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THE ANGELICUM ACADEMY
 The Angelicum Academy ("TA") is a Catholic homeschool and liberal
education program based on the liberal arts and the classical great books of Western civilization (with optional, Socratic discussion seminars). It is no coincidence that
TA appears very similar to the Great Books Academy. This is because TA is a spin-off of the Great Books Academy (GBA). And just as the GBA looked to St. John's College as
a model, TA looks to Thomas Aquinas College in Santa Paula, CA, as well as to the former Pearson Integrated Humanities Program at Kansas University.
 The Great Books Academy has no religious affiliation. Indeed, the GBA is
structured such that the religious educational component need not subscribe to any particular creed (it being provided by the parents, not by GBA). Yet, a conversation, a
dialectic, is generally more productive to the degree that the participants share common, defined starting points. Therefore, the more shared starting points, the
more productive the conversation tends to be.
Upon reflection, those of the
Directors of the GBA who are Catholic came to realize that an educational program that utilized the liberal arts and the great
books (with optional, Socratic discussion groups), could be more efficacious for Catholic students if it were based upon the shared
starting points of a common creed as defined and clarified by the Catholic magisterial authority. So it was that The Angelicum
Academy was formed. TA combines the great books approach found at the GBA, with an intellectual assent to the teachings of
the Catholic Church. Its essential purpose is to combine Catholic wisdom and secular learning. Consequently, the teaching Church,
the Magisterium, becomes the shared starting point for the conversation at TA. For this reason, it had to be separated from
the GBA. Furthermore, it is this grounding in Catholic doctrine that is seen as a great counterpoint to the modern errors of which, due
to their overwhelming influence on contemporary life no liberally educated man deserving of that title can remain ignorant.
 Meet the Chairman of the The Angelicum Academy: Dr. Peter A. Redpath, Full Professor of Philosophy at St. John's University, Philosopher,
Educator, Author, Lecturer. What the Dean Emeritus of the Catholic University of America, Jude Dougherty, had to say about Dr. Redpath: "a profound thinker . . .a
learned and serious philosopher who shows clearly that ideas have consequences . . . given the breath of his historical survey and his analytic power, he is
reminiscent of Hegel in his most sweeping." (from the June, 1999 issue of The Review of Metaphysics).
The study of such errors should not overly concern parents because, to quote from Christian Education of Youth by Pope Pius
XI, when truly Catholic schools are . . .
. . . in harmony with the Church and the Christian family,
the various branches of secular learning will not enter into conflict with religious instruction to the manifest detriment of
education. And if, when occasion arises, it be deemed necessary to have students read authors propounding false
doctrine, for the purpose of refuting it, this will be done after due preparation and with such an antidote of sound
doctrine, that it will not only do no harm, but will be an aid to the Christian formation of youth.
Put another way, the study of truth and error, side by side, serves
only to reinforce in the student the ability to be properly formed by the truth. The "due preparation" needed for this endeavor is
provided by TA in the primary years in the study of the liberal arts (the learning arts). To this are added both the Good and Great
Books Programs, together with the optional, Socratic discussion groups moderated by Catholic tutors trained for this purpose. By
the time the curriculum gradually reaches the modern errors, the student is well into the high school years, and has been duly prepared to juxtapose truth and error.
Meet the President of the The Angelicum Academy: Thomas R. Orr, Esq. graduated cum laude from the
University of Washington; graduated magna cum laude from the Puget Sound LawSchool; was a Sergeant on the Seattle police force; is a Lieutenant Commander (Sel) in
U.S. Naval Intelligence; a member of the U.S. Supreme Court Bar, and President of the Angelicum Academy. Tom lives with his wife Pam and two sons in Federal Way, WA.
In addition to offering all the services available from the GBA, TA
also provides a religious curriculum that is faithful to the Magisterium of the Catholic Church and mindful of the teachings of
Saint Thomas Aquinas. TA's attentiveness to Saint Thomas' theology is reflected in its name (The Angelicum Academy), which
is taken from the informal title of the Dominican University of Saint Thomas Aquinas in Rome.
With the advent of The Angelicum Academy, homeschools and
private schools at all grade levels now have: a classical curriculum, founded upon fidelity to the Church, teaching the liberal arts of
learning, and reading and discussing the greatest books of Western civilization. Faith is thereby enabled to seek understanding, of what we must be and what we must do here
below, in order to attain the sublime end for which we were created.
The TA has a fully developed homeschool elementary curriculum
for grades nursery through 8th, selected eclectically for the very finest materials available from numerous publishers. This
conventional curriculum is organized for easy viewing at The
Angelicum Book Store by grade level or by subject (eg. math, history).
Additionally, TA is presently developing an alternative homeschool
elementary curriculum which is literature-based and thoroughly integrated, along the lines suggested by the former Pearson
Integrated Humanities Program ("IHP"). Only foreign languages and the higher math and sciences will be separated. Since this
program is based on the "Good Books" literature already in use in the existing curriculum, transition into this integrated elementary
curriculum will be easy for our students electing to do so. This curriculum will be available in approximately one year. The high
school Great Books program already largely follows this integrated approach, but it too is being similarly revised.
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Affiliation
A number of people have asked whether The Angelicum Academy is connected with any
other Catholic organizations or groups, or takes any position on matters liturgical.
The answer is: no. The Directors of The Angelicum Academy are all Catholics, but they live in various parts of the country, and attend Mass at various places (either their parishes, Eastern Catholic Rites, or traditional Latin Masses). They are connected by the internet, fax, and phone. More importantly, they are connected by their love for the Church and the Magisterium, their common concern over the collapse of education in this country, and their belief and hope that the Great Books classical approach to education, particularly as its exists at Thomas Aquinas College and presented in the "poetic mode" as in the former Integrated Humanities Program at Kansas University, holds the key to revitalizing Catholic education. This revitalization now begins with Catholic homeschoolers, and utilizes the internet to assist the process.
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National Catholic Association - Public Policy Statement
Parental Choice in Education
"The Association believes that: The common good of society is advanced by helping
parents to exercise fully their right to direct the upbringing of their children through the educational program of their choice.
Parents must be given a variety of options from which to choose: public, private, religious or charter schools or home schooling."
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