About Our School
Holy Family Academy is a Catholic classical school, dedicated to excellence in education and fidelity to the Magisterium. We strive to cultivate a joyful Catholic culture supporting families in the formation of their children's holiness, virtue, and reason.
Truth, Goodness, and Beauty: The Hallmarks of a Catholic, Classical Education That Never Go Out of Style
A CATHOLIC, CLASSICAL SCHOOL
Holy Family Academy was founded in 2001 to reclaim a building and a Catholic school. We are a family-friendly school in the west metro area, just 10 miles from downtown Minneapolis. We are dedicated to helping parents raise their children within an evangelical, academically rigorous and virtue-oriented environment. Holy Family Academy families dedicate a superb level of commitment, time and involvement to our school, the Church and our community. Today we are 210 students strong with a Montessori Pre-Kindergarten program and Kindergarten through 8th grade Catholic classical curriculum.
Our goal is the development of the body, soul, and mind of students while recognizing their particular gifts and personality given by God. The classical trivuum, or stages, of classical education (grammar, logic, and rhetoric) fits perfectly with our goals because it honors the different stages of childhood development. In terms of pedagogy, this method is tried and true. It produces a great foundation by which students can learn to reason and judge. Combined with our emphasis on spiritual formation, our students are able to study their Catholic heritage from the perspective of knowing truth and goodness and therefore understanding true beauty, which can be encountered in the person, teachings and example of Jesus Christ.
Beginning in Kindergarten, students are exposed to great stories that have rich, beautiful language and exciting adventure. Development of memory and familiarity with language play a major role at this stage of a child’s education.
Throughout grades 1 - 5, the grammar of learning is more intensely pursued. English grammar, Latin, a journey through the major historical epochs, great books, the language of Math (numeration, through our award winning Singapore math program) and thinking skills are combined with the acquisition of strong study skills so that high standards can be every student’s goal. At this stage it is important that students demonstrate what they have learned on a regular basis. That is why we have several opportunities per week to pursue recitation. It is at the last stages of the grammar level (grades 5 & 6) that abstract concepts and logic are first introduced.
As students progress through our grades 6 - 8; religion, Latin, history, science, math, and language arts become interrelated subjects in which students strive to truly take charge of the learning process. Their religious studies are now so advanced that they can take on the Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church and Scott Hahn’s Understanding the Scriptures. During this Logic stage of the trivium, students will again cycle through the important stages of pre-Christian and Christian history.
Our Virtue Family program, with its intense focus on living within the liturgical calendar and all that the Church has to teach us about the Catholic way, provides the structure from which to understand how we are called to fulfill our baptismal promises.
We encourage you to learn more about more about our school and the opportunities we present to your children. Read through the rest of this website to find out more about our programs. Call us and take a tour!
"The ultimate goal of all Catholic education is salvation in Jesus Christ."
Pope John Paul II, 1987 address to Catholic educators in New Orleans