March 4, 2025

A note from the Headmaster:

Dear friends of Chesterton,

Last Thursday, after school, Thomas Tallis's "If Ye Love Me" rang through our halls. (Our Honors Choir was singing it - I was not quick enough to capture video, but you can hear others sing it here!).

One of our time's greatest challenges is noise. From billboards to the 24 hour news cycle to our own cell phones and social media, voices constantly tell us how to live, how to grow, what to look at, what to think. With so many voices, a new problem arises: how can we hear the ones that will help us thrive? According to our Catholic tradition, we must cultivate quiet. As C. S. Lewis puts in the mouth of the devil-character Screwtape: "Music and silence–how I detest them both!….[Hell] has been occupied by Noise." 

When I heard our students singing, I was struck by the true freedom of these young men and women. They had been freed to fall in love with, and participate in, something abundantly true, good, and beautiful.  

Drawing on C. S. Lewis, the Headmaster of the Heights School once shared how important it is to quiet the many voices that are impacting our children, so they can hear the voices that are genuinely nourishing and freeing.  (The Heights is a mission-driven and successful Catholic high school in Washington, D. C, and it is in many ways a guiding light in the Classical Catholic schools movement.) Rather than simply adding to the voices, Chesterton strives to foster the quiet that lets us hear, by cultivating spaces set apart from the normal noise. We do difficult things like prohibit cell phones, require a uniform, foster real conversations with students in the "loose spaces" of the lunchroom and hallways, host monthly Holy Hours, and celebrate daily Mass. When we do this well, we create space in our students' hearts for the deepest and truest voices to be heard. In the resulting quiet, the powerful voices of the great tradition join those of loving parents, teachers, and friends, which point ultimately to God's voice calling each of us. In this way, by God's grace we help raise up the next generation of joyful leaders and saints.

We hope you will come visit us for some of our upcoming events, or simply for daily Mass or a tour, and experience some of the freedom from "noise" we seek to foster here at Chesterton. We wish you a blessed Lent. Thank you, always, for your prayers, and be assured of ours for you. 

(By the way, if you would like to hear more of Mr. de Vicente's thoughts on this, the interview can be found here. It is good listening!)

Gratefully yours in Christ,

Robert Duffy, PhD

Headmaster

Upcoming Opportunities to Join Us!

March 7: Holy Hour and Fellowship, 4-6pm

Join us for prayer and hospitality at our next First Friday Holy Hour! 

May 2: Spring Concert

June 23-27: Summer Arts Camp!

CLT and CLT10

Chesterton students are taking the CLT this spring! The Classic Learning Test was created in 2015 to provide standardized testing rooted in tradition, emphasizing intellectual aptitude and achievement, and taking advantage of modern technologies. The CLT is well suited to a rigorous, classical education: testing is drawn from the great texts that have informed and shaped society, including many authors studied in our curriculum. The CLT also reintroduces logic as an academic standard for students, giving Chesterton students an advantage.

Feb. 8: Chesterton Honors Choir Sings the National Anthem at PC

Feb. 14: Chesterton Annual Symposium

“To celebrate a festival means: to live out, for some special occasion and in an uncommon manner, the universal assent to the world as a whole.” - Josef Pieper

On February 14, our community set aside a day to celebrate our shared life, where we pursue truth in a community of friends. Students discussed Shakespeare, acted it out, heard papers from their faculty, and enjoyed a keynote speech from Dr. Matthew Cuddeback. It was a day of true refreshment and celebration! 

March 5 - Visit to Statehouse and Vigil with Rhode Island Right to Life

On March 5, our students will visit the Rhode Island statehouse for a tour and a mock senate session with Chesterton parent and senator de la Cruz. After this we will join the Rhode Island Right to Life for a vigil for life from 3-4pm. 

April 25 - Save the Date: Day Retreat at Mother of Hope Camp

Chesterton students will have the chance to show their courage and test themselves physically at the Mother of Hope ropes course in late April. 

Wisdom from G.K. Chesterton

 “The whole objection of education is a renascence of wonder.”