Exploring the growth of Catholic classical liberal arts education

Jay Boren, headmaster of St. Benedict Classical Academy since 2015, sees cultivating wisdom and virtue in the pursuit of truth and conformity to Christ as the final purpose of Catholic classical education. He spoke recently with OSV News' Charlie Camosy about getting back to the heart of Catholic education and whether Catholic education is experiencing a "renaissance" moment following a promising increase in enrollment in Catholic schools in 2023.

--Charlie Camosy: A good number of folks have at least heard a lot more about classical Catholic education in recent years -- but they may not know exactly what it means or to what it refers. So let's start there: What is classical Catholic education? It is something far more foundational than mere learning Latin and reading "The Odyssey," right?

--Jay Boren: Classical Catholic education is less about learning Latin and reading "The Odyssey" and more about getting back to what folks in the classical and medieval tradition thought was the true purpose of education -- that is, the cultivation of wisdom and virtue, and the conversion of our minds and hearts towards what is true, good and beautiful.

As Catholics, we believe that this process of conversion conforms us to Christ and leads us to God. In other words, a classical Catholic education helps us to fulfill the end for which we were made -- to know, love and serve God.

Classical Catholic education is striving to recover a connection to this traditional understanding of what education is about. Certainly we think reading classic texts and learning Latin is important, but only because they connect us to the wisdom of our tradition.

We want our students to know what is true, good and beautiful, but it would be terribly presumptuous to think that we get to decide what counts as "truth." For that, we need to humbly return to our tradition -- to what has stood the test of time, and to what the best minds and noblest souls in history have taught and shown us about those things.

This understanding of what education is for stands in contrast to a perspective that sees education as primarily college or career preparation. We certainly want our students to find meaningful work, make a living and support their families. But that goal is secondary. If we're producing graduates who get into top colleges and end up making a lot of money in their jobs, but they aren't virtuous, aren't striving for holiness and don't have a desire to pursue truth, we wouldn't consider that a success. It sells our students short. They are called to so much more.

They are called to be fully flourishing, with all the powers of their minds, hearts and souls set free to know what is true, love what is beautiful and do what is good. St Irenaeus said that the glory of God is man fully alive. We want our students to be fully alive so they can give glory to God.

--Camosy: Is it too strong to call what's been happening recently an explosion in classical Catholic education? It seems everywhere I look there's a new school being created, a new conference on the topic, professional societies meeting annually, more typical Catholic schools "going classical" and more. Can you give us a brief lay of the land as to what is happening now?

--Boren: I don't know if it is an explosion or not, but it certainly is a renaissance! There are new schools being founded every month and in every region of the country. I personally speak to eight to 10 people a year who are in the process of starting a new school. It is very exciting to hear of new things being founded within the church and mostly by laypeople. The schools came first, but we are also seeing many new initiatives being founded to meet the needs of those schools. The renaissance of classical education is also serving as a creative vehicle to connect faithful Catholics from around the country who are participating in the renewal of Catholic education.

These new schools are meeting a very real demand that exists in the church right now. There are many parents who earnestly desire a rigorous classical education that is formed by and grounded in authentic Catholicism. I think this is definitely a "moment" for the church and for Catholic education. How we meet that moment is on us.

One of the things that excites me most about this movement is how it is forcing us to revisit the Catholic school model and really forcing us to reimagine the way we think about Catholic education.

Many of these schools were founded by the laity. They are often run and governed by a lay board of trustees. They are moving on from a model that was heavily dependent upon religious orders. Figuring out how to run its schools in the wake of the loss of those orders is something that the church in America really failed to do. This is so exciting, because instead of managing decline, we are building something new that is alive and growing. As our chaplain, Father Peter Stamm, notes, "Healthy things grow."

--Camosy: You have personally been doing your part in leading this trend as headmaster of a new classical Catholic school. Can you say something about what you and your community have created?

--Boren: This has all been such a blessing and an incredibly exciting thing to be a part of. Our school is 12 years old, I have been here for 10 years now. We have grown from 60 students when I arrived to over 320 this year. A school that began in shared office space just moved into a majestically beautiful, classically designed school building.

Yet, as beautiful as the schoolhouse is, the very best part of this school is the community. We have families that drive an hour each way, passing many schools along the way, to bring their children to our school. Having a school that is mission-aligned across the board is so unique and a blessing. We have worked hard to ensure that mission-aligned families who desire this education can access it, regardless of their ability to afford full tuition. We have fought to keep tuition as affordable as possible and also remain stalwart about investing in a robust tuition assistance program. We plan to grant over $1,000,000 in tuition assistance next year.

I love everything about this school, but the most important aspect, without question, is the community. I often say that my very favorite thing about this school is my daughters' friends. It has been so edifying to see just how many families desire this education for their children and see it as a worthy investment of their time, energy and treasure.

--Camosy: In your view from the trenches, what can the broader church do to help support this trend in Catholic education? I'm thinking in particular of helping orient and train new teachers and staff when it comes to thinking about a direction they may find to be unclear or even intimidating.

--Boren: There are new initiatives being founded every day to meet this moment. We are members of the Institute for Catholic Liberal Education. They were really at the forefront of designing programming to support schools that were either changing their programming or being founded. So many faithful colleges are now designing programs to help form students who desire to work in these schools.

Tom Carroll has founded the Catholic Talent Project to help recruit and train teachers for these schools. There is so much good happening. I think this trend will only continue and we will need even more initiatives to help meet this moment. So many priests have been supportive of our efforts and our local seminary and seminarians have been so supportive, I would love to see more partnerships between seminaries and these new schools grow.

Additionally, from an even broader perspective, I hope the church will continue to inspire and encourage young people to study literature, history, philosophy -- the liberal arts! And feel confident that striving for mastery in these great disciplines at the highest levels in education will indeed help them discern both their personal and professional vocations.

We have hired amazing, talented young teachers who have not studied education explicitly and yet through close mentorship, professional development and most importantly because of the deep wisdom they've gained through their own studies, have been able to hit the ground running as teachers.