New Catholic high doubles enrollment

Every student had a copy of The Republic of Plato in front of them. Some of the books were open, yet other students had their hands raised or were already engaged in the discussion over when does moderation transition into obsessiveness. Their teacher Rebecca Scheurer followed the exchange and encouraged the class, which numbers 22, especially those fearful of voicing their ideas. Twenty minutes later the same students plus another 10 stood in a circle around Scheurer.  She was part of the circle standing in front of a piano. She sang accentuating every syllable of the Latin words to “Magnificat” by Jacques Berthier. The students were attentive. They knew she would be listening carefully when she called on them to sing in chorus.

This is not a typical high school class, but then there are a lot of things that are not typical about Chesterton Academy of our Lady of Hope that opened last year at the former St. Francis Church and school on Jefferson Boulevard.

For starters, the Warwick school owns the church and school. It is perhaps the only one of the nearly 70 schools in the Chesterton network worldwide to own their school. Then since opening last year the school has nearly doubled in enrollment from 19 to 32 students (with a near equal split between boys and girls) and tripled faculty from its sole full-time teacher, Scheurer, and added new athletic programs including a soccer team. The team played its first ever competitive game against Barrington Christian Academy on Friday at Warwick City Park losing 3-4 in a hard fought match.

Growing enrollment

Michael Casey of Jamestown, founder and president of the school, sees the academy, now with students in grades 9, 10 and 11 growing to more than 100 students, perhaps to 130 in the next several years. The school has undertaken a vigorous program to introduce the Chesterton program to potential students with Robert Duffy, as headmaster meeting and talking with students at local parochial students. Duffy is no stranger to Warwick. He is a 2009 Bishop Hendricken High School graduate and has a B.A. in Philosophy and Humanities from Villanova University and a Ph.D. in Philosophy from Fordham University.

The academy will hold an open house on Oct. 19 .

As described on its website, Chesterton is an independent Catholic classical “high school with a higher purpose” … “Inspired by the beauty and richness of the Catholic faith, Chesterton Academy seeks to form young men and women to be joyful saints. By introducing them to great thinkers such as Socrates, Thomas Aquinas and Dante, and by forming them in a distinctly Catholic culture, we lead students to choose for themselves the adventure of being a disciple of Christ.”

Students chores

Apart from philosophy and chorus, a visit to the academy found the students hastening to close out the day before heading off to the soccer game and home. First on their list was cleaning the school, restrooms and church. Out came buckets, mops, cleaning spray, towels and vacuums. It all happened quickly. The student body came together before entering the church for song and prayer.

Then the sense of excitement elevated.

“It’s going to get noisy,” warned Jennefer Noberini, school secretary, whose daughter Bella is an academy student. Noberini loves that Chesterton students care for one another and the academy’s “socially positive” environment.

She was right about the level of noise. When Duffy addressed the group from the second level of classrooms that is expected to open soon following fire inspection, students gravitated to one of four groups. These are “schools” named for saints.

Students can win or lose points for their school depending on their actions as witnessed by faculty, staff and school directors.

Casey, who witnessed a ninth grader fooling around in chorus, was prepared to hand out a demerit. By the same token, another student voluntarily thanked an adult volunteer making carpentry improvements to the second level of classrooms. That was a point for the student’s school.

Academy schools include student families, thereby involving siblings and parents explains Casey.

As Duffy read off that week’s points for each of the schools — there was only a separation of six points out of cumulative totals of more than 100 for each school — cheers rang out and hugs and high fives between the schools.

Supportive community

A similar level of enthusiasm and inclusion is apparently shared by the Chesterton community.  A total of 470 people attended last year’s Chesterton gala held at the Crowne Plaza raising more than $268,000. Casey expects close to 490 to attend this year’s event on Oct.3. Other forms of support have come in the form of donations such as vinyl flooring and the resealing of the parking lot that is giving both the inside and outside of the school a fresh look. Recently the Jewish Family Center that is undergoing renovations donated 80 lockers, which Casey said, “look brand new.”

All the contributions help contain tuition costs. The tuition is $8,200, an increase of $200 from last year, but, as Casey adds less than the rate of inflation.

Chesterton students come from a cross the state and nearby Connecticut and Massachusetts.

In the early stages of planning, school founders signed a lease to rent vacant office space on Jefferson Boulevard for the reason it was easily accessible to Routes 95 and 295 and adjoining states.

Then in May 2023 Casey and a key group of Chesterton directors with little time to act to meet a Diocese of Providence deadline closed a $1.6 million deal to purchase St. Francis of Assisi Church and School.

On Friday as parents lined up outside the school to pick up students, Casey looked back at the school.

“That’s going to make for a lousy picture,” he said pointing to a single dead stalk poking up from the entrance garden.

In a moment’s notice he had removed it.

Details don’t escape Casey.