Announcing SJI's New Curriculum Affiliate Program

As the President of the St. Jerome Institute, I am thrilled to share the following press release announcing a new and unique partnership in curriculum and faculty development between our school and Sacred Heart of Jesus Classical Academy. See the text below:

Press Release

"St. Jerome Institute High School and Sacred Heart Academy are proud and delighted to announce a unique collaboration.  In an effort to continue to celebrate the joyful renewal in Catholic Liberal Education that is taking root in schools across the country and provide more families with access to an authentic Catholic formation at the high school level, Sacred Heart Academy in Staunton, Virginia, will become the first St. Jerome Institute Curriculum Affiliate.

Building off of the amazing success of St. Jerome Academy in Hyattsville, MD, the St. Jerome Institute High School in Washington, D.C., welcomed its first class of students in 2019. The St. Jerome Institute Educational Plan envisions a four-year Liberal Arts and Sciences curriculum in the Catholic tradition. One of the outstanding features of the SJI curriculum is the integration of the sciences and math with its humanities curriculum. You can find out more about this innovative Educational Plan here.

"Our goal has always been to develop the best possible curriculum and culture we can for our school. When Sacred Heart reached out to us about the possibility of sharing the curriculum, we were skeptical at first. Over a period of several months of meeting with the board and leadership of Sacred Heart Academy, however, we became convinced by their deep commitment to the faith, their profound understanding of the curriculum plan, and their practical ability to build a school. We are very excited to have the curriculum that we've built over so many years bear fruit in other communities."

-Andrew Shivone, School President of St. Jerome Institute.

Sacred Heart Academy will open its doors in Fall 2026. As a Curriculum Affiliate, SHA will use St. Jerome Institute's curriculum, receive teacher training and mentorship from their faculty, as well as guidance from leadership about building school culture.  

“At Sacred Heart of Jesus Classical Academy, our mission is to help students recognize the true, imitate the good, and adore the beautiful — falling in love with the source of all three: God Himself. We are overjoyed to partner with the Saint Jerome Institute, a school that shares our conviction that education, at its deepest level, is the formation of the human soul. In a culture marked by materialism and despair, we believe this collaboration is not simply timely — it is providential. We are profoundly grateful to walk this road alongside the Saint Jerome Institute as we labor together to restore all things in Christ."

–Board and Leadership Team of Sacred Heart Academy

The St. Jerome Institute is also expanding its own program in another aspect, by opening a second location in Northern Virginia.  The new school, St. Jerome Institute Northern Virginia, will open in the Fall of 2026 in Falls Church, VA."'

Reflection

This collaboration between our institution and Sacred Heart Academy excites me because it presents a unique opportunity to provide more and more children with this excellent Catholic High School education, of which I believe there is no parallel in our time. The success of this new curriculum affiliate partnership may also lay a solid foundation for future partnerships with schools across the country, which with God's grace, will continue the formation of young Catholics who are committed to living out their faith in the world.

That we form young Catholics in this way is clear from the testimonies of our alumni, a few of which you can read here:

"The greatest gift SJI gave me was the ability to see how our faith infiltrates and transforms every aspect of our lives. I recognize this in the senior theses of my classmates - we are writing about a whole variety of different topics, but each thesis is based on a shared understanding of who God is, which unifies them all. Similarly, sometimes the Trinity feels so abstract to all the particulars of daily life, but now I realize that even the practice of art, or farming, or anything else, is all brought up and perfected by our faith."

-Adelaide Hobert, Class of 2026

“At SJI things really fell into place because I began to understand the faith through the different texts we read, and through the perspective of understanding, I grew to love the faith even more. That was exactly what I needed, because I was no longer running on mere passion for my faith, but I now had reason to make my faith stronger.”

-Jacob Spurgeon, Class of 2023

"SJI has definitely given me a worldview, just through the way things were taught from day one. The teachers don't just read off textbooks, they really give themselves completely, every single day. Theology with Dr. Higgins was just so amazing - there is just something so special about how genuine he is and how much he clearly loves what he is teaching us - seeing that makes you want to be that way too. I have always come away from class thinking, 'How can I achieve that same love of what I've learned?'"

-Tom Norton, Class of 2026

“Managing to live out one’s faith comes back to the classroom. SJI provided that solid foundation for the faith I now have, even though I did not always like saying the lauds every morning, and I sometimes did not understand why each of the rules was in place. I now recognize the experiences I had at SJI allowed my faith to mature into what it now is."

-Dante Trudeau, Class of 2023

"When I first came to SJI, I was really only interested in math and science. One of the biggest gifts SJI gave me was a real desire to learn about everything and foster a deep interest in areas like philosophy, theology, history, etc. One of the reasons I want to major and minor in multiple areas at Hillsdale is because of my formation at SJI."

-David Schindler, Class of 2026

"I have always had a strong faith, but Theology at SJI taught me to ask questions in a way that I had never done before about my faith to learn more deeply why we believe the things we do. And what helps the most is that the teachers care so much about you personally. They want you to ask questions, and they want you to understand the truth."

-Cecilia Pollock, Class of 2026

As the President of the St. Jerome Institute, I rejoice that we have this unique opportunity to share the gift of our curriculum with others and continue transforming the lives and hearts of high school students.