Beginning in September 2012, Mr. and Mrs. Michael will welcome our first boarding school students (Catholic boys age 13-16) to the CLAA's boarding school in Monroe, NC.  The CLAA boys will be immersed in a balanced life of work, study and prayer in a small and family-like community.  We will not be interested in competing with modern schools, but will be pursuing a completely different set of goals.  We are not primarily interested in college admission or workplace readiness, but in the pursuit of wisdom and sanctity, which are the surest aids to happiness.  Our boys will enjoy a rich and balanced life of daily religion, liberal studies and manual labor on a working farm.  The boys will study divine revelation and classical philosophy, whlie producing their own food, managing their own community life and progressing in their own liberal studies.  Over time, students will grow happier, more secure in their philosophical persuasions and simpler in their interests.  The goal of our school community will be to create and maintain a self-sufficient life directed by religion and philosophy.  The school will also serve as a center for the study of the classical liberal arts, with guest teachers visiting regularly in all of the areas of life that concern us--from food to philosophy.

OUR MODEL

The boys in the CLAA boarding school will be led to study and imitate the life of the ancient king, David of Israel.  While many Christian saints provide fine examples of religious life, we look to a man who was an example worthy of both lay and religious Christians.  David was an exemplary boy, serving his father piously as a shepherd in the fields of Israel.  David was an exemplary young man, growing to love God's name and offer his life to the glory of God.  David was an examplary man, showing us how God raises up the man who is excellent in his work and sets him before kings.  David is an example of classical virtus, showing us the strength and courage of a spiritually-minded warrior who understands the balance between earthly and heavenly aims.  David is an exemplary artist, showing us the balance of the active and contemplative life and the use of the fine arts therein.  David is an exemplary father, teaching us what true fatherhood looks like in the rearing of not only Solomon (the ancient world's wisest man) but also Absalom (a traitor and prodigal).  David is an exemplary political leader, showing us how God's will is executed on earth as it is in heaven.  There is no man more worthy of our contemplation and imitation--in all areas of life--than David and we ought not to shrink back from honoring him whom God had called "the man after my own heart". 

OUR CURRICULUM

Students attending the boarding school will not follow a curriculum that resembles anything like other schools.  (Most schools really don't have a "curriculum" at all, only an organized pile of information that provides for no meaningful progression in wisdom or skill for use in everyday life.)  Our mission is to raise wise, strong and virtuous men--not to prolong "adolescence" and promote childishness as a virtue.  As our boys' bodies and desires move towards adult objects (marriage, wealth, influence, etc.) so their knowledge and skill sets should also move towards what would be appropriate for adults.  A boy who is physically ready to take a wife and produce children should be spiritually, intellectually and practically ready to do so as well. 

As we believe that a way of life is to be learned rather than a body of arbitrarily chosen information, the curriculum will be one that covers all areas of life for which men are responsible--from the classical liberal arts through the practical arts--and it will teach them in their natural environments and conditions, not in a classroom.  Boys will learn the arts of communication and enter into the study of wisdom, they will learn how to balance a life of work with a life of prayer, they will learn how to provide their own food, clothing, maintain their own possessions, etc., all within the complexity of managing a busy daily schedule with real responsibilities. 

At the core of the academic curriculum is (obviously) the study of the classical liberal arts.  All CLAA students will begin with Grammar I, taught directly by Mr. Michael and will progress through the classical liberal arts, which form history's curriculum for wise men.  The curriculum will inclue the following subject areas (all of which should be understood by their "classical" rather than modern definitions):

• Language Arts
  • Grammar (Latin, Greek, English)
  • Reasoning (Dialectical, Demonstrative)
  • Rhetoric (Aristotle, Cicero)
• Mathematics
  • Classical Arithmetic
  • Classical Geometry
  • Music (Theory, Choral, Instrumental)
  • Astronomy
• Natural Philosophy
• Moral Philosophy

Outside of the academic curriculum, students will learn (by study and practice) the following practical arts.  Note that thee will not be taught in a classroom, but as we perform necessary tasks and projects on the farm and around the school campus:

