Look around the hallways and classrooms at Providence Academy and you’ll think you’re in a Catholic-school time warp.

Boys in crisp white shirts and navy-blue blazers act gentlemanly, holding doors open for girls dressed in plaid jumpers and knee-high socks.
Kindergartners sit silently in straight rows, pencils marching across papers as they practice writing the letter P. Vivaldi plays softly in the background. Teachers illustrate geography lessons by pointing at pulldown maps. Children write on chalkboards. Computers don’t exist.

Yet one thing you won’t see are priests or nuns. The school operates in the Catholic tradition but is not sponsored by the Diocese of La Crosse or any religious order.

In its second year, the school has 73 students in pre-kindergarten through 12th grade, up from 43 students — a nearly 70 percent rise — last year.

They get hooked on phonics in kindergarten. They begin learning Latin and Greek in first grade. They recite classical poetry.

Providence’s founding and growth represent a national trend toward independent Catholic schools. The Acton Institute of Grand Rapids, Mich., publishes an annual list of the top 50 Catholic high schools nationally. This year, 14 on the list were independent.

Most are small and sprouted from a group of homeschool parents dissatisfied with the Catholic schools, said Anthony Pienta, program coordinator for the honor roll.

“It’s not something they do to defy the diocese, but their main interest is to provide sound Catholic education,” he said.

Nationally, schools both public and private are reviving classical education curriculum as well. They emphasize learning the civilization and languages of ancient Greece and Rome, the foundations of modern Western society.

“Our school,” principal teacher Joe O’Brien said, “is 3,000 years old.”

Prayer, Latin and fun

“Christians pray.”

In two words, eighth-grader Matt Wateski of Onalaska, Wis., translated the sentence he had just written in Latin. He also helped explain life at Providence Academy: devoted to Christ, full of prayer.

Students celebrate Mass at 8 a.m. each day at St. James the Less Catholic Church across the street. They fold their hands and pray the Angelus, the prayer the Pope prays daily at noon, before eating. They go to confession once a month.

Asked what makes the school different from the Catholic school she used to attend, sixth-grader Mayanna Vander Schaaf listed smaller class sizes and religion. “It’s a lot holier,” she said, giggling.

Wateski stood at the chalkboard in Room 104, writing the phrase in Latin: “Christiani orant” (Christians pray). Four classmates stood alongside, each holding a purple Latin textbook in one hand, chalk in the other. They diagrammed sentences in Latin as teacher O’Brien quizzed them tirelessly. It was 9:15 a.m. Monday.

John Lyon, a retired University of Notre Dame history professor, teaches at the school along with his wife, Elizabeth. He described it as “seriously Catholic and seriously classical.”

Yet the school’s mission mentions another word, too: “fun.” All students have recess together daily, playing kickball in their uniforms. Most classes have a dozen or fewer students, so “we get to just shout out our answers,” said seventh-grader Anna Rigden. Even having homework — no shortage of it — is fun, she said.

“Once you’re done, you feel like you got through something tough. You can relax.”

Founding mothers

Mary Brennan and Jill Marshall went school shopping together in spring 2005. Not for pencils or folders, but for a school.

Both had children in Coulee Catholic Schools.

Marshall, who had kids at St. James, was trying to help the system develop ways to in-crease enrollment. She often talked with Catho-lics who were homeschooling their children. A theme kept repeating itself, she said: “We want classical education.”

“We had never heard of it, much less that Einstein, the Founding Fathers and nearly all the greats of (Western) history were educated in it,” she said.

The two visited Trinity Academy in Pewaukee, Wis., one of two other classical Catholic schools statewide in fall 2004, and “were blown away,” Marshall said.

“The clincher,” Brennan said, “was when a class of fifth-graders recited ‘The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere,’ a 14-page poem, by heart. Every kid told us (the school) was really hard, but really fun, too. It’s the first time we heard kids say being challenged was not a burden.”

They made a proposal to start a classical academy within CCS, as a sort of charter school. However, the

proposal was turned down because officials said they wanted to keep a uniform curriculum among all schools, said Kelly K. Weber, marketing and administrative services manager for CCS.

