Starting a Classical School

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Need help from people who have done something like this before.

We are definitely not in the process of starting up a classical school. My spiritual strength is perception, not administration. I majored in Apparel Design.

I am located in the greater Denver area. There is one school that has adopted a classical curriculum, and we would send our child there, but logistically it probably won’t work out. I contacted our (good) pastor who was in the throes of starting up a new school, and he said they weren’t interested in adopting a classical curriculum because studies show there isn’t a market for it in the area.

Frankly, I’m not convinced. I’m not saying he’s lying or ill-intentioned, but I just get the feeling a sea-change is coming regarding Catholic education. The Chesterton Academy started in 2008, and the concept is spreading like wildfire in PA. I believe six or so other schools have started up modeling themselves off of it. That shows a market there, why not here? Considering that St. JP2 conducted World Youth Day here, and the Augustine Institute started here, and wonderful work in the pro-life area is going on here, something is happening.

I tried to contact the local homeschool conference to join it, but it’s been some time and I haven’t heard back from them. I don’t really see myself homeschooling. Not everyone is cut out for it. Thing is, a few of my other mom friends are also interested in the classical thing. Surely some people are homeschooling because they desired a classical education, but pickings were slim?

Who the heck do I talk to about this?? I’m a nobody. I don’t have “in” connections with the people in the diocese here.

Thanks.
 
High school or grade school? Chesterton is high school only FYI

My suggestion is to contact Chesterton in MN where the founding school originated. They may be aware of a group currently in the work of starting a Chesterton Academy. If not, they can help you get started in getting together a high school in your area.
 
MomaMary8 said:
High school or grade school? Chesterton is high school only FYI

My suggestion is to contact Chesterton in MN where the founding school originated. They may be aware of a group currently in the work of starting a Chesterton Academy. If not, they can help you get started in getting together a high school in your area.
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I’m interested in the whole kit and caboodle! Our son isn’t school age yet, but I certainly don’t think it’s premature to ponder the question if there’s a need for it. It might be asking a lot since the one classical school going is already a K-8; but I just went to their website and they already have a waiting list for next year. Starting up a school, if God wills it, doesn’t necessarily happen overnight. My gifts don’t lie in leading people, but I do think there is a need for this. Maybe someone else knows something.

Thanks for the suggestion.
 
I am also in the area, and the only classical schools I know of locally are Goldenview and Our Lady of Lourdes. Our parish has had several people enquire about starting a classical school, but nothing has happened yet. Money is a big problem, honestly. The tuition that Catholic families could afford isn’t high enough to be able to pay for a building, fair salaries for teachers, all the extraneous costs associated with creating a really good school. It’s a shame, because we have plenty of potential students and a number of fine teachers in the area.
 
Chesterton has a great model in keeping the costs low. Renting space vs owning a building is one key factor.

The people who usually start schools are parents. They come together and fill the needs together. It can be done! Start the school small…maybe kindergarten to 3rd grade, 10 students in each grade, then build the school from there every year. Concentrate on doing it well and don’t worry about being big yet. You may be able to buy a curriculum from other schools, too. Everything is out there, you just need to bring it together.

You will also have to learn to ask for money. :p. Grandparents make great benefactors. 😃
 
What a great idea! I will pray for your success. Two resources I found:

Institute for Catholic Liberal Education website
Catholics for Classical Education website.
 
Anna_jane said:
I am also in the area, and the only classical schools I know of locally are Goldenview and Our Lady of Lourdes. Our parish has had several people enquire about starting a classical school, but nothing has happened yet. Money is a big problem, honestly. The tuition that Catholic families could afford isn’t high enough to be able to pay for a building, fair salaries for teachers, all the extraneous costs associated with creating a really good school. It’s a shame, because we have plenty of potential students and a number of fine teachers in the area.
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Well…add me to the list. One of my Catholic friends taught chemistry in high-school, is currently tutoring, and has assisted at Montessori. She’s considering homeschool, one reason being she feels like if she isn’t home-schooling, then she must go back to work. Maybe she could teach at the school, 😉

It’s frustrating, because I would rather work within the existing system. That’s where the resources are. *It’s things like what you’re saying, and my own experience, that convinces me there is indeed a market for it. Why do people think there isn’t? * One person I know wanted a classical education for her kids, but sent them to the parochial school.
 
