Sep 15, 2023 | HOS
Dear Parents of Future Riverhawks,
The goal of Cardinal Newman Academy is to enable our students to realize their potential and become the great men and women God created them to be.
Of course, we impart deep and rigorous academic knowledge and skills. But our fundamental intent is to help each student grow into a life of virtue, with appropriate intellectual, emotional and spiritual balance. The entire Newman education derives its real value and meaning from its foundations in the Catholic faith and ultimately in the relationship with God.
In the Catholic tradition, we aim to educate all dimensions of our students. We educate the Mind with rigorous academics. We educate the Will in the Virtues rooted in Catholic and Classical traditions. We educate the Passions to be managed in a traditionally healthy way. Prayer is a routine feature of school life. Daily Mass is just down the hall and is well-attended (we are located in the Church of the Epiphany). So there is ample encouragement for students to develop and live their spiritual lives.
We promote Service to others as a core spiritual value. One prominent example is our Junior year commitment to a service learning project focused on weekly visits with residents of St. Francis Manchester. But, we also promote the belief that an attitude of Service should permeate every action of our lives.
We have quite a lot of fun as a community. Our Riverhawks sports teams, where everyone gets a chance to play, compete against other small schools. This year we have girls’ volleyball, boys’ soccer, and will have basketball for both genders. We might have Track in the Spring. Throughout the year we have fun activities like a whole-school cake decorating competition, hikes and retreats.
We support parents, the primary educators, through our dedicated Catholic teachers, in helping our students grow into full lives of holiness as young adults. But, while not all Cardinal Newman students are Catholic, the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church are fundamental to the philosophy and purpose of our school. The joyful faces of our non-Catholic students suggest that the joy flowing from our faith is contagious!
If this sounds like it might be what you are seeking for your child, then please send me an email ([email protected]) to request a visit for yourself or schedule a shadow day for your child. We have an open house for parents and prospective students on Tuesday, October 3 from 6:30 to 8pm. We’ll also be at the St. Mary’s High School Fair with some students on Tuesday evening, September 28 from 6 to 7:30pm. Then, we’ll be at the Richmond Family Magazine Education Expo at the Dewey Gottwald Center of the Science Museum of Virginia on Sunday afternoon, October 8 from 1 to 4pm.
But, if you’re already convinced, just click on the Admissions button on the top Menu and start downloading forms!
I hope to meet you soon!
Blessings,
Martin Ahrens, Ph.D
Head of School
Sep 15, 2023 | Latest
Parents and children currently in Eighth Grade, seeking a faithful, supportive Catholic High School for 2024 are invited to come tour the school and meet with our teachers and students at the
Cardinal Newman Academy
Open House
Tuesday, October 3rd from 6:30 to 8pm
Newman offers:
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a supportive and joyful community
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faithful Catholic theology
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rigorous academics
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service opportunities
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athletic teams
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fine arts
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daily Mass on site
All this is offered with a very low Student:Teacher ratio and affordable Tuition
We are now accepting applications for our 2024-25 Ninth Grade class and space is limited!
Cardinal Newman Academy
11000 Smoketree Drive, North Chesterfield
Aug 25, 2023 | Latest
We are pleased to announce that Deacon Christopher Weyer has joined Cardinal Newman Academy as an Adjunct Faculty member for the 2023-24 academic year. Rev. Weyer is a Transitional Deacon in the Richmond Diocese, currently stationed at St. Bridget Parish. He grew up in an Air Force family, living in Arkansas, Virginia, and Colorado before heading off to Virginia Tech to study Engineering. It was there that he discerned a Vocation to the Priesthood and left to finish his college studies in Philosophy and begin formation for the Priesthood at St. John Paul II Seminary, completing his studies with a Ph.B. in 2018. He completed his formation for the Priesthood at Mount St. Mary’s Seminary in the Spring of 2023 and he will be teaching Moral Theology for 10th, 11th, and 12th grade students this Fall.
Aug 15, 2023 | Latest
We are pleased to announce that Dr Eileen Lapington has been appointed a full-time faculty member and Vice-Principal at Cardinal Newman this school year. Dr. Lapington is no stranger to Newman students and parents; since the school opened its doors in 2017, Dr Lapington has taught Latin and History classes, has been a cheerleader and photographer at sporting events, and is a steady presence around campus. Dr Lapington has a PhD in European History from Brown University and a passion for Catholic education. She is the product of a small Catholic high school, and she knows personally the impact of a joyfully and authentically Catholic education. “I desperately want to share the gift of Catholic education with every student,” Dr Lapington says, “so that every student leaves Cardinal Newman prepared to live their faith, and in doing so joyfully, to be an evangelist to all they meet.”
