At St. John Paul the Great, our teachers adopt a deliberately low-tech approach in our classrooms. Our students spend time reading great old books, annotating them, narrating them, and discussing them with their peers under the guidance of wise and patient instructors. Our students memorize and recite poetry, discuss things in class, and write papers by hand. Our teachers make deliberate efforts to integrate and harmonize what our students are learning in different disciplines. It’s not uncommon to hear students talk about a text that they’re reading in Literature class while they’re studying Theology, or an idea from Music in Humanities Seminar. Even in our math and science classes, which are aimed at moving our students toward mastery of a discrete body of knowledge and skills, it is not uncommon for our teachers to pause and encourage students to marvel at the beauty of what our students are learning, drawing their attention to how those disciplines help us to more fully love God and understand our place the Cosmos.

Our math and science classes are aimed toward mastery of a discrete body of knowledge and skills that will enable our students to think well and prepare them for college. In our four-year mathematics formation, all students will engage in a deep study of algebra and geometry concepts at the underclassman level, and culminate in precalculus, calculus, and elective options for seniors. Additionally, students will read and discuss Euclid’s Geometry in their Humanities Seminar, giving them an opportunity to contemplate the beauty and order of numbers and what they can teach us about the nature of reality and the God who created us. In science, students will have an opportunity to study Biology, Chemistry and Physics with a state-of-the-art laboratory and teachers who know how to harmonize their passion for science with their Catholic faith.

In addition to the practical benefits that stem from the Latin influence on English vocabulary and the privileged place of Latin in the life and history of the Roman Catholic Church, the study of Latin also forms our students in the habits of thinking more logically and attending to order and structure in language.

No. The school does not assume any prior Latin exposure. All students, regardless of previous Latin experience, will be placed in Latin 1.

It’s hard to think of two more useful qualities for a young adult to have—and two which are more lacking on most college campuses today—than wisdom and virtue. A classical education will help your son or daughter to cultivate both. Additionally, our graduates will have spent four years carefully reading and discussing many of the great books of history and practicing the powerful skills of narration, memorization, and annotation on a nearly daily basis. A student who graduates from St. John Paul the Great will be habituated into the skills of deep learning, something that will set them apart from their collegiate peers no matter what discipline of study they end up pursuing.

We draw families from many different middle schools and do not assume any previous knowledge or proficiency in modes of classical education. If your son or daughter is eager to learn and humble enough to receive guidance from the wise and patient teachers at St. John Paul the Great, he or she will quickly pick up the skills and habits necessary to fully reap the rewards of a classical education.