Frequently Asked Questions

General

  • While Chesterton Academy of Our Lady of Guadalupe has permission to operate within the archdiocese, it is not an archdiocesan school. It is an independent, parent-led high school grounded in the Catholic faith. 

  • Chesterton Academy of Our Lady of Guadalupe uses the tagline “A Classical High School in the Catholic Tradition” while other schools in our network are billed as “A Joyfully Catholic, Classical High School.”  Which tagline a school uses depends on its status with its (arch)diocese, in accordance with canon law.  

     There are two relevant provisions in canon law:  

     Can. 803 §1. A Catholic school is understood as one which a competent ecclesiastical authority or a public ecclesiastical juridic person directs or which ecclesiastical authority recognizes as such through a written document.

     §3. Even if it is, in fact, Catholic, no school is to bear the name Catholic school without the consent of competent ecclesiastical authority.

     In our case, that authority is Archbishop Vigneron. In his wisdom, he and the Office of Catholic Schools have chosen to observe the development of Chesterton Academy for at least a couple of years before extending that recognition to our school. The launch of our school has been done by keeping the Archdiocese of Detroit Office of Catholic Schools informed while maintaining independence through a lay-run Board of Directors, each of whom is a faithful Catholic member of a parish in the Archdiocese. Because we seek to be obedient to our archbishop and canon law, we are not calling ourselves a “Catholic school” although most reasonable observers will conclude that Chesterton Academy operates fully in the Catholic intellectual tradition, given our daily Mass requirement, faithful Catholic faculty and thoroughly Catholic curriculum.

    The content in this post was reviewed by the Office of Catholic Schools in the Archdiocese of Detroit.

    (It's also worth noting that the Chesterton Schools Network, the umbrella organization that supports our school, is governed by a canonically recognized Private Association of the Faithful, which was approved by Archbishop Bernard Hebda of the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis, MN. So, the umbrella organization over us does have official canonical support.)

  • Yes. We do require four years of Catholic theology, the curriculum is infused with Catholic thought, and all students are required to participate in school events, including Mass, retreats and other prayer services. However, all are welcome to attend!

  • Yes. The tradition of school uniforms goes back to Medieval times when caps and gowns were required at universities. All students, regardless of background, would dress alike as an outward sign of their dedication to the shared task of learning together within the university community.

    From the very beginning, school uniforms have been in support of three goals: modesty, professionalism and community (or school spirit). Our uniform policy aims at the same three goals.

Leadership

  • Chesterton Academy is ultimately a parent-led school. We agree with Catholic teaching that parents should be the primary educators of their children, whether directly or indirectly. If that responsibility is shared with teachers, the teachers always act in loco parentis (“in the place of the parent”), meaning on behalf of the parents rather than supplanting them (or, worse, acting in opposition).

    Following this philosophy, the school is governed by a Board of Directors, which oversees a Headmaster who runs the day-to-day operations of the school and oversees a team of teachers and staff.

    Parents have regular opportunities to share input, suggestions and concerns with the Board and take an active role in shaping the culture of the school.

  • Each faculty member at Chesterton Academy is a faithful Catholic with a clear love for what they teach.

    Each has taken an Oath of Fidelity to the Magisterium of the Catholic Church and has also undergone our safe environment requirements, including fingerprinting, background checks (state and federal) and VIRTUS safe environment training. 

    Learn more about our Faculty and Staff here.

  • Check our Careers page for updates about open positions!

Location

  • We are located on the campus of St. Luke's Lutheran church.

    21400 S. Nunneley Road

    Clinton Township, MI 48035

  • The school building has several classrooms, including dedicated spaces for science, art and music. We have a chapel, a gym, a ballfield, and a playground.

Our Model

  • Chesterton Academy of Our Lady of Guadalupe is part of the Chesterton Schools Network, a network of 62 classical high schools, all following the same model and curriculum.


    In 2007, Dale Ahlquist and Tom Bengtson co-founded the first Chesterton Academy high school in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Each had a young family and was seeking an alternative to the existing high school options available to them.


    The two men had a simple mission: to offer a classical, integrated high school education that was faithful to the Catholic Church and affordable for families of average means.


    Looking to G.K. Chesterton as the model for a complete thinker and modern defender of the faith, they named the school Chesterton Academy. Inspired by Pope Saint John Paul II, they took as their motto Cultura Vitae, the culture of life.


    After the success of this school, families began reaching out, asking to replicate the successful model in their own area. Soon, Chesterton Academies began opening across America.

    Today, there are 62 high schools operating within the Chesterton Schools Network in the U.S. and Canada, with several additional schools slated to open soon.


    (Chesterton Academy high schools have also opened in Italy, Sierra Leone and Iraq.)

    With over 1,000 graduates across Network schools, the Chesterton Academy model is proven and effective at forming smart, joyful and holy young men and women.


  • Classical education teaches students how to learn and how to think, rather than just regurgitate information, excel on standardized tests, prepare for college, or train for a job, as good as those things are.

    It balances a focus on math and science with a strong emphasis on liberal arts, including literature, philosophy, Latin and the fine arts (e.g., drama, choir, painting.)

