes!
 
The Heights is well known for its scholastic record. I’m sure that many people send their sons to that school simply for the good education. Like any exclusive school, it’s relatively easier to have reigorous academics if the students all have to pass the entrance exam.

That said, The Heights is also known as a more conservative school. Gonzaga, which also has excellent academics, has their boys running a soup kitchen.

We need a studying smiley.
 
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