Aug 10, 2023 | Latest
We are pleased to announce that Dr. Martin Ahrens has joined our community as Head of School. Dr. Ahrens has many years of experience in a variety of roles, including marketing and fund-raising, teaching at the college level, counseling both teens and adults as a life coach, and professional writing. He is an active member of St. Bridget Parish, including regular service as a Mass lector, volunteering with St. Vincent de Paul, membership in the Knights of Columbus, ongoing formation as a Third Order Carmelite, and consecration of his life to Jesus through Mary. Dr. Ahrens most recently worked as the Director of Marketing and Development for a Catholic retreat house. He earned his PhD from McGill University in Environmental Biology. As an undergraduate, he double majored in Biology and Philosophy with a minor in Mathematics. Dr. Ahrens is joining Cardinal Newman Academy in response to the apostolic call to help young people discover the joyful rewards of a life rooted in classic virtues, rigorous academics and the Catholic faith.
Jul 20, 2022 | Latest
Dear School Community,
We are excited to announce that Bishop Knestout has formally recognized Cardinal Newman Academy as a Catholic school in the Diocese of Richmond. This is the culmination of many years of hard work by many people. As Bishop Knestout stated in his letter to us:
“The dedication and arduous work that has been demonstrated in reaching this goal is evident in all that has been accomplished in a relatively brief time. The vision for the school, centered on Christ, is a public witness to our Catholic faith and culture, and it is vitally important in the lives of our young people. Their formation in faith and education will serve them well, and in so doing, hopefully will serve the diocese and the entire community.”
We are grateful to our faculty and families and our many supporters who have made this occasion possible. Since our founding, Cardinal Newman Academy has eagerly anticipated official recognition as being in union with our bishop and the universal Church. We are grateful to Bishop Knestout and the Office of Catholic Education for helping us achieve this important milestone and for recognizing the dedication and sacrifices of the many contributors who helped us get to this point.
In Christ,
Devon King
Head of School
Cardinal Newman Academy
Feb 18, 2021 | Latest
Tell among the nations his glory,
And his wonders among all the peoples,
For the Lord is great and highly to be praised.
Dear Friends,
The Mass of Tuesday, January 26th was a very memorable one for the Cardinal Newman Academy community as it was the first time we were able to celebrate the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass at our Bon Air campus. It was a beautiful and momentous occasion. The above quote from the Psalms (96) was the Entrance Antiphon for the Mass of that day and it especially struck me for several reasons.
“The Lord is great.” The Lord in His greatness has gifted us with Himself through the mystery of transubstantiation. The students at Cardinal Newman Academy attend Mass and have access to the Sacrament of Reconciliation once a week and, for one of those weeks, we are blessed to attend Mass within our own walls and praise Him in the building in which we gather every day for intellectual and spiritual growth. We are very grateful to the Diocese of Richmond for granting us permission to have Mass on-site. Cardinal Newman Academy is proud of its good relationship with the Diocese and we await with anticipation our coming recognition as an independent Catholic school.
Father Brian Capuano celebrates Mass at Cardinal Newman Academy
“Tell among the Nations his glory.” A school can be a wonderful way to tell the wonders of God to all the peoples. In many ways, I look upon my role as a teacher as a way to fulfill my part in the great commission of Jesus to go and make disciples of the nations (Matt. 28). This is the case in two ways. As a teacher, I show the truth about Jesus and His Church to my students, who, in their turn, spread the Good News to others. In another way, a school can be a wonderful witness to the world of the truth and the joy, love, and peace that can only be had through faith in Christ.
These were my thoughts as I heard the words of the Antiphon. Cardinal Newman Academy represents the hard work, vision, and effort of many people and the celebration of the Mass on campus is in a profound way a culmination of that work. The Lord came to Cardinal Newman Academy to bless and nourish us with His body and blood. The Lord indeed is highly to be praised.
Sincerely,
Stephen Fitzpatrick
Head of School
Cardinal Newman Academy
sfitzpatrick@cardinalnewmanacademy.org
Feb 9, 2021 | Latest
Dear Friends,
I would like to pose what is perhaps a strange question – strange on account of its being largely taken for granted and yet, at the same time, somewhat difficult to answer.
What is education for? Why do you send your children to school? Why do we have them learn the things they learn? To what end? Is it simply to get a job? While that is certainly part of the picture I don’t think that is the ultimate reason. If somehow you knew for a certainty that your child would never have to work for a living, I still think you would have your child in school. Why?
The answer is that we believe there exists a certain body of knowledge and information that 1) is either just good to know for its own sake or 2) forms the mind so that we may use it properly, much as we train our bodies for sports.
Put another way, a good education humanizes people: it enables a person to become the best version of himself or herself. A good education is what allows us to live fulfilling and meaningful lives. This is all to say, as the Greeks said thousands of years ago, a good education is necessary in order to live the good life – in order to be happy. And, of course, we all want to be happy.
