The classical school movement is entering maturity.
Orthodox Parish schools are hard to maintain -- but it's doable.
We need repentance as much as education.
There are a spectrum of models.
We already have some good schools!
Saint Andrew Academy (Riverside, CA)
St. John of San Francisco Orthodox Academy (San Francisco, CA)
Saint Constantine School (Sugarland, TX)
St. John Chrysostom Academy (Bethlehem, PA)
The Saint Constantine School (Pittsburgh, PA)
Christ the Savior Academy (Whichita, KS)
Mt Tabor Academy (Kansas City, MO)
Three Hierarchs Academy (Florence, AZ)
St. Lawrence Academy (Felton, CA)
Ann Arbor Orthodox Classical Academy (Dexter, MI)
Transfiguration Orthodox Academy (Marietta, GA)
St John Krondsadt (Brisbane, Australia!)
St. Raphael School (online)
We must modify and multiply.
That's where an NOUS comes in (National Orthodox Unified Schools).
Let's create new schools, while supporting or acquiring existing schools.
We are a hub of headmasters, board members, donors, and coaches willing to put sweat equity and financial equity into new viable projects.
Check out the founding brainstorm document for an emerging network of National Orthodox Unified Schools (NOUS).
The bottom line is to develop:
A scalable set of sizes for each community, from 5 students to 500
A support network for headmasters, priests, and trustees
A financial network for donors, boosters, and development professionals
An open-source "school in a box" (beta) for parishes, home school co-ops, and education committees
Our vision, is that by 2035, there are 25 thriving, sustainable, Orthodox classical Christian schools across the US.
Some are larger, ‘private school’ community-based, mere Christian Orthodox schools in cities that can sustain them (500+ students)
Some are Parish schools (50+ students)
Some are home school co-ops / online (any number of students).
There is an association, or more than one, such as National Orthodox Unified Schools (NOUS) and , that provides:
Consultation, coaching, and mentorship, both paid and pro bono
Accreditation through our affiliates -- or explanations about the
“School in a Box” template for starting a new campus based on any of the above models
Recommended curriculum and publications through Classical Academic Press
Suggestions on the whole life cycle of the student: pre-school, scope and sequence during the 12 or 13 years of K-12, and college recommendations
Leadership training for boards and headmasters recommended through Herzog Foundation, ISM, St. Constantine, ACCS, SCL, and Circe
Teacher training and coaching through the same
Mentorship program to go from wanting a Christian, to actually opening the doors
Headmaster training, how to get it going
Parish dynamics
Board training
Parish Priest training
We need a new Orthodox Christian Education Foundation (the NOUS Foundation) with $20+ million in endowed funds that financial supports the above schools and helps launch new schools.
Each launch school receives a 3-year grant. Size is variable depending on the community
Each launch school pays back 1% of gross tuition for the subsequent 5 years
Existing leadership in parish and community, meet and collaborate (the early phases of NOUS) —
To start new schools
And to help existing schools to scale up, market, put in place best practices
Improve existing schools board leadership structure and activity through training (collaborate with ISM)
Unify existing disparate strands of Orthodox curriculum (collaborate with Classical Academic Press)
Unify and maximize separate Orthodox donors and backers to pool money into a foundation (collaborate with Ajalat Foundation)
Unify pipeline of teachers and headmasters through intentional alignment with higher education, teacher recruitment, and leadership recruitment (collaborate with St. Constantine)
Finalize an Orthodox School-in-a-box “Orthodox deep dive” (collaborate with Herzog)
Create an Orthodox parish sub-network within classical schools (collaborate with ACCS)