• Basic Surveying/Architecture
• Basic Carpentry/Masonry/Electrical/Plumbing
• Fruit/Vegetable Gardening (Outdoor & Greenhouse)
• Dairy Production (Cow & Goat)
• Horse Care & Driving (Draft, Carriage)
• Livestock Management (Beef, Pork, Lamb)
• Auto/Equipment Mechanics
• Clothesmaking
• Food Preparation (Bread, Cheese, Wine)
• Household Maintenance

Nevertheless, despite this busy academic and practical schedule, students will spend as much as 3 hours per day in prayer, reflection and sacred studies.  This will include:

• praying the Liturgy of the Hours
• praying the Holy Rosary
• studying Sacred Scripture
• studying the Church's catechisms
• celebrating the fasts/feasts of the Church
• participating in the sacramental life of the Church

The curriculum does not change in subjects, but the students progress in depth within each subject.  The time spent with us and the diligence with which they engage in their work and studies determines the

ENROLLMENT

No student will be admitted to the CLAA boarding without first attending a CLAA Simple Life Camp, so that is step one.  These camps provide an extended time of exposure to the way of life, activities and teaching that students will experience in the boarding school and provide parents, students and the CLAA administration the opportunity to preview how the student will fare with us.  Admission applications will be made available to students after their attendance at Simple Life Camp if they are referred to/by Mr. Michael for admission to the boarding school. 

TUITION & FINANCIAL AID

If there's any area that the CLAA Boarding School radically differ from modern schools it is in the area of finances--and we should expect it to be so.  As we teach real-world self-sufficiency and practice it, our school finances are more complicated than most schools who simply pay for everything they give their students.  Of course, that route is absurdly expensive and irresponsible, teaching students to live as consumers rather than producers.  The needs of our school community are supplied by the work of students and staff-members for the mutual benefit of all.  This results in low tuition rates requird only to cover those expenses we cannot eliminate through our own work.

Payment Arrangements:  As always, we are flexible and generous with regard to payments.  Parents with students in the boarding school may pay their annual tuition using any of the CLAA's penalty-free payment plans.  Payments made be made using 3 month, 6 month or 10 month installment plans.

OUR CAMPUS

The CLAA Boarding school will open in 2012 on our 45 acre farm in Monroe, NC, with an additional 15 acre farm located 2 miles away.  Here, students will arrive to find a working family-oriented farm with everything necessary for self-sufficient living.  Our animals include:  Percheron draft horses, Jersey dairy cows, Nubian dairy goats, Black Angus beef cows, Dorper meat sheep, Leicester wool sheep, Plymouth Rock chickens, pigs, honey bees, and more.   The land includes several acres of fruit and vegetable gardens, lush pastures, a stocked fishing pond, and over 20 acres of land on which we grow alfalfa, wheat and corn.  Campus facilities include an academic building where classroom instruction and daily prayer are conducted, two dairy barns, a large storage/market buliding and the student residence houses.

The main residence house (see photo at top of page) was built in 1899 to serve as a family farm house.  It was improved over the past 120 years to include a beautiful porch, fellowship deck and swimming pool.  The house has three main dormitory areas each of which will hold 4 boys.  There is a kitchen and dining area as well as a study/den for evening studies.  There is a recreation room that includes musical instruments, a pool table, table tennis area, dartboards and game tables for scheduled hours of recreation.  

A second residence house is located directly behind the main house and can host an additional 12 boys.  This house is equipped with showers, toilets, beds and a separate student lounge/study area.

Note:  Students will have no access to television, radio, internet or other media sources other than those available in the school building and scheduled for supervised use during their study periods.  

To the north of the student house is the fishing pond, shaded with pecan trees and offering plenty of comfortable spots for meditation or rest.  To the east of the student house is a quiet 5 acre grove of tall pines, through which the sun's rays break in the morning, where students find a perfect setting for quiet walks, meditation and camping.  To the south of the house is a large front lawn area maintained for sporting and social events. 

MORE INFORMATION

Tours and orientation events will be scheduled at appropriate times.  You can send any questions you have directly to William Michael at: wmichael@classicalliberalarts.com.