Archives - April 2025
Welcoming Dr. Diarmuid Wheeler
April 30, 2025
The Chelsea Academy Board of Directors is pleased to announce that Dr. Diarmuid Wheeler will serve as the next Headmaster of Chelsea Academy.
Dr. Wheeler is no stranger to Chelsea Academy, having served as a faculty member here not so long ago. During his tenure at Chelsea, Dr. Wheeler was the first instructor to be chosen by his peers to be honored with the Michael Echaniz Teacher of the Year Award. More recently, Dr. Wheeler has headed the History and Humanities departments at The Mount Academy in Esopus, NY, where he was instrumental in redeveloping the school's curriculum and teacher professional development programs.
A native of Ireland, Dr. Wheeler attained a Double Honors Bachelor of Arts Degree as well as a Masters in Military History & Strategic Studies from Maynooth University before completing a doctorate in History at the University of Galway.
"We are thrilled to welcome Dr. Wheeler and his family back to the Chelsea community," Chairman of the Board Doug McCarthy remarked, "He has a deep understanding of the Chelsea mission through our foundational pillars of Faith, Family, Academics, and Adventure. We are confident that he will embody the virtues of our patron, St. Thomas More, as a faithful, humble, and patient servant leader for our community, and take our special school to even greater heights."
Upon his appointment, Dr. Wheeler remarked, “The Easter season is a time of joy, hope, and life renewed. It is only appropriate then that I share how absolutely thrilled and blessed my wife Chelsie and I feel to be called back to Front Royal once again. Chelsea Academy is a place that has always felt like home, and I consider it an immense privilege to be given the opportunity to lead the Academy into the future. Our school is a gem, one that so many people are actively searching for, but rarely find. Chelsea Academy holds the promise of a better future.”
Dr. Wheeler and his wife Chelsie are the proud parents of three children, the oldest of whom will be starting at Chelsea in the fall. He will begin his appointment on June 15.
Please join us in praying for the Wheeler family during this transition, and for the continued success of Chelsea Academy!
Posted in
Academics
Conference on Technology & Family Life
April 29, 2025
The evidence is in: Smartphones, social media, and other technological devices are addictive and corrosive to adolescent development. In addition, these technologies are deleterious to learning, retention, and prolonged serious study. The presence of smartphones and social media has caused a fundamental rewiring of childhood, bringing with it immense challenges for families to navigate.
At the same time, artificial intelligence and automation are bringing transformative change to both the classroom and the modern economy. Young people will graduate into a world where modern technology is not only ubiquitous, but also increasingly necessary for professional success. Given the rate and nature of modern technological progress, classical schools are faced with the challenge of crafting an approach to technology that is appropriately proactive and protective—one that recognizes the contributions of new technologies, but also maintains that they must serve human life and the human family, not the other way around.
So how should Catholic schools balance their response to our technological moment? How can classical schools partner with families to protect childhood from the dangers of smartphones and social media? How should schools approach the tech issue to ensure students are prepared for both this life and the next?
This summer, Chelsea Academy is proud to explore these pressing questions and more at our second annual conference, "Screen-Free Childhood: Cultivating Virtue in the Internet Age". We’ll convene leading voices at the intersection of technology and family issues on the campus of Chelsea Academy in beautiful Front Royal, Virginia, to discuss how schools should navigate the challenges and opportunities of modern technology.
Confirmed speakers include:
- Clare Morrell is director of EPPC’s Technology and Human Flourishing Project and the author of the forthcoming book, The Tech Exit: A Practical Guide to Freeing Kids and Teens from Smartphones.
- Brad Littlejohn is the Director of Programs and Education at American Compass. He previously served as the president of Davenant Institute and fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center. He is the author of Called to Freedom: Retrieving Christian Liberty in an Age of License.
- Emma Waters is a Policy Analyst in the Center for Technology and the Human Person at The Heritage Foundation. Her work focuses on family, biotechnology, and reproductive medicine. Mrs. Waters is a former Visiting Fellow with Independent Women’s Forum and a monthly contributor with World magazine.
- Emile Doak is Executive Director of the Chelsea Academy Foundation. Mr. Doak came to Chelsea from The American Conservative magazine, where he led the organization as Executive Director. He has written widely on issues of faith, culture, and technology
...with more to be announced!
Full details and registration here.
Posted in
Events
Senior Thesis Presentations 2025
April 29, 2025
The senior thesis is to be the crowning achievement of the Chelsea Academy education. Each year, Chelsea seniors embark on a year-long major research paper that explores a question built upon the close reading of a Great Book. The thesis should engage some aspect of the Great Conversation as it develops a question in history, literature, theology, philosophy, science, mathematics, or another approved subject area.
The Class of 2025 has been hard at work with their respective thesis advisors all year, and are ready to present their theses to the community! Support our seniors as they publicly present the capstone academic exercise of their Chelsea careers. Seniors will be delivering their thesis presentations from Tuesday, May 6 to Thursday, May 8, 2025 from 6:30-8:00pm at Chelsea Academy. We encourage all who can make it to attend.
The presenters and topics are listed below:
Tuesday, May 6
Edmund Brugger, “A Vindication of Aquinas’s Arguments for the Existence of God Against the New Atheists”
Belle Schuttloffel, “'I can't get over my disappointment in not being a boy!' Embracing Authentic Femininity in Little Women”
Noah Van Schaick, “The Reality of the Sin of Pride and the Violent Revelation Needed to Cause a Change”
Keira Thomas, “'The Nobler the Woman, the Nobler the Love': A Discussion Lady Macbeth and the Role of Femininity Plays in the Culture”
Wednesday, May 7
Jimmy Stanford, “'O Highest Peak of Virtue': Virgil and the Cardinal Virtues in Dante's Inferno”
Patrick Anderson, “Bound in Darkness: The Greed, Dehumanization, and Moral Corruption of Imperialism in Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness”
Cici Wingate, "'To love takes off the masks we fear we cannot live without and know we cannot live within': The Meaning and Effect of True Selfless Love as Seen in Till We Have Faces"
Ivy Akers, “'I am, but there I have another name': Seeing God through Narnia”
Therese MacDougall, “How the Sanctity of Marriage Preserves the Sanctity of Human Life: An Insight into Aldous Huxley's Brave New World to Understand the Sanctity of Human Life and How It Relates to Marriage”
Thursday, May 8
Nate Snyder, “'My Thoughts be Bloody or be Nothing Worth': A Moral Analysis of Revenge Using Shakespeare's Hamlet”
Ken Furlong, “'You Should Not Forsake the Ship in a Storm Because You Cannot Control the Winds': An Analysis of Thomas More's Utopia Concerning the Need for Reform in More's England”
Sarah Barklage, “The Role of Faith and the Virtues in Relationships in Anna Karenina”
Landon Barnett, “Liberty Through Conformity: The Totalitarian implications of Rousseau's General Will”
Calvin Rhodes, “A Despotic Precursor: How John Calvin's Theology and Consistory Inspired Totalitarianism”
Max Egazarian, “Karl Marx: The Attack on Christianity”
Posted in
Academics