As students enjoyed a well-deserved summer break over the past couple of months, the faculty and administrators at Holy Angels Catholic School have been hard at work. The Woodbury school is in the process of adopting a new Catholic Liberal Arts curriculum, known in some school communities as a Classical education.
“At Holy Angels, a Catholic Liberal Arts curriculum draws from the Church’s 2,000-year tradition of forming the whole person – mind, body and soul,” said Matthew Soldano, the school’s director of curriculum. “The ‘liberal arts’ are the arts befitting a free person – skills that free the mind to seek and love what is true, good and beautiful. In the Catholic view, real freedom is not just the ability to choose, but the ability to know and love the person of Jesus Christ.”
He added that, through the history of the Church, the objective of education has been “to lead the student to know and love God and to see all learning in light of Him,” contrasted with the view of education merely as preparation for the workforce.
School leaders like Soldano have thoroughly researched this curricular model over the past several years, visiting a number of schools across the country and meeting with principals and teachers. The Holy Angels team saw firsthand the benefits of a Catholic Liberal Arts curriculum, as well as standardized testing data that show how immersive, integrated learning styles are highly effective.
“In this model, literature, history, religion, art and music are connected, so students see how they fit together. They read great books alongside the history in which they were written, discover the beauty of sacred art, and see how our faith has shaped the story of the world,” he explained. “This makes learning more meaningful and helps students grow in both wisdom and virtue, always with the ultimate goal in mind – coming to know and love God.”
For Father Joseph Byerley, pastor of Holy Angels Parish, one of the key benefits of this new curriculum will be the full integration of faith across academic disciplines.
“We want to form our children in virtue and holiness as well, and prepare them academically and emotionally for the life that God has called them to,” he said. “Integrating the Catholic faith in all classes and activities, rather than as a separate class, helps to present the faith as part of the school culture, allowing the students to make it easier to have the faith and their relationship with the Lord become part of their individual identity.”
For students returning to the classroom in September, the transition will be seamless because the school has been working toward this renewal for several years, Soldano said.
“They’ll see the same emphasis on prayer, beauty and order in the classroom, and a stronger focus on connecting learning across subjects,” he said. “We will continue to foster an environment where students are genuinely excited to learn – who see knowledge not as something to memorize and forget, but as something to explore, question and treasure. Our lessons will keep inviting them to dig deeper, make connections, and discover the joy of understanding the world God has made.”
As Bill Hennessy begins his first school year as principal at Holy Angels, he looks forward to seeing the new curriculum in action.
“I am most excited that we are giving our students an education that truly forms the whole person – mind, body and soul – rooted in the Catholic Liberal Arts tradition,” he said. “This means students will not only learn information, but will be trained to think clearly, speak confidently and write persuasively.”
Hennessy believes that the approach will be “both freeing and unifying” for teachers there.
“It means our job is not simply to transfer information, but formation of souls. As educators, we are called to present all learning in the light of faith, helping students see God’s truth in mathematics, His beauty in art and music, and His providence in history,” he said. “No subject is isolated, and no lesson is without eternal meaning. It challenges us as a faculty to keep deepening our own love for truth, beauty and goodness so that we can model it for our students.”
For Holy Angels parents both present and future, Hennessy believes the curriculum renewal also supports them in forming children through education and in their faith.
“A Catholic Liberal Arts education gives their sons and daughters the tools to do anything in the world, not by training them for a single career, but by forming them into people who can think deeply, communicate clearly and live with integrity,” he said. “Parents can be confident that their children’s education is taking place in an environment that fosters a passion, desire and hunger to learn – a love of learning that will serve them for life.”
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