The Heritage Foundation has launched an online database that allows parents and guardians to find classical schools that are alternatives to the declining quality of public schools in their region.
Just two schools in Alaska made the list so far: Holy Rosary Academy in Anchorage and Kenai Classical School in Soldotna. Both are Christian-based schools; Holy Rosary is Catholic while Kenai Classical School is nondenominational Christian.
The Classical Schools Database has more than 900 public, charter, and private schools on the list nationwide (Hawaii has the fewest on the list with just one). The database features schools that are committed to offering a classical liberal arts education to their students. These schools are committed to three core ideas:
Character and Intellectual Formation: Classical schools emphasize the development of both moral and intellectual virtues, viewing them as inseparable, to prepare students to uphold and preserve American principles and freedoms through knowledge, wisdom, and virtue.
Transmission of Wisdom: Classical schools focus on passing down the knowledge and insights of previous generations through great books, the liberal arts (trivium and quadrivium), and Western religious traditions.
Preparation for Lifelong Learning: These schools aim to equip students with the skills and habits needed for self-directed learning, such as logic, rhetoric, recitation, and Socratic seminars, fostering abilities in attention, memory, reasoning, and dialogue.
Holy Rosary Academy was “disassociated” from the Catholic Church as an official Catholic institution, a status that began in October 2021 when the Archdiocese of Anchorage-Juneau, under Archbishop Andrew Bellisario, revoked its Catholic school designation. That decision stemmed from the school’s refusal to comply with certain mandates from the archdiocese, including giving the archbishop authority over hiring, firing, curriculum, and health-related decisions, such as mask mandates. The school has opted to operate independently, identifying as a “Classical School in the Catholic Tradition.”
Holy Rosary Academy was returned to a partial restoration of ties in 2022, but the archdiocese did not fully reinstate its official Catholic status. Instead, it allowed limited cooperation, such as access to sacraments for students and families at local parishes. The academy maintains its classical curriculum and Catholic identity but does so without the official endorsement of the archdiocese.
Kenai Classical School was founded in 2019.
Both of these learning institutions are a ray of light & hope. when viewed in the context of ASD, they become pillars of academia!! Well done to both institutions & to the parents for understanding their choices will have lasting implications.
Every Charter school has to have a mission statement. What it wants to achieve with the academics . There should be a goal that identifies with that statement.
I am a bit flustered with the lack of any data or information that formulated the choice of these school being selected. I find no fault with that of the Catholic school, all that is laid out should not be a surprise to any.
Where is the second school’s chosen data? Without it how does a reader gain insight to its success?
What is more important is the specific curriculum material that is being use in each school Phonics or Whole Language (sight reading) Sequential historical math or plastic pieces,(new math). What the status of teacher training is and is it ongoing? Are the teachers on board with both. Is there a strong educational oversight board with both schools involving parental participation and is that participation done with intent and continued oversight of their charge of governance? All of these (and more) factors contribute to what and how a successful school operates.
The mass of hyperbole that is often presented constitutes flowers and sweet nothings over the above specific inquiries. Tragic but platitudes and promises sound pretty hollow when the current results of public education in Alaska is under the microscope. More clarity is in order, even with these two successful schools.
Cheers,
Al Johnson-Ketchikan
Try calling them.
Well, Al, try finding out what the curriculum is for public school. I called, I went to the HQ, I even asked teachers directly, and got nothing but mush in return. They won’t tell you what they teach either because they are hiding something or because they are embarrassed about it. Can’t tell which. The proof is in the student body, who are failing beyond belief. Holy Rosary not only told me what they teach but offered me the chance to sit in on classes. I doubt they are as opaque as you make them out to be.
Holy Rosary Academy is a Cardinal Newman Society recommended school and is accredited by the National Association of Private Catholic and Independent Schools.
None that are Public Systems.
Al, sounds like you need to get in touch with the Heritage Foundation and find out what their criteria is. Holy Rosary Academy for one has been around for 35 years. It’s transparent, and the article written about these schools was neither flowery nor hyperbole. I doubt the Christian school in Soldotna is hiding anything from you either. Pick up the phone and ask away. This article was more about the Heritage Foundation recognizing (only) two schools in our state that might be worth looking at. The rest of the investigation is up to you. Cheers!
Thank you MRA for highlighting Alaska private education being in the National spotlight.
Amazing contrast to the Punks Protest for more public funding with no accountability.
If these private schools had the same outcomes in terms of grades as the public schools, they would be out of business.