Is there a way to network all the people together? How would one go about doing that?
 
TCEL said:
Need help from people who have done something like this before.

We are definitely not in the process of starting up a classical school. My spiritual strength is perception, not administration. I majored in Apparel Design.

I am located in the greater Denver area. There is one school that has adopted a classical curriculum, and we would send our child there, but logistically it probably won’t work out. I contacted our (good) pastor who was in the throes of starting up a new school, and he said they weren’t interested in adopting a classical curriculum because studies show there isn’t a market for it in the area.

Frankly, I’m not convinced. I’m not saying he’s lying or ill-intentioned, but I just get the feeling a sea-change is coming regarding Catholic education. The Chesterton Academy started in 2008, and the concept is spreading like wildfire in PA. I believe six or so other schools have started up modeling themselves off of it. That shows a market there, why not here? Considering that St. JP2 conducted World Youth Day here, and the Augustine Institute started here, and wonderful work in the pro-life area is going on here, something is happening.

I tried to contact the local homeschool conference to join it, but it’s been some time and I haven’t heard back from them. I don’t really see myself homeschooling. Not everyone is cut out for it. Thing is, a few of my other mom friends are also interested in the classical thing. Surely some people are homeschooling because they desired a classical education, but pickings were slim?

Who the heck do I talk to about this?? I’m a nobody. I don’t have “in” connections with the people in the diocese here.

Thanks.
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We are a homeschool family that has used a classical curriculum as well as other eclectic curriculum for about 13 years. Our main spine is “Designing your own classical Curriculm” - A Guide to Catholic Home Education by Laura M. Berquist ignatius.com/Products/DYO-P/designing-your-own-classical-curriculum.aspx Ignatius Press. I am sure you could adapt this to a few grades and get started with different co-operatives based on subjects. Each grade has a guide for books and/or resources for a classical curriculum.
I treasure this book dearly. Laura Berquist runs her own homeschool called Mother of Divine Grace. https://www.motherofdivinegrace.org
 
TCEL said:
Is there a way to network all the people together? How would one go about doing that?
Click to expand...
We were a part of a new classical school start-up in California. They are not a diocesan school but an independent Catholic school.

They have always rented and have paid their teachers fairly well. If you are interested I could send you a link to their website.
 
TCEL said:
Need help from people who have done something like this before.

We are definitely not in the process of starting up a classical school. My spiritual strength is perception, not administration. I majored in Apparel Design.

I am located in the greater Denver area. There is one school that has adopted a classical curriculum, and we would send our child there, but logistically it probably won’t work out. I contacted our (good) pastor who was in the throes of starting up a new school, and he said they weren’t interested in adopting a classical curriculum because studies show there isn’t a market for it in the area.

Frankly, I’m not convinced. I’m not saying he’s lying or ill-intentioned, but I just get the feeling a sea-change is coming regarding Catholic education. The Chesterton Academy started in 2008, and the concept is spreading like wildfire in PA. I believe six or so other schools have started up modeling themselves off of it. That shows a market there, why not here? Considering that St. JP2 conducted World Youth Day here, and the Augustine Institute started here, and wonderful work in the pro-life area is going on here, something is happening.

I tried to contact the local homeschool conference to join it, but it’s been some time and I haven’t heard back from them. I don’t really see myself homeschooling. Not everyone is cut out for it. Thing is, a few of my other mom friends are also interested in the classical thing. Surely some people are homeschooling because they desired a classical education, but pickings were slim?

Who the heck do I talk to about this?? I’m a nobody. I don’t have “in” connections with the people in the diocese here.

Thanks.
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I know quite a bit about a newish classical school in our area plus we have a second (much newer) 2-3 day classical school in the area that is intended to serve homeschoolers.

Here are some thoughts:
  1. High teacher turnover is bad. Low wages contribute to high turnover.
  2. It can be good to be located near a college or university in terms of teaching staff and interested families.
  3. It can be hard to get a high school going, and expensive. (The school I know best took a long time to get a high school going–initially it was just
  4. Small class size is attractive, but hard on the school finances and teacher salaries.
  5. There are advantages to being a small school (a more family-like environment), but costs in terms of not being able to offer a variety of classes and extracurriculars.
  6. Even a relatively inexpensive school is very expensive for the families and will require major sacrifice. We currently have two children in private school, and it costs an amount greater than our combined mortgage principle and interest. When we have three children in school (which will be hopefully very soon), our monthly tuition bill will exceed our combined mortgage principle, interest, insurance and property taxes.
I am very concerned that a lot of your target audience can’t afford you because of their family size or just not having enough money. And somebody needs to be paying full fare.
  1. More positively, a classical approach offers kids a much more cohesive and logically ordered education.
 
