About Saint Thomas More Academy
Saint Thomas More Academy aims to help parents instill in their children a Sacramental Vision - to see the world with the eyes of Christ, to speak with the language of his Body, the Church, and to walk as his faithful disciple in the world so that students may know, love, and serve the Holy Trinity in this world and receive the gift of eternal blessedness. We offer a curriculum and community that helps parents cultivate this Sacramental Vision in their families.
The Four Pillars
How does Saint Thomas More Academy set out to form young people in a Sacramental Vision that will sustain their faith and serve them throughout life? Catholic education at Saint Thomas More Academy is rooted in the medieval Cathedral school model, the time-honored approach to classical Christian education. These Four Pillars, historic yet still developing for today, are: Sacred Worship, Sacred Wisdom, Sacred Music, and Sacred Art.
Sacred Worship
The first education of the soul is conducted not by programs but by the Word of God and sacramental grace. Academy days are sanctified by the celebration of Holy Mass, the source and summit of the life of the Church, and in the daily offering of the Office. Home curriculum includes the regular recitation of the corporate prayers of the Church, ensuring that as our families develop in the home, we are still unified by the common work of prayer which St. Benedict called the opus Dei - the work of God.
Sacred Wisdom
Study in the liberal arts is essential to the formation of rational, free, and virtuous persons, particularly in a world so fraught with confusion and snares. Saint Thomas More offers training in the classical Trivium - Grammar, Logic, and Rhetoric - the first stage of the liberal arts. The study of these disciplines produces a student ready to face other academic pursuits and all of life with clarity of thought, word, & deed. The orderliness of the classical disciplines affords the critical distinctions the world cannot make today, yet all unified under the same Truth.
Sacred Music
Music is an integral part of the patrimony of English Christianity, and singing has been an essential expression of faith and worship for centuries. The venerable tradition of the schola cantorum or "singing school" attributes its origins and patronage to St. Gregory the Great. Saint Thomas More will strive to cultivate this ancient tradition along with the patrimony of the celebrated Anglican choral tradition. Choristers must learn vocal technique and sight singing as well as music theory and history, and will sing the Lord's praises in chanted Morning Prayer and sung Mass.
Sacred Art
Also a strength of the patrimony, sacred art is taught in the Ordinariate not just from the standpoint of appreciation, but also by its creation. Students will explore the fine, applied, and performing arts as an integral part of learning and not just as an “extracurricular” activity. Lessons will draw from the deep well of the Catholic artistic tradition, as well as secular masterpieces. Following in the tradition of Saint Thomas Aquinas and Jacques Maritain, students will study how art with secular subject matter can point toward the divine.
Divisions
Preschool 3 year olds
Pre-Primary 4 - 5 year olds
Primary A 6 - 7 year olds
Primary B 8 - 9 year olds
Junior A 10 - 11 year olds
Junior B 12 - 13 year olds
Academy Day Schedule
8:30 Morning Prayer & Divisions Begin
12:00 Midday Mass
12:40 Lunch
1:15 Afternoon Explorations
2:30 Dismissal
(9:00 - 10:00 Holy House for Mothers)
Academy Day Division Overviews
(for a full description of all elements of our home curriculum, please see the curriculum page of our website)
Omnes
Pre-Primary
Primary A & B
Junior A & B
Prayer
Mass
Lunch
Calendar Time
Montessori-Inspired Work Session
Stories
Art
Music
Nature Study
Trivium:
Grammar
Rhetoric (Primary B)
Literature
Latin
History & Geography
Virtues
Catechism
Primary A:
Music Foundations
Handcrafts
Nature Study
Primary B:
Catholic Culture
Choir
Studio Art & Art History
Nature Study
Trivium:
Grammar
Rhetoric
Logic (Junior B)
Literature
Latin
History & Geography
Catechism
Catholic Culture
Choir
Studio Art & Art History
Nature Study
The Holy House
In the 11th century, Our Lady appeared in the English village of Walsingham, giving a young woman a vision of the Holy House at Nazareth, where Mary and Joseph raised the Christ Child, and instructing her to build a chapel in its image. The humble nature of the Holy Family's hidden life serves as an inspiration for the simplicity, order, love, and sanctification offered to the mother in the home.
Saint Thomas More Academy will set apart an hour each week for The Holy House - a time for mothers to come together for encouragement, education, and common work. Honoring the Church's teaching that parents can only hand on what we ourselves have to give, we will build a culture together as we work to pass it on to our children. Weekly topics will range from preparing at-home lessons and practicing handcrafts and skills together to studies with the priest of Magisterial teachings on family and education, and everything in between.
The Patronage of
Saint Thomas More
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"I die the King's good servant, but God's first."
Saint Thomas More was classically educated and highly accomplished by all secular standards. Most importantly, he was a champion for the Catholic Faith throughout his life, witnessing to Christ finally as a martyr when called to choose between the earthly acclaim and power and Our Lord's Church. His education was rightly ordered, freeing him to be clear-headed about the goal of life and learning in a time where Truth was in question. A devoted father, he was intimately involved in the education of his children, creating a vibrant and loving home culture of learning. He is a powerful intercessor for families modeling their homes as schools of virtue.
"[Saint Thomas More] is, for us, the Road Back. For our countrymen, I mean, for southerners ... He is the man to pray to for the conversion of the south. One of the stumbling blocks to the Southerner (or the American) who is drawn to the Church is that he sees not the Church of More, not the English Church which is his spiritual home ..."
​
- Walker Percy
The Significance of Our Emblem
The Tudor Rose at the heart of our emblem is a medieval symbol of Our Lady, revered in our parish most specifically as Our Lady of Walsingham. Featured on the Chain of Esses which Saint Thomas More wore as Lord Chancellor of England, it calls to mind our patron. While historically the Tudor Rose represented secular political unity, used in our diocese, the Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter, it is emblematic of the Christian Unity achieved in reconciling Anglican Protestantism to the Catholic Church. The red of the rose calls to mind the Passion of our Lord as well as the martyrdom of St. Thomas More and all those who died in imitation of Christ. The white of the rose signifies the purity made possible through baptism. The laurel wreath circling the rose calls to mind the victor's wreaths of the classical era. Most importantly signifying the crown of victory with which the saints are rewarded, keeping us ever mindful of the ultimate goal of education - holiness.
