Friday Feature: St. Patrick School

Colleen HroncichHappy St. Patrick ’s Day!It seemed fitting to highlight St. Patrick School today, but there are nearly 100 American schools named after the 5th century bishop who is the patron saint of Ireland. After a little digging, I foundSt. Patrick School in Carleton, Michigan, which stood out for having moved to a classical education model this year.The transition started several years ago, shortly after Carl Lenze became principal. The school, which has been in the rural community for 147 years, was struggling with enrollment. Officials in the archdiocese suggested they consider adopting a classical school model. “I was really excited about it because my wife homeschooled our children and the classical school program is very similar to what you do in homeschooling,” says Carl.St. Patrick School worked with theInstitute for Catholic Liberal Education to make the transition to the classical model. The institute was founded in 1999 with the mission of renewing Catholic schools. There are currently more than 200 schools affiliated with the institute. St. Patrick is the second school in the archidiocese to adopt a classical curriculum after St. John Paul II Classical Catholic School last year.When COVID-19 hit, it slowed the transition down, but they continued to work towards it. “We introduced it to the teaching staff and asked them to do some research on it. They were excited about it,” Carl explains. Before publicly announcing it, ...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - Category: American Health Authors: Source Type: blogs