Thanks so much everyone. Every bit of advice is worth it. Doesn’t hurt to explore.
 
lax16 said:
We were a part of a new classical school start-up in California. They are not a diocesan school but an independent Catholic school.

They have always rented and have paid their teachers fairly well. If you are interested I could send you a link to their website.
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That would be great, thanks.
 
If there is a market, how would one go about proving it, and how would one try to persuade existing schools why a classical education is a good idea? How does one gain an ear? It makes far more sense to me to try to work within the existing system for reasons Xantippe laid out. Otherwise one is working against the current.

I don’t have an education background. I’m not “credible.” I wasn’t even classically schooled myself, but I did go to Catholic school. I benefitted from it, and think I would have benefited even more if it had been classical.
 
Maybe start taking a course here and there to fill in the “classical” stuff? (Especially Latin.)

The school I know best started as a homeschool co-op (I’m not sure how many days a week) with no salaries, spent a bunch of time as a PK-8 school, and then produced a high school. When we started there, there was the option of homeschooled kids coming in two days a week to do art, music, PE and I believe Latin (with the expectation they’d do the core academic subjects at home). The two-day option no longer exists, but the school is now on track to reach 500 students total. They also got more serious about competitive sports recently, which has some aggravations, but has apparently been excellent for enrollment and the bottom line. There are a lot of school parents among the teachers (initially, it was probably very close to 100%) and I believe the founders had pretty standard education credentials.

I do not know for sure, but I feel like we have a lot of attrition just due to families not being able to afford the school long-term. A number of families I know jumped ship for suburban public school after 6th grade, which was a logical point jumping off point.

I would not swear to every single fact I’ve given, but this is what I’ve heard and what I remember hearing.

One problem that I’m not sure how the administration is dealing with is the fact that the bulk of the kids (and especially noticeable in the high school) are from very well off families. That can create some weirdness.

With your particular credentials and given how hard it is to get this sort of thing of the ground (even under very favorable conditions as my kids’ school had). Here are some alternate suggestions:
  1. Work out your logistics and use the existing classical school. That’s almost certainly going to be easier than starting a school, no matter how difficult your logistics are.
  2. Do some combination of Latin tutor/afterschooling/summer school/etc. Summer is really, really long.
TCEL said:
If there is a market, how would one go about proving it, and how would one try to persuade existing schools why a classical education is a good idea? How does one gain an ear? It makes far more sense to me to try to work within the existing system for reasons Xantippe laid out. Otherwise one is working against the current.

I don’t have an education background. I’m not “credible.” I wasn’t even classically schooled myself, but I did go to Catholic school. I benefitted from it, and think I would have benefited even more if it had been classical.
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Thanks so much for the advice Xantippe. My friend who taught Chemistry also tutored Latin. She pretty much only speaks Spanish to her 18 month old. She sounds like an untapped resource to me!

You’re right; my easiest option is to try to attend the current classical school, but like you say, I’m not convinced we can afford it. However, the plus side is that it isn’t more expensive than most of the parochial schools. I contacted the Chesterton Academy this morning to receive more information from them. Who knows. Maybe the pieces will fall into place and the right network will get started up here. Maybe not.

But it just doesn’t make sense to me that so many of the Catholic schools wouldn’t be more interested. It seems to me the Church really fostered the classical education within her past; why not stick to doing what we’re really good at? Regain our heritage?
 
TCEL said:
Thanks so much for the advice Xantippe. My friend who taught Chemistry also tutored Latin. She pretty much only speaks Spanish to her 18 month old. She sounds like an untapped resource to me!

You’re right; my easiest option is to try to attend the current classical school, but like you say, I’m not convinced we can afford it. However, the plus side is that it isn’t more expensive than most of the parochial schools. I contacted the Chesterton Academy this morning to receive more information from them. Who knows. Maybe the pieces will fall into place and the right network will get started up here. Maybe not.

