June 22 – Associate Director, Elisabeth Sullivan, became a Circe Certified Master Teacher after completing their three-year program. Here she is pictured with Circe founder, Andrew Kern, and their annual conference.
June 12-13 — The Diocese of Marquette Catholic Schools will be hosting the third annual Midwest Conference on Catholic Liberal Arts Education, featuring ICLE’s Jessie Van Hecke. Click HERE to view the flyer or HERE to register.
July 18-20 – ICLE’s Director of School Services, Mary Pat Donoghue, will be taking part in the Catholic Education Foundation’s third annual intensive and comprehensive three-day seminar, The Role of the Priest in Today’s Catholic School. Click HERE for more information and be sure to help spread the word to your local bishops, priests, and seminarians!
April 4 — ICLE Executive Director Dr. Andrew Seeley was interviewed by Leslie Fain of Catholic World Report regarding Classical educators’ impressions of Betsy DeVos as Education Secretary. Click HERE to read the full article.
February 25 — Summer programs for those who want to learn to converse in Latin are popping up all over, for example, the Servants of St. Jerome program in Alabama:
“Come without the fear of making errors. There are no critics among us. In the company of others you will experience Latin as a truly living language, completely suitable for the times in which we live.” Click HERE for more information.
January 17 — AFPC-NCEA announces Webinar Series for Conductors of Catholic Student Choirs, Worship Leaders and Classroom Teachers, Elementary through High School: “Diocesan Choral Festivals: Guidelines and Organization.” Monday, January 23, 4-5 p.m. EST. Professional Development Credit Offered. Click HERE to register.
December 2 — John Paul the Great Catholic University announces its new B.A. in Humanities. Dr. Andrew Seeley is a member of their Distinguished Scholars Advisory Board.
November 21 — The Institute announces Bishop Robert Barron has become its newest Board member: “I want to thank personally Dr. Seeley and Mr. Van Hecke, and particularly Archbishop Gomez, for this opportunity to share in the work of this visionary and exciting organization.” Read the full press release here.
October 17 — Cardinal Newman Society publishes their new Catholic Curriculum Standards.
September 24 — Archdiocese of Denver announces Frassati Catholic Academy slated to open in Fall 2017.
September 21 — Dr. Andrew Seeley became an inaugural member of Wyoming Catholic College’s Catholic Scholars Advisory Board.
August 16-23 — Mary Pat Donoghue led workshops in San Marcos (St. Joseph Academy), Napa (Kolbe Academy & Trinity Prep), Concord (Woodrose Academy), Pasadena (St. Theresa) and Ventura (St. Augustine Academy), California.
August 16 — Andrew Seeley led a retreat for teachers and staff at Bishop Machebeuf High School, Denver, Colorado.
August 2-3, — Andrew Seeley and Mary Pat Donoghue led a workshop at Notre Dame School, Wichita Falls, TX.
July 21-22 — Danny Flynn and Merrill Roberts led a workshop at Our Lady School, Ft. Wayne, Indiana.
July 21-23 — Institute staff presented The Spirit and Craft Program to over 40 teachers from The Regina Academies, at Regina Coeli Academy, Abington, Pennsylvania.
July 18-21 — The fourth annual Catholic Classical Schools Conference drew 200 participants to Neumann University, Aston, Pennsylvania. They rejoiced for three days while delving into the riches of The Sacramental Imagination and experiencing the work of the Holy Spirit among fellow lovers of classical education.
July 15 — Mary Pat Donoghue joined the Institute as our first full-time Director of School Services. Mary Pat led St. Jerome Academy through its ground-breaking transformation into a Catholic classical school, and is now answering Our Lord’s call to help schools around the country do the same.
July 2 — Andrew Seeley and Chris Weir introduced the Carmelites of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, Alhambra, California, to classical education.
June 20-25 — Andrew Seeley and Mary Pat Donoghue joined Sr. Mary Anne Zuberbueler to lead the second annual Spirit and Craft of Teaching in the Catholic Liberal Arts Tradition at Aquinas College, Nashville, Tennessee.
June 15-16 — Mary Pat Donoghue led a workshop for St. Leo School, Ridgeway, Pennsylvania.
June 2-3 — Andrew Seeley & Colleen Richards led a workshop for St. Austin School, St. Louis, Missouri.
May 31- June 1, — Beth Sullivan and Jessie Van Hecke led a workshop for Sacred Heart School, Lincoln, Nebraska.
May 25 — Director Andrew Seeley presented the work of the Institute to leaders of the Archdiocese of Denver.
May 20-22 — Chris Weir participated in the First Things Intellectual Retreat, Los Angeles, California.
May 15 — Associate Director Elisabeth Sullivan completed the second year of The Circe Institute’s three-year Apprenticeship Program.
Feb 11-12 — Mary Pat Donogue led a workshop at Christ the Divine Teacher School, Latrobe, Pennsylvania.
November 18-21 — Michael and Jessie Van Hecke participated in the Vatican-sponsored World Congress on Education.
November 9 — Mary Pat Donoghue and Elisabeth Sullivan led a two-day workshop at St. Benedict School in Richmond, Virginia.
September 26 – Drs. Andrew Seeley and Jeffrey Lehman presented a day program for The Gregorian Institute at Benedictine College, Atchison, Kansas.
I.C.L.E. IN THE NEWS
Tom Hoopes mentions the Institute’s work among his seven signs of growth trends among American Catholics – The Gregorian Institute, 6/20/2017
“Traditional Catholic high schools are declining, but new classical schools are seen as an “in-demand product.” Places like the Institute for Catholic Liberal Education — where Los Angeles Auxiliary Bishop Robert Barron is a board member — are struggling to serve the growing market.”
Read More…
More Catholic Schools are Making the Switch to Classical Curricula – The Catholic World Report, 9/23/2106
What is the classical Catholic liberal tradition? Why is it important? According to the website for the Institute for Catholic Liberal Education, “Classical education believes that students should master the arts of language known as the Trivium (grammar, logic, and rhetoric), because they are the tools of clear thinking and powerful expression…and classical education also tries to preserve the spirit of the Quadrivium, seeing in the mathematical and scientific disciplines first and foremost an opportunity to make an encounter with Truth accessible to the young mind and to form the specifically human power of reasoning.”
Read more…
Michigan Adopts Classical Curriculum, Rejects Common Core – Heartland Institute, 8/22/1016
“Catholic educators by and large, through no fault of their own, have almost no familiarity with the Catholic traditions of education,” Seeley said. “The Catholic classical schools are deliberately immersing themselves in the Catholic tradition of education. The Catholic Church has much more experience in educating successfully than any contemporary education proposal out there.”
Read more…
Will More Catholic Schools Pivot from Common Core to Classical Education? – National Catholic Register, 4/28/2016
“Independent Catholic schools are rising to the unmet demand among parents for a Catholic classical education at a time when dioceses are closing schools due to falling enrollment.” ICLE Annual conferences are “providing a nexus for experienced teachers and students of the ‘Great Books’ to learn from each other and collaborate. ” Read more…