Chelsea Academy

Preparations continue for the opening of Chelsea Academy next fall. I’d like to share with you several recent developments and to address a few questions that have arisen.

First of all, I am pleased to announce that Sharon Hickson has agreed to join the Chelsea Academy Board. Sharon has been a resident of Virginia and parishioner of St. John the Baptist parish since 1980, and she brings considerable experience in education, at both the secondary and the collegiate levels, to her new role as board member. An instructor of English Language and Literature at Christendom College, Sharon taught and served as Academic Dean at Wakefield Country Day School for eight years before moving on to Seton School in Manassas, where she taught English from 1999 to 2004. In addition, Sharon is the mother of eight children, several of whom attended Wakefield and Seton Schools. We are grateful to Sharon for her strong interest in Chelsea Academy and her willingness to contribute her time and talents to this endeavor.

Applications for admission to Chelsea Academy are now being accepted. Admissions forms are available on our website for downloading. We strongly recommend that you begin the admissions process as soon as possible. Parents of even the most highly qualified students should recognize that spaces will be limited from the start. Because we will accept students on a rolling admissions basis, applications will be considered as soon as they are received. Interviews can be set up by calling the main office, and dates for admissions testing will soon be posted.

Regarding tuition and financial aid, I should mention that we have arranged for FACTS Management to handle all tuition payments and to assist us in determining the most just distribution of our financial aid resources. (You will soon find a link to FACTS on our website.) Although FACTS will receive all applications for financial aid and will provide an analysis of applicants’ financial needs, the final decision on all financial aid matters will lie with Chelsea Academy. FACTS has a proven record of assisting schools with financial matters, including many Catholic schools in Virginia, and we are confident that its professional service will benefit our families as well as the school.

There have been a number of updates on the Chelsea Academy website. In addition to the forms that are now available in the Admissions section, you will also find the Parent and Student Handbook under About Chelsea. There will likely be minor revisions and additions to the Handbook in the coming months, but it already provides important information as well as the principal rules and policies of the school.

In recent weeks, several people have asked whether students will be able to attend Chelsea Academy on a part-time basis. This is a question that we considered early in our planning. Because the decision to start a new school was driven in part by the desire to create an alternative to the existing programs that provide part-time classes and extracurricular activities to students in the area, we have chosen to limit enrollment to full-time students.

On a different topic, I know that some people have wondered why we are offering French rather than Spanish in our opening year. There are three main reasons. The first has to do with Western civilization. As Latin is the classical language of the ancient world, French is the most important modern Romance language and a more significant part of the American heritage than any other foreign language. More works of enduring value have been written in French than in any other modern language (with the exception of English). Second, French provides excellent training for students. French is the most precise and difficult of the Romance languages (in part due to the accent and spelling), and so requires greater discipline to master and aids in the learning of Latin. One can more easily move on to Spanish and Italian after learning French than to move in the other direction. Third, there is a practical argument to be made for French. As many American schools are abandoning French for Spanish, Chinese, and Arabic, offering French will help further to distinguish our students and the school in the college admissions process. When we expand into the high school grades in the future, Chelsea Academy will likely offer other foreign languages in addition to Latin and French. At the start, we wish to build our language program firmly on these two foundational languages.

Volunteers are needed. Are you willing to host a small, informal gathering in your home to help get the word out about Chelsea Academy? Over the next couple of months we are hoping to provide opportunities for people to learn more about the school, and we need your help. Please contact me by phone or email if you are interested in hosting a gathering.

Thank you for your ongoing prayers and support.

Sincerely,

Jonathan Brand

Headmaster
Chelsea Academy

Email: jbrand@chelseaacademy.org
Telephone: 540 635-0622