CNA Staff, Sep 16, 2025 /
09:20 am
In a suburb of Minneapolis in 2008, a small school named after the Catholic author G.K. Chesterton opened its doors.
Seventeen years later, the school has grown into the wide-reaching Chesterton Schools Network, with schools sprinkled across the United States. And this school year, the network is going international.
The president of the Chesterton Schools Network said there is no other word for it but “miraculous.”
“The growth has been simply astounding,” said Dale Ahlquist, who is also president of the Society of Gilbert Keith Chesterton, which operates the network.
But why are the schools a hit? Ahlquist credits the Holy Spirit.
“The real driver of this movement has been the Holy Spirit working to enliven the Church, beginning with the domestic Church,” he told CNA.
At Chesterton schools, “faith in Christ is at the center, with daily Mass and a vigorous moral and spiritual formation program,” he said.
“The Chesterton model is both faithfully Catholic and fully classical, presenting the true, the good, and the beautiful as united transcendental aspects of all learning,” Ahlquist added.
In the U.S., Chesterton schools operate in 31 states and 76 dioceses.
Parents love it and students thrive in it, according to Ahlquist.
“The Chesterton model has a proven track record of success now, and people are taking notice,” he said.
“People saw what we were doing here in the U.S., saw the curriculum, witnessed the fruits of the great formation Chesterton Academies provide, and they said, ‘We want that, too.’”
Growing around the world
Starting new schools across the world has been “challenging, but exciting,” Ahlquist said.
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“Every country presents its own unique regulatory and cultural complexities,” he said. “But the love parents have for their kids and the desire they have to fulfill their vocations as their children’s primary educators and catechists — that’s the same everywhere.”
With seven new schools in the U.S. and another three around the world opened this Fall, Ahlquist said “we only expect demand to grow worldwide.”
Ahlquist said both internationally and in the U.S., the Chesterton schools all follow the same pattern.
“It sprang up organically, from the grassroots,” Ahlquist said of the international launch.
Student life
“The hallmark of our model is an integrated curriculum that unites the truths learned in disparate subjects and shows their interconnectedness and interdependency, all united around one great truth: the Incarnation,” Ahlquist said.
“Christ is at the center, the ultimate end not just of our spiritual formation but of character and intellectual formation as well,” Ahlquist said.
“Ultimately, the Catholic faith isn’t something extra, something tacked on arbitrarily to what they’re learning in all the various classes. It’s the undergirding principle, the ‘why’ behind all the other pursuits,” Ahlquist said.
Chesterton schools use the Socratic method, which Ahlquist said “encourages students to take ownership of their learning, to probe with questions, and start seeing the connections that are everywhere.”
“They learn the humanities, including philosophy and theology, and are formed in how to think about God and the universe,” Ahlquist said. “In math and science, they see the handiwork of a creator and an active providence over the natural world. In music, visual arts, and theater, they appreciate the incarnational and sacramental way that beauty attests to the truth and goodness of a God who loves them.”
“From the science lab to the sports field to the chapel, students are oriented toward Christ as their friend, model, and ultimate goal. And they get it. This is what parents notice most, and why the network keeps growing,” he said.
Chesterton’s impact continues into adult life, according to Ahlquist.
After graduation, Chesterton alumni “discern vocations in priestly ministry and consecrated life” and marry earlier in life “than their secular peers,” Ahlquist noted.
“Students really enter into this approach and make it their own,” he said. “Others can see the transformation that takes place in these kids’ lives as they grow into faithful, ethical, confident young adults, ready to live out and share their faith while also excelling in their vocational and career pursuits.”
Kate Quiñones is a staff writer for Catholic News Agency and a fellow of the College Fix. She has been published by the Wall Street Journal, the Denver Catholic Register, and CatholicVote, and she graduated from Hillsdale College. She lives in Colorado with her husband.
