The Liberal Arts at St. Raphael
Presbytera Maria Koulianos St. Raphael School Principal
May 31st | 7:00PM ET | Registration is Required
What is the Liberal Arts Tradition? How does St. Raphael School implement the Liberal Arts Curriculum within the Orthodox Faith? Come and Learn what we have to offer; from wonder to wisdom.
Event Recordings
Open Mic Night
Presbytera Maria Koulianos St. Raphael School Principal
May 18th | 7:00PM ET | Registration is Required
Come enjoy Scholé Academy’s Annual Open Mic Night and celebrate student successes! Students in Scholé Academy recited original poetry, shared artwork, and excerpts from their short stories and essays, and enjoyed one another’s company!
Take a look at all the student work here: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1eJOS4cDmlw9WKurleEw033Q9pH_v21wZ?usp=share_link
SRS Father Porphyrios Memorial Lecture/h3>
Presbytera Maria Koulianos St. Raphael School Principal
May 11th | 7:00PM ET | Registration is Required
The Fr. Porphyrios (James) Taylor Memorial Lecture is hosted by St. Raphael School in memory of our founder. Fr. Porphyrios was an author, teacher, and leader in Orthodos education, and his work Poetic Knowledge: The Recovery of Education continues to inspire teachers and educational leaders, particulady those laboring to renew Christian classical education in the United States. The annual lecture will focus on themes exploring the intersection of Orthodox spirituality and education, keeping in mind the words of St. Porphyrios: “Whoever wants to become a Christian must first become a poet.”
SRS Launch Town Hall Meeting
Presbytera Maria Koulianos St. Raphael School Principal
April 20th | 7:00PM ET | Registration is Required
Bring your questions for this dedicated time to chat with St. Raphael School Principal, Presbytera Maria Koulianos in a Q&A session to learn more the upcoming 23-24 academic year course selections. Curious about placement levels or new course offerings? Interested in learning more about our Scholé vision? We look forward to giving you a glimpse of how Scholé Academy and St. Raphael School’s Christ-centered commitments and family-oriented courses can serve you!
SRS Family Faith Formation Movie Night
Presbytera Maria Koulianos St. Raphael School Principal
April 6th | 7:00PM ET | Registration is Required
The Island, rated PG-13, is a 2006 Russian biographical film about a 20th century Eastern Orthodox monk. It is focused on the protagonist’s,Father Anatoly’s, repentance of his sin continuously focused on the Jesus Prayer. He is a Fool for Christ who impacts those around him. Russian actor, Pyotr Mamonov, who plays the lead character, formerly one of the few rock musicians in USSR, converted to Eastern Orthodoxy in the 1990s and lives now in an isolated village. Pavel Lungin, the film’s director, said about him that “to a large extent, he played himself.” Mamonov received a blessing from his confessor for playing the character and now lives in an isolated village. Movie can be watched for FREE on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wz-vegualMg
WATCH at home and COME to DISCUSS the simplicity, humility, remoteness, and miracles which converge into creating a timeless snapshot of Orthodox spirituality. This is a Family Faith Formation Night opened to our St. Raphael School families and to our greater Schole Academy community
Scholé Academy March Lecture Hall
Joanne Schinstock, Director and Principal
Guest Lecturer Award-winning author Jessica Hooten Wilson
March 28th | 7:00PM ET | Registration is Required
What if we viewed reading as not just a personal hobby or a pleasurable indulgence but a spiritual practice that deepens our faith? Award-winning author Jessica Hooten Wilson shows readers how to reap the spiritual benefits of reading. She argues that the simple act of reading can help us learn to pray well, love our neighbor, be contemplative, practice humility, and disentangle ourselves from contemporary idols. In her accessible and engaging style, Jessica will outline several ways Christian thinkers–including Augustine, Julian of Norwich, Frederick Douglass, and Dorothy L. Sayers–approached the act of reading. By learning to read for the love of God, readers can discover not only a renewed love of reading but also a new, vital spiritual practice to deepen their walk with God.
2023 March Coffee With the Principals
Joanne Schinstock, Director and Principal
Presbytera Maria Koulianos St. Raphael School Principal
March 28th | 1:00PM ET | Registration is Required
In this March Coffee, Scholé Academy Principals will join with parents & community members to consider Restful learning – Pursuing Excellence over Perfection. Leo Tolstoy once stated, “If you look for perfection, you’ll never be content.” Being driven to reach perfection can be costly in terms of achievement and relationship. Come explore these impactful ideas and how they can affect your Scholé learning around a simple cup of coffee on an ordinary Tuesday afternoon with our SA and SRS Principals.
SRS St. Raphael Open House
Presbytera Maria Koulianos St. Raphael School Principal
March 23rd | 7:00PM | Registration is Required
Saint Raphael School welcomes your family to join us on Thursday, March 23rd for our 2023-2024 Open House. Learn how your family can join our community who pursues Christian education through the time-tested classical pedagogy. Families choose us because of our restful, engaging, live online courses hosted by talented instructors in every discipline.
Our open house will prepare you to register for the 2023-2024 school year with a knowledge of Saint Raphael School as well as important new courses you’ll want to look for this year! Connect with us at this open house and prepare for Saint Raphael School’s Christ-centered culture, award-winning courses, and family-oriented community.
SRS St. Raphael Feast Day Lecture
Presbytera Maria Koulianos St. Raphael School Principal
Elizabeth Crispina Johnson Lecturer
February 15th | 7:00PM | Registration is Required
Join us as Elizabeth Crispina Johnson presents on Saint Raphael, the Holy Shepherd of Brooklyn: His Life, Legacy, and Lessons. Listen to the conversation surrounding St. Raphael’s commitment to simply doing his work, that of serving others, engaging in the struggles of those around him showing them kindness and compassion, and how this “doing” can lead to spiritual growth.
Scholé Academy Winter College Night
Joanne Schinstock, Director Scholé Academy
Joelle Hodge, Classical Academic Press
Join us tonight as we continue our Round Table discussion on “The Value of a Classical Education” and discuss how a liberal arts college education speak to a highly utilitarian, post-Christian era. We will explore Preparation for a Life of Virtue: The