But it just doesn’t make sense to me that so many of the Catholic schools wouldn’t be more interested. It seems to me the Church really fostered the classical education within her past; why not stick to doing what we’re really good at? Regain our heritage?
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I just looked up Augustine Classical School and the tuition is in the ballpark of what we currently pay in a much less expensive part of the US.

I also note that they don’t seem to charge more for 7-12 than for 1-6, which actually makes them quite the bargain in the upper grades (at least as long as it stays that way). It’s normal for there to be a substantial price jump in going from K-8 to 9-12.

Private school just is expensive (barring some sort of substantial subsidy). Our school started less expensive but it has ticked up over the years, as they moved from the homeschool co-op SAHM beginnings to having teachers who were actually supporting themselves on the salaries. We also found that one private school tuition is manageable, two are uncomfortable, and a third is something to be dreaded. As I say, getting into private school is like joining a cult–it’s much easier to get in than to get out.

Parochial K-8 schools have their own traditions, and it’s not the same model as classical schools (which are relatively new in the US). I suspect that a lot of what you are thinking of does get covered in a good Jesuit high school, but is rarely covered in non-classical K-8 schools.

Another issue to bear in mind is that there will be expenses in addition to tuition: uniforms, hot lunches (if desired), fundraising, school supplies, Christmas gift for teacher, end of year gift for teacher, contributions to class parties, etc. Not to mention getting invited to birthday parties and needing to bring a gift.

Best wishes!
 
TCEL said:
Thanks so much for the advice Xantippe. My friend who taught Chemistry also tutored Latin. She pretty much only speaks Spanish to her 18 month old. She sounds like an untapped resource to me!

You’re right; my easiest option is to try to attend the current classical school, but like you say, I’m not convinced we can afford it. However, the plus side is that it isn’t more expensive than most of the parochial schools. I contacted the Chesterton Academy this morning to receive more information from them. Who knows. Maybe the pieces will fall into place and the right network will get started up here. Maybe not.

But it just doesn’t make sense to me that so many of the Catholic schools wouldn’t be more interested. It seems to me the Church really fostered the classical education within her past; why not stick to doing what we’re really good at? Regain our heritage?
Click to expand...
I’m glad to hear you’ve contacted Chesterton Academy. There are some great people there and can be a great resource. Don’t be afraid to reach out to other starter schools to get their advice. I’ve been involved in the process and know that it is the support of others that will help to get the job done.

Classical education fell to the wayside in the 1900’s and the modern form of instruction started taking its place. Classical education is making a comeback because it is an effective method of teaching, but too many Catholic school administrators have been taught in modern education methods and believe their methodology is better. Catholic teachers receive their degrees from public universities too 🙂

For more resources, contact University of Dallas and ST. Thomas Aquinas College (CA). They both excell in classical education and may have contacts to share. Great Heart Schools is a classical (non-religious) school that is located in Texas and Arizona. Maybe they can open a school in your area? here is their link in AZ greatheartsaz.org/

If you are serious about getting it started, get a core start-up team together and put out the word for an interest meeting. See who is interested in helping or in sending their kids. Take down names of volunteers and set up committees to do the different tasks. You can do 👍 Step one is finding 4 people who are serious about helping to start a school
 
MomaMary8 said:
I’m glad to hear you’ve contacted Chesterton Academy. There are some great people there and can be a great resource. Don’t be afraid to reach out to other starter schools to get their advice. I’ve been involved in the process and know that it is the support of others that will help to get the job done.

Classical education fell to the wayside in the 1900’s and the modern form of instruction started taking its place. Classical education is making a comeback because it is an effective method of teaching, but too many Catholic school administrators have been taught in modern education methods and believe their methodology is better. Catholic teachers receive their degrees from public universities too 🙂

For more resources, contact University of Dallas and ST. Thomas Aquinas College (CA). They both excell in classical education and may have contacts to share. Great Heart Schools is a classical (non-religious) school that is located in Texas and Arizona. Maybe they can open a school in your area? here is their link in AZ greatheartsaz.org/

If you are serious about getting it started, get a core start-up team together and put out the word for an interest meeting. See who is interested in helping or in sending their kids. Take down names of volunteers and set up committees to do the different tasks. You can do 👍 Step one is finding 4 people who are serious about helping to start a school
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Thanks. I will digest all this information for a bit. Pray about it, then maybe things will start happening. Hopefully an administrator will come to the fore! I want to stir the pot…
 
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