Go Hard: An Open Letter to Teachers in the Opening Weeks of School

Go Hard: An Open Letter to Teachers in the Opening Weeks of School by Andrew J. Ellison at Cana Academy. Don’t think you need to ease into it, or to be gentle with children and teens who have spent the summer forgetting ¾ of what they learned last year, bingeing on screens and social media and regressing in their verbal skills back to somewhere between a toddler and a lethargic cow. Of course, that is what many of them have been up to, and what is called for is not mildness, but energy and firmness of purpose. Go hard. Anyone who has played an organized sport knows that, after a long and lazy off-season, the first practice of the new cycle is one of the most difficult of the year. Read

The Value of Catholic Schools by Tom Griffin at The Daily Signal. As a teacher in a Catholic school, it is imperative that we consistently consider why we devote our lives to the difference of Catholic education. As of 2024, there are over 5,800 Catholic schools with over 1.6 million students enrolled. In order to view the Catholic school difference, we can simply investigate the roots of the words “education” and “school.” Read

Back to Schooling by Robert Royal at The Catholic Thing. In spite of all the fuss over “education” and the enormous amounts of money spent on it in America, as students are returning to school this week, how much real learning goes on these days? My parents had only public high-school diplomas, long before the Federal government got into the business of promoting “education.” But between the local classrooms and instruction in the parish, they read and wrote well, did math properly, understood the American system of government, the Church’s prerogatives, and the truths necessary for salvation. How often does that happen today? Read

When it Comes to Serving Students with Disabilities, How Are Catholic Schools Doing? by Maria Wiering at Our Sunday Visitor. Across the United States, the landscape of disability inclusion in Catholic schools ranges widely. There are some places — including the Archdiocese of Seattle, which includes Tacoma — that have taken deliberate steps to include more students with disabilities in their schools. In other places, families inquiring about Catholic education for a child with atypical learning needs may be told that the child would be better served elsewhere. Read

Newman and the “Education of a Gentleman” by Mark Langley at Lion & Ox. I have been telling my students for a long time that, if they had lived around 600 BC, the requirements for graduation consisted in having studied two principal works The Iliad and The Odyssey. Having mastered these foundational texts, they could, clad in cap and gown, march proudly up the isle and justly receive a diploma claiming membership in the elite society of “those who know.” Read

Conserving the Past through Education by Mark Bauerlein at First Things. In the ​latest installment of the ongoing interview series with contributing editor Mark Bauerlein, Robert L. Luddy joins in to discuss his recent book, The Thales Way. Listen

“Living Latin”: Caution Warranted by Andrew Ellison at ClassicalEd Review. With the growth of classical education, not only has there has been an explosion of textbooks and new editions of classical texts, but there exists now an often-stark division between the proponents of the traditional teaching methods, and the avid advocates of what was once a fringe phenomenon but which is now a revolutionary movement, the movement variously called “Living Latin”, spoken Latin, immersion, or “the Natural Method”. Read

Sarah Wilder: AI and the Crisis of the Modern Graduate by Sarah Wilder at 1819 News. While technology takes over more of life, it somehow yields increasingly less profit for young people seeking solid, well-paying work. Amazon, Meta, Intel and Microsoft are laying off workers. AI is taking over the very entry-level jobs that used to provide a reassuring career path for graduates. AI is making a lot of people rich, but only the people who started it. Gen Z faces joblessness, or at best, menial careers and a decreased sense of pride and agency in their own work as A.I. is constantly improved to become more like a human – eventually “better” than a human (better, at least, in the ways that a tech CEO would find profitable). Read

Get Phones Out of the Classroom by Jack Butler at National Review. When D.C. Public Schools start up again tomorrow, their students will be going back in time — though not that far. That’s because they will no longer be allowed to use their cellphones during the school day. By making its public schools phone-free, Washington, D.C., has joined a nationwide, bipartisan education trend. Unlike many such trends, however, this is one we should embrace. Read

A Dress Code for Democracy by Brandon McNeice at Front Porch Republic. At our school, each morning begins with students arriving in uniform—shirts buttoned, collars straightened, shoes worn with care—ready to join a community already in motion. For many of our students, that shirt was donated. The collar might be frayed. But there is a quiet dignity in the gesture and a subtle promise: here, we will dress not to compete but to belong. Read

39 Kids’ Lunch Ideas Your Littles Won’t Trade Away by Kelli Acciardo at Taste of Home. No matter if your kids are learning at home or heading to school, these kids' lunch ideas are guaranteed to please everyone at the table. Even better? They're ready in just 20 minutes! Read

Are Arizona’s School Vouchers a Threat to Public Education or the Two Big Teachers’ Unions? by Edwin Benson at The American Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family, and Property. Several public schools in Phoenix, Arizona, are closing. Enrollments have dropped too low to justify the schools’ costs. Part of the decline is due to Arizona’s popular “Empowerment Scholarship Account Program,” popularly known as a voucher plan. As of this writing, the Arizona Department of Education has enrolled 88,676 students for the coming school year. Read

‘Horrific’ - At Least 2 Dead in Minneapolis Catholic School Shooting by Michelle La Rosa at The Pillar. At least two children were killed Wednesday in Minneapolis, in what appears to be the first mass shooting at a Catholic school in U.S. history. Students at Annunciation Catholic School in southwest Minneapolis were attending an opening of school Mass shortly after 8 a.m. when a shooter opened fire from outside the church building. Read

Throwback Thursday

Catholic vs. Secular Classical Education: What’s the Difference? by Ethan Tyler Graham at Catholic Culture on February 29, 2016. The Catholic classical school seeks “to allow students to encounter the living God in Christ by frequenting the sacraments (daily Mass and regular confession), studying Scripture, serving others, and learning about Truth as it manifests itself in every subject taught. As students develop an authentic personal and loving relationship with Jesus, their love for one another is the sign of our mission reaching fulfillment.” The mission is, thus, ineluctably Jesus Christ himself. There is no doubt that the logos (which Christian faith holds is incarnate in Christ; cf. Jn 1:14) is the same thing as the transcendentals sought and taught at secular classical schools. However, something larger than this end is at work in the encounter with Christ, the Word made flesh. Read