About

Discover Chesterton

Our Story

In 2007, Tom Bengtson and Dale Ahlquist co-founded the first Chesterton Academy in St. Louis Park, a small suburb of Minneapolis, Minnesota. Each had young families and were seeking an alternative to the existing high school options available to them. The two men had a simple mission: to offer a classical, integrated high school education that was faithful to the Catholic Church and affordable for families of average means. Looking to G.K. Chesterton as the model for a complete thinker and modern defender of the faith, they named the school Chesterton Academy. Inspired by Pope Saint John Paul II, they took as their motto Cultura Vitae, the culture of life.

In 2013, in response to mounting requests from around the world, the Chesterton Schools Network was formally established to help other groups start schools in their area, drawing on the Chesterton Academy curriculum and approach.

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The Apostolate

The Society of Gilbert Keith Chesterton is a Catholic lay apostolate, recognized formally as a canonical private association of the Christian faithful. Our mission is to evangelize through education, inspiring people to live joyful, holy lives, with G.K. Chesterton as a model of lay spirituality. To help carry out its mission, the Society sponsors the work of the Chesterton Schools Network and adult education through its annual conferences, publications, and the support of local Chesterton Societies.

Our Model of Education

Inspired by Saint Pope John Paul II, we take as our motto Cultura Vitae, the culture of life. We make it our mission to prepare our students to triumph over the materialism and despair that pervade our culture and to accept our Lord's offer to have life and have it abundantly. Our classical curriculum combines a broad liberal arts education with a strong emphasis on the cultivation of Christian virtues and an appreciation of beauty.

Curriculum

The Three Pillars

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Intellect

We teach the classics of Western thought from physics to philosophy, and the interrelationship of the great ideas; teaching students not merely what to think but how to think.

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Character

We help students grow in the four cardinal virtues of prudence, temperance, fortitude and justice, which we believe are the foundation of leadership.

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Spirituality

Our students come to understand and embrace the truth of why they exist: to know God, to love Him, and to serve Him in this world and be happy with Him forever in the next.

Our Patron

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G.K. Chesterton

The Chesterton Schools Network is named for the great English writer and Catholic convert, G.K. Chesterton (1874- 1936). Chesterton is our school’s patron because he exemplified the Catholic faith through a life filled with joy, wonder, and gratitude.

Chesterton was considered one of the world’s most outstanding men of letters in the early 20th century. An accomplished essayist, novelist, and poet, he wrote a hundred books on all different subjects. In 1922, he shocked the literary establishment by converting to Catholicism. He was later eulogized by Pope Pius XI as “a gifted defender of the faith,” and there is presently a popular movement to have him canonized. He not only represents the fullness of faith and reason, but also Catholic joy and common sense.

Leadership

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Dale Ahlquist, President

Bio coming soon.

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Emily de Rotstein, Executive Director

Bio coming soon.

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Brenie Bowles, Vice President, CSN

Bio coming soon.

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Joseph Grabowski, Vice President, Evangelization & Mission

Bio coming soon.

Board of Directors

  • CHARLIE REESE, CHAIRMAN

    President, JC Audiology

  • FR. SPENCER HOWE, VICE CHAIRMAN

    Pastor, Holy Cross Catholic Church and Chaplain, The Society of G.K. Chesterton

  • CONOR DUGAN, SECRETARY

    Senior Counsel, Warner Norcross + Judd

  • JOELLYN CICCIARELLI, TREASURER

    President and Publisher, Loyola Press

  • DALE AHLQUIST

    President, The Society of G.K. Chesterton

  • BRENIE BOWLES

    Vice President, The Chesterton Schools Network

  • EMILY DE ROTSTEIN

    Executive Director, The Society of G.K Chesterton

  • JAMES COFFEY

    Vice President, The Papal Foundation

  • GELLERT DORNAY

    Co-Founder and former CEO, Axia Home Loans

  • KATHERINE KERSTEN

    Senior Policy Fellow, Center of the American Experiment

  • JOHN RADICK

    CEO Emeritus, Chairman, and Managing Partner, Strom Engineering

  • TOM RUBY

    CEO, Bluegrass Critical Thinking Solutions

  • MICHAEL VAN HECKE

    President and Founder, Institute for Catholic Liberal Education (ICLE)

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