Chesterton Academy: joyful, classical, Catholic The new, independent Catholic high school in Knox County opens its doors for the 2023-24 year By Gabrielle Nolan
The Chesterton Schools Network
Chesterton Academy of St. Margaret Clitherow is part of the Chesterton Schools Network. Based in Minneapolis, the network is an “apostolate of the Society of Gilbert Keith Chesterton” and offers “consulting services, templates for evaluating interest and operating a school, and the Chesterton Academy curriculum framework,” according to its website. There currently are 44 Chesterton schools operating in the United States and Canada, with one sister school in Italy. Several additional schools will open this year. The Knoxville academy is named after two patrons, G.K. Chesterton and St. Margaret Clitherow. G.K. Chesterton was an English writer and convert to the Catholic faith, and he was considered “one of the world’s most outstanding men of letters in the early 20th century,” cites the Chesterton Schools Network website. He was chosen as the network’s patron “because he not only represents the fullness of faith and reason but also Catholic joy and common sense.” St. Margaret Clitherow was a wife, mother, and Catholic school teacher who lived during the 1500s. “St. Margaret Clitherow seemed very appropriate for us,” Mr. Summers said. “She was a
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new Catholic school has opened its doors in Knox County for the 2023-24 academic year. Chesterton Academy of St. Margaret Clitherow is an independent Catholic high school in the classical tradition that opened on Aug. 9. The idea for the school originally “sprung out of the homeschooling Catholic community of Knoxville,” said Zach Summers, who serves as the school’s headmaster. Mr. Summers is a parishioner at Holy Ghost Parish in Knoxville. “I was approached about a year and a half ago by another gentleman, Jeff Baker, about starting this school, again expressed by a lot of the homeschooling community. They wanted to finish their children’s education in the same Catholic classical manner that many of them are currently receiving,” he said. The Department of Education for the state of Tennessee conducted its pre-operational visit of the school in July and approved the school as a Category V Non-Public School.
Ready for class The Chesterton Academy, which began its first school year on Aug. 9, is the newest Catholic school in the Diocese of Knoxville. From left are Sonia Summers, teacher of fine arts; Eleyana Nahigian, teaching assistant; Mary C. Weaver, choir director; Zach Summers, headmaster; and Martin Flaherty, executive director. schoolteacher of the Catholic faith, she helped hide and protect Catholic priests during the English persecutions. She was pressed to death with a door and in the process of that it was even believed she was with child at the time, pregnant…. So, schoolteacher, defender of the faith, protector of the priesthood, and pro-life; it just for us embodied all the aspects of our school, along with Chesterton.” The physical location for the school is in a commercial building on Rutledge Pike in Knoxville. Carolina DuPont, a parishioner at Holy Ghost and whose husband, Rory, is chair of the board of directors for the new school, said the location is an “immediate answer” and will likely be a short-term solution. “We’re expecting big growth, even just after the first year, so as we grow we have to continually kind of assess and then hopefully end up in a permanent location that holds us, I think, into year five and beyond,” Mrs. DuPont said. “We are one of 15 in the cohort of 2023 that
will open their doors in the fall of this year, and so one of the pillars that they’ve discovered that has been so successful is understanding and accepting that where you start at within the first year or two is not where you’ll end, and they very highly emphasize that,” Mr. Summers said. Most beginning Chesterton schools start out with 20 to 30 students, but some start with lower numbers. Knoxville’s Chesterton Academy will start off with 11 students. “The ninth grade, the freshman class, is usually the largest within the school simply because of parents wanting their children to start and end the entire process instead of halfway through,” Mr. Summers said. “We’ve also already received students in the 10th-, 11th-, and 12th-grade years, so non-freshmen who simply want to be a part of the Chesterton experience.” “All four grades will be represented, but all four grades will be receiving the ninth-grade education as far as humanities go, but the math Chesterton continued on page B2
Father Dowling marks 40th priestly anniversary The pastor of St. Augustine in Signal Mountain reflects on ‘serving people by God’s grace’ By Dan McWilliams
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fter morning Mass on June 18, the parishioners of St. Augustine in Signal Mountain honored pastor Father John Dowling with a reception as he marked the 40th anniversary of his priestly ordination. Father Dowling commented on his milestone in his typical selfeffacing manner. “I think some people might think I’m more like Moses, basically after 40 years of wondering if we’re ever going to get to the Promised Land with this leader,” he said. “But it’s been a joy, and, yes, I did think I’d make it 40 years with all of the support and the prayer and the love that people have and the energy that you gain from being a priest and the variety of ways that you’re able to serve people by God’s grace and in His name.” The reception, the only anniversary-related event during the weekend, was not the only way parishioners recognized their pastor’s milestone. “They honored me by their presence at Mass,” Father Dowling said. “I didn’t want to be honored in any particular way, and I’ve been here only four years, and they probably think that’s way too long already. They have been so welcoming, and I know
Four decades in the priesthood At his 40th-anniversary reception, Father John Dowling shakes the hand of a well-wisher. A native of Savannah, Ga., Father Dowling has served almost his entire priesthood in East Tennessee. they’ve had a lot of priests over the years and a variety of priests with various gifts.” Father Dowling has served several parishes in his four decades as a priest, with some assignments lasting many years, including those at Holy Ghost in Knoxville, St. John Neumann in Farragut, and Holy Family in Seymour. He has also served at St. Jude in Chattanooga, where he was ordained a priest, at St. Francis of Assisi in Fairfield Glade,
and Christ the King in Tazewell. “I had 15 years at Holy Ghost, 12 years at St. John Neumann, and nine years at Holy Family. Those were the longer stays, but every single parish I’ve been privileged to serve at indeed was a pleasure,” he said. “They all have special moments. I wouldn’t say special trials because . . . I know there are difficult times for people, but the Lord’s grace has seen us through it. I just think that from the larger parishes you
get to develop more friendships and longer-lasting friendships, and also I think people are more willing to tell you what they think after you’ve been there a while. I appreciate people being upfront and feeling comfortable to be able to know that I am a person who’s open to information and insights, because I certainly don’t have all the answers.” The 40-year priest did not want to thank any individual person upon his anniversary but mentioned the Knights of Columbus and the ladies who have served in his parish offices over the years. “The Knights of Columbus have been a real support to me, not just in this parish but all throughout the diocese,” Father Dowling said. “The Knights have really helped me develop as a priest. One of the reasons I’ve been a Knight for almost 50 years now is because of the many ways they serve people. I think they’re an arm of the Catholic Church in a very beautiful way because they take every issue that has the corporal and spiritual works of mercy, and they take them seriously and take it to heart. They are a way of reaching out in Christ’s name in a very powerful way, and I think they allow men to find their center in Dowling continued on page B3