July 2023

A Note from the Headmaster

At Our Lady of Hope, part of our mission is “to help parents raise up a generation of joyful saints.” What does this look like? The Catholic novelist Graham Greene compares saints to characters in a book who are easy to write because they “come alive. They are capable of the surprising act or word.” How do we try to fulfill our mission to “help parents raise up a generation of joyful saints”? How do we help students “come alive”?

In Plato’s dialogues, the sophists believe they can “pour” Truth into their students’ souls, as if truth were a commodity to be bought and sold. But both Truth and the student’s soul are transcendent mysteries, and the art of the teacher is to facilitate a dramatic encounter between them.

To make this possible, we build a school culture that nourishes habits of presence and attention. We structure our days to communicate that reality is overflowing with meaning. We wade together into great works that raise fundamental questions about what it means to be human. Students read Homer, Plato, and Paul, study the stars, and wrestle with Euclid. Guided by their teachers, who are seasoned guides traveling the same path, students seek the truth through shared discussion and thereby learn to listen to one another and strive together. All these things foster hearts that are full of wonder and capable of deep and generous feeling.

As St. Augustine teaches so powerfully, God is present in anything that is good. Whenever we love anything, we love Christ in it. In all we do at Our Lady of Hope, we aim to cultivate attentive hearts and minds ready to see and to love what is true, so that everyone in our community can experience life-changing encounters with Truth and allow Him to mold us into saints, people who “come alive,” “capable of the surprising act or word.” 

In Christ,
Dr. Robert Duffy

July Updates

• Preparations continue on our new facility to prepare the church and school building for the arrival of students at the end of August. This included the opportunity for Mass in St. Francis Chapel to kick off one of our Saturday workdays.  We are inspired by the community of families and friends that are working tirelessly to make the Chesterton Academy vision a reality in Rhode Island.
  
  
• Dr. Robert Duffy (Headmaster), Mr. Michael Casey (Executive Director), and Ms. Rebecca Scheurer (Teacher) attended the Chesterton Schools Network annual summer conference in Minneapolis Minnesota.  There they had the opportunity to learn more about the Chesterton model of education and meet leaders from other Chesterton Academies across the country.
  
  
• Invitations for our first annual gala have been printed and will be arriving soon. Ticket sales and sponsorship opportunities are also available on our website. This fundraising dinner will be hosted on Saturday, October 14, 2023 at the Crowne Plaza in Warwick, RI.  The gala is an exciting evening for families and supporters to gather in community, celebrate the kick-off of our inaugural school year, and learn more about our vision.  Get your ticket today!
  
  
• As word spreads we continue to hear from new families interested in considering a Chesterton education.  Tours and admissions tests are offered as needed and we welcome anyone looking to learn more.  Tours can be scheduled online or by calling 401.287.2280.

Matching Challenge Success!

Due to the generosity of so many, including first time and repeat donors, and gifts of all sizes, we exceeded the $30,000 matching gift challenge target in the month of June.  We are grateful to everyone that participated in this opportunity and especially to our anonymous donor that made this possible.  We are now over 90% to our year one opening goal.  If you did not have a chance to participate and would still like to join in supporting our mission consider a gift today.

The Rhode Show

Two of our board members, Megan Reilly and Edward Walsh, recently had the opportunity to join The Rhode Show on WPRI to share what makes Chesterton Academy a unique offering in Rhode Island.

Wisdom from G.K. Chesterton

 
“Every high civilization decays by forgetting obvious things.”

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