    Ultimately, the goal of classical education is to help students recognize the true, imitate the good, and adore the beautiful. In doing so, they will fall in love with the source of all truth, goodness and beauty—God himself.

  • What we call "classical" education everyone just called "education" until about 150 years ago. It was the way everybody was educated for centuries, producing countless great leaders, inventors, scientists, writers, philosophers, theologians, physicians, lawyers, artists and musicians.

    Classical education never really disappeared, but it did diminish starting around 1900 with the advent of progressive education. This new model, rather than producing good people, focused more on producing good workers for the economy, shifting the way we educate our children into more of a factory model. Today's mainstream schools are framed around developing the skills needed to get into college and secure a good job. At the risk of oversimplifying, education has become the means to becoming a productive worker.

    The classical model is much different. Its focus is less on what a student will do, which college they will attend, or what job they will eventually perform and more on what kind of person they will become.

    The liberal arts help shape not only their minds (how to think), but also their hearts (what to love) and their souls (what to worship).

    In terms of practical differences, Chesterton Academy classes are taught using the Great Books. Our students learn from the greatest minds in the history of civilization, including Homer, Plato, Aristotle, Augustine, Aquinas, Dante, Shakespeare and G.K. Chesterton (see our curriculum).

    Classes are taught in the Socratic style, hearkening back to how Socrates taught his pupils in ancient Greece: through conversation. Desks are arranged in a square around the room, so the students all face one another. This allows the teacher to lead a discussion about a book or concept, rather than lecturing from a podium. Each student is encouraged to formulate and share their opinions and defend them in dialogue. Books are read together out loud so as to appreciate a text's genius and beauty. This style keeps students active and engaged in the learning process and also develops a confidence in expressing and defending their own thoughts.

  • Chesterton Academy takes a minimalist approach to technology. We would rather our students focus on books, writing, and discussion, rather than on screens.

    We're convinced our children need fewer screens, not more.

    Although some of our classrooms at Chesterton Academy do use projectors and students use technology as needed for research and writing, you will not find a proliferation of iPads, phones, computer games, or unnecessary technology.

    One side benefit of rejecting fancy bells-and-whistles technology in our classrooms is that we're able to operate the school at a much lower cost and keep tuition low for families.

  • We love sports but our philosophy is that sports is a game, not a religion. Chesterton Academy is a school with sports, not sports with a school.

    Sports do indeed teach valuable virtues such as teamwork and discipline, but so do drama and the other fine arts.

    That said, we do have sports teams at Chesterton Academy of Our Lady of Guadalupe, including volleyball, basketball, and a fencing club, and we hope to add more sports as the student body increases in number.

Academics

  • See a detailed overview of our curriculum here.

  • Our 2024-2025 enrollment is over 30 students. We are projecting a growth of 20-30 new students per year over the next few years.

    At Chesterton Academy, we aim to maintain a close-knit, family culture, where students, parents and teachers stay in a tight relationship. We do not desire to grow into a massive behemoth school.

    Toward that end, we cap each class at roughly 20 students. If we exceed that number, we split the class into two sections. We do not plan to exceed two sections per grade, which means our total enrollment capacity will be around 160 students.

  • Chesterton Academy is a high school teaching 9th through 12th grade.

  • If that’s the path God has for them, then yes, Chesterton Academy can help them get accepted into a great college. In fact, classical school graduates typically outperform other students on standardized tests.

    However, one point we emphasize at Chesterton Academy is that not everyone is meant to go to college. There are other paths to which God might be calling your child, such as a religious vocation, a trade school, entrepreneurship, or moving immediately into a profession after high school. We will help them explore all of those options and discern God's path for them.

    The goal of high school is not college prep. The goal of high school is preparing students for life by discerning God’s will and helping them get to heaven.

Finances

  • See our Tuition and Fee Schedule here.

  • Yes. In addition to tuition, there is a $500 fee for books and supplies, which covers textbooks, books students will own and keep, and additional classroom materials. There is also a registration fee of $250, which covers the CLT placement exam and the cost of processing applications. Students will also be responsible for purchasing their own uniforms from Schoolbelles.

  • We never want money to be a limiting factor for enrollment. If you and your child desire to attend Chesterton Academy, please contact us and we will work with you.

    We are committed to making Chesterton Academy affordable, even for families with modest incomes or challenging financial situations. Chesterton Academy utilizes the services of TADS to help us collect information to offer financial aid based on a family’s particular circumstances. The student application process must be completed in full before being considered for financial aid, although families apply for the school and financial aid at the same time.

    TADS does charge a fee for the financial aid application. This fee pays for the processing and auditing of your application. 

    Families who want to be considered for Financial Aid should not delay in filing an application.

  • We are not currently offering sibling discounts. Each family is already receiving an enormous discount on tuition relative to the cost of educating each child. We charge families only 1/3 of our total cost to educate each child, raising the other 2/3 through donations, and tuition is already extremely low relative to other private schools in the area.

  • Yes. We have completed a detailed financial plan to project our revenues, expenses, personnel and fundraising needs over the next several years. We are confident in our financial stability, which will only strengthen each year as enrollment grows.

    Also, we are committed to raising the entire operating cost of each school year before the school year begins.

    Our Board of Directors ensures that the school remains financially stable.

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