Presenting the Beautiful: The Joyful Duty of Catholic Education

Presenting the Beautiful: The Joyful Duty of Catholic Education by Andrew Seeley at The Imaginative Conservative. Catholic schools have a joyful duty to present what is beautiful to their students. At the center of the school, the chapel and all religious services should present a feast for the eyes, the ears, the mind, and the heart. Classrooms and hallways should be tastefully decorated; students will imbibe fine works of art over the course of their years at a school. Tasteful, rich, clever visual presentations should be an important factor when considering textbook series. Read

Classical Education Keeps Growing by Mark Bauerlein at First Things. The latest installment of an ongoing interview series with contributing editor Mark Bauerlein. Martin Cothran joins in to discuss Memoria Press and Classical Education in America. Listen

Augustine Institute Pilots Unique On-Campus “Teachers for Christ” Program in Partnership with ICLE by Carrie Kline at Ignitum Today. Recent college graduates interested in pursuing a career in Catholic education now have a tremendous opportunity to advance their degrees debt free and receive unprecedented Catholic formation thanks to the new in-residence Teachers for Christ program developed by the Augustine Institute in partnership with the Institute for Catholic Liberal Education (ICLE). Read

Teaching as a Work of Mercy by Andrew J. Zwerneman at Cana Academy. The deepest spiritual foundations of teaching lie in the mercy God has shown humankind. When you teach, you participate in his mercy, you extend it to your students, and you reveal to them what mercy is. We learn much of what we know about mercy from Christ’s parable of the Good Samaritan. Read

School Choice Boosts Catholic School Enrollment in Florida by Paris Apodaca at Catholic World Report. Florida has emerged as a national leader in Catholic school enrollment as a product of Gov. Ron DeSantis’ education policy, the leader of a national school choice group says. Step Up For Students, a Florida program that administers state-funded K–12 scholarships to expand school choice, reports that Catholic school enrollment in the state has recently increased by 12.1%, a contrast to the 13.2% decline seen nationwide. Read

School Choice Continues to Expand, Even in Blue and Purple States by Lewis M. Andrews at The Hill. Press reports tend to draw a hard line between the 17 states which enacted universal school choice programs when both their legislatures and governors were Republican and the 33 others which have not. But it would be more accurate to say that choice is expanding everywhere, just with different structures. Read

Classic Learning Test Challenges SAT and ACT Dominance by Philip Roberts at The Daily Signal. The Classic Learning Test, an alternative to standardized tests like the SAT and ACT, has scored recent legislative victories in Texas and Oklahoma, with another win expected in Louisiana. These changes allow students to use their CLT score when applying for college. Jeremy Tate, a former schoolteacher who created the CLT in 2015, spoke with The Daily Signal about the legislative victories and future goals of the Classic Learning Test. As its CEO, he is passionate about offering students an alternative college entrance exam. Read

The Tech Exit: How Smartphones Undermine Our Parenting—and How to Reverse Course featuring Clare Morell at The Heights Forum. The ever-changing tech landscape and the ever-growing research on interactive screens means that we must look at the topic anew year after year. For parents trying to keep pace, Clare Morell has compiled the most up-to-date research into her recent release, The Tech Exit. Armed with the facts and interviews with dozens of Tech Exit families (including some from The Heights community!), Morell encourages parents that it’s never too late to reverse course on smartphones. United with other families trying to do the same, we can replace the new “smartphone milestone” with real milestones that emphasize the goods of the real world. Listen 

Supreme Court Decision Lets Students Sue Schools More Easily for Disability Bias by Mark Walsh at EducationWeek. The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday sided with students with disabilities, overturning a lower-court ruling that had required them to meet a more stringent standard of liability when suing their schools under two key federal disability-discrimination laws. Read

Summer Reading Recommendations by The Institute for Catholic Liberal Education Faculty at The Institute for Catholic Liberal Education. The golden days of summer are upon us! It’s the perfect time for educators to rest, reflect, and renew their love for learning. Whether you’re looking to revisit timeless stories, deepen your understanding of the faith, or engage with today’s cultural questions, the ICLE Faculty has curated a list of summer reading recommendations to enrich both heart and mind. Read

Throwback Thursday

Catholic Schools Must Restore America’s Faith in the Real Presence by Patrick J. Reilly at The Catholic Education Resource Center on August 26, 2019. Forming young people in the Faith requires Catholic parents and educators who once again embrace the Church’s foundational principles and vision for Catholic education. The Church expects Catholic educators to not only teach the Faith, but also provide living encounters with Christ. “Catechesis is intrinsically linked with the whole of liturgical and sacramental activity, for it is in the sacraments, especially in the Eucharist, that Christ Jesus works in fullness for the transformation of human beings.” Read