At Cardinal Newman Academy we keep in mind this goal of humanizing our students – of giving them the knowledge and tools they will need to succeed not only at college, but at life as well. I want my students to know good and true things, and I also want them to be good people in the fullest sense of that word. I want them to be responsible citizens of good character.
Sincerely,
Stephen Fitzpatrick
Head of School
Cardinal Newman Academy
Jan 28, 2021 | Latest
Dear Friends,
During the first semester at Cardinal Newman Academy, each freshman put together an insect collection. I asked Mr Tito, our science teacher, why the students do this. Here is his answer:
“Consider the following: In the U.S., there are more than 25,000 species of beetles alone, in about 130 families. Each family differs considerably in its way of life but often only subtly in its appearance. For instance, certain beetles are ferocious predators, pouncing on prey with long-legged leaps, while others gorge on harmless sap or pollen. There are beetles that hunt from ambush like leopards and others that pursue prey in packs like wolves. The ladybird beetles are famous for eating garden aphids; the glow-worm beetles specialize in toxic millipedes. This is just a fraction of the diversity of beetles, themselves just one among a host of insect groups.
“How do we make sense of this? How do we learn about beetles? For the beginner the best way will be to focus on collecting and identifying whichever insects he happens to encounter. Once the insect is identified, the whole storehouse of knowledge about that creature is laid open, and not as abstract facts but as engrossing details about the life of a specific, relatable, individual creature.
A Freshman student shows off her impressive insect collection.
“Collecting insects is important because only the most unique insects can be identified to species level on sight. Field guides show just a fraction of the species; useful as they are, one never knows whether an insect isn’t a similar species not shown. Drawings and photos are a good tool, but insufficient for really learning the insects – even the most strikingly marked, supposedly distinctive insects are often mimicked by multiple unrelated insects from other families, and it is hard to get all of the details in a photo.
“Yellowjackets, for instance, are mimicked by certain longhorn beetles and many flower flies, all harmless and often quite common. The mimicry is good enough to have fooled some of our Cardinal Newman students – until they carefully examined a specimen. Ultimately, then, we are left with specimens as the most effective way to learn about insects in an engaging, hands-on, and accurate way.”
The great American teacher Mark Van Doren said a good teacher cultivates the memory, imagination, and observational powers of his students. It is not difficult to see how the collecting and classifying of insects directly nurtures all three of these important abilities that students will then use for difficult intellectual work. Further, catching and pinning insects directly taps into the students’ sense of wonder, that all-important part of the human person that questions what it encounters in an effort to grasp the truth.
Sincerely,
Stephen Fitzpatrick
Head of School
Cardinal Newman Academy
Jan 8, 2021 | Latest
A pilgrimage is, of course, an expedition to some venerated place to which a vivid memory of sacred things experienced, or a long and wonderful history of human experience in divine matters, or a personal attraction affecting the soul impels one.
~Hilaire Belloc
Dear Friends,
In our current culture characterized by speed and consumption, the idea of a pilgrimage can be a foreign one. And yet it is just this experience of the foreign that gives the pilgrimage its unique power. Even if your destination is something you have seen every day of your life, the pilgrimage may allow you to see it in a new way, perhaps even to really see it for the first time.
The pilgrim must be open to the landscape and people he might encounter on the way. It is a higher form of travel: not undertaken simply to get from point A to point B in the most convenient manner possible. The journey itself takes on a significance, representing the life of the follower of Christ; a life that, God willing, ends in a holy place.
Our students had the opportunity to experience a pilgrimage first hand. To celebrate the bicentennial jubilee for the Diocese of Richmond, Pope Francis granted an indulgence to those who make a pilgrimage to the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart. At eight o’clock in the morning, therefore, on December 1st, the students and teachers of Cardinal Newman Academy set out from our campus to walk over eight miles to the seat of the Bishop of our Diocese.
The students look out over the James River as they cross the Nickel Bridge.
Our route led us over the Nickel Bridge and into Maymont park where we stopped for a while to rest before setting out on the final stretch. The students walked with good spirit, but they were decidedly grateful when the Cathedral came into view.
We arrived in time to attend 12:05 Mass. After Mass, Father Anthony Marques, the rector, spoke to the students about the history, architecture, and art of the Cathedral. The students were especially interested to view the stone from the Garden of Gethsemane, which is embedded in the front interior wall.
Two students stand on either side of the rock from Gethsemane.
After exploring the wonders of the beautiful Cathedral, we headed back (driving this time!) to our school and I’m sure the students all slept very well that night.
Sincerely,
Stephen Fitzpatrick
Head of School
Cardinal Newman Academy
