By CatholicVote | Created at 2024-12-05 16:46:22 | Updated at 2024-12-26 01:56:13
2 weeks ago
CV NEWS FEED // The San Francisco Standard this week published an article expressing surprise at the success of four classical schools located in the Bay Area.
The article pointed to Donum Dei, a Christian classical academy, Saint John of San Francisco Orthodox Academy, and two Catholic schools, Nativity High School and Stella Maris Academy.
Three of these schools opened in the past five years, and Donum Dei has grown by 25 students since it opened in 2019.
The schools reflect a larger national trend, as classical Christian schools throughout the U.S. have grown by 4.8% since 2019, as public school enrollment plummets nationally.
“Families flocking to these schools appear to reflect a yearning for stability and tradition,” the article stated. “The emergence of classical Christian education in San Francisco may be less a full-scale cultural revolution than a bellwether of a city grappling with its ideological roots.”
Each of these schools refuses to teach gender ideology and diversity, equity, and inclusion. The Standard asked Stella Maris teacher Marilyn Bridon if the school teaches critical race theory.
She answered, “We don’t teach that. We teach Latin, though.”
Stella Maris Academy explains the importance of a classical curriculum on their website, stating that while the purpose differs from the more “pragmatic” model common in public schools, it is equally practical.
The explanation continued, “By focusing upon the development of the memory and imagination, multiple languages, mathematical intelligence, logical and rhetorical ability, art and music, among many other things, students learn to form and ask the right questions, read thoughtfully, write eloquently, calculate effectively, and to represent their ideas to others.
“By paying careful attention to the development of the virtues, classically formed students learn to seek the good, tolerate frustration, be courageous, act with justice, and work cooperatively with others.”
The website also states that theology is the “integrating principle” of education for Catholics and that the life of faith is what “animates our love of learning.”