The two, along with parent Jim Squire, decided to start the school anyway. They put in a bid for the former Jefferson Elementary School on La Crosse’s north side but lost out to Three Rivers Waldorf, another independent school.

They then inquired about St. James, about to be shut down as a parish school. The Rev. Roger Scheckel, pastor for 13 years, was eager to listen.

“That building was built for education,” he said. “A lot of people sacrificed so the North Side could have a Catholic school.”

Scheckel was granted permission by La Crosse Diocese Bishop Jerome Listecki to lease the school to Providence. That happened in July 2005.

With heavy help from the founders of Trinity Academy, they developed a curriculum, hired staff, set up the building, ordered books and, Marshall said, “prayed.” The school opened in September.

Brennan said they kept “waiting for the revolt,” for kids in the age of the Internet to grow restless.

“But it never happened. Quite the opposite.”

Welcome at St. James

Scheckel said he doesn’t believe the school is in competition with other Catholic schools because the educational approaches are so different. Weber agreed, in part.

“They are definitely different in their approach,” she said.

While he has no formal role at Providence, Scheckel does welcome its students to daily Mass, and offers confessions to them once a month.

He said the students have drawn appreciative reviews from his parishioners.

“They just like that the building’s being used for education,” he said, “but they also like the way these children comport themselves. It’s different than what I’ve seen in other schools, public or private.”

He appreciates having the students around. One day after Mass, his three altar servers — Providence students — recited the Declaration of Independence, in unison, by heart.

“I was deeply moved,” he said.

A movement toward moderation

Providence Academy’s founding headmaster, Anthony Biese, appeared to view its classical, Catholic approach as far outside the U.S. mainstream.

In his philosophy of education for the academy, he wrote of “this new dark age, when terrifyingly vast numbers of people live in ignorance.” Providence Academy, it continued, “is called to be a beacon of light amid this ever-encircling gloom.” The statement was included in promotional materials given to the Tribune when the school opened.

Omar Gutierrez, who became headmaster when Beise left last year to move closer to family in Minnesota, said the school no longer uses the original statement of philsophy in its recruiting efforts, and the school’s board has distanced itself from it.

“We do see ourselves as a beacon of light, trying to produce leaders,” Gutierrez said, “but I don’t think it’s fair to characterize the rest of the world as dark and gloomy.”

Brennan said the board has always focused first on educating children and understanding that its students “will come from all walks of life, and must be respected.”

Early on, she said the founders decided the school can’t be just a school for the wealthy — or Catholics. “Rich or poor, all denominations are welcome,” she said. Five families at the school qualify for reduced tuition, she said.

One non-Catholic family is enrolled at the school. “We don’t want anyone to feel bullied into the faith,” Gutierrez said, while stressing that “we do try to integrate (the Catholic faith) into everything we do.”

Marshall and Brennan said their kids mingle well with other students from public and private schools, joining them in dance, football teams and other extracurricular activities not available at Providence.

But they emphasized that, while everyone is welcome at the school, the approach is not for every child — or family.

“You do have to sit down with your kids and help them recite poetry, for example,” Marshall said. “Some lifestyles aren’t conducive to that.”

Providence Academy

Founded: 2005

Location: Former St. James School, 716 Windsor St., La Crosse

Students: Mostly from the La Crosse area, but also as far away as Sparta, Wis.; Ferryville, Wis.; and Hokah, Minn.

Board of directors: Four parents, plus two nonparents who support the school

Tuition: $2,600 for K-8, $3,700 for 9-12; financial aid available based on need

Actual cost: $5,145 per student

Other sources: Fundraisers, including raffles, dinners and pledge drives. Last year, students pledged to give something up in October and solicited donations; the event raised $75,000, thanks to $27,000 in pledges to students and matching funds from an anonymous donor.

Where they’re from

Students in grades 1 through 12 came from:

Coulee Catholic Schools: 31 (27 the first year; four transferred in this year)

Other Catholic schools: 12

Homeschool: Seven

Out-of-area moves: Four

Public schools: Two

SOURCE: Providence Academy

To learn more about Providence Academy, click here.

Dan Simmons can be reached at dsimmons@lacrossetribune.com or (608) 791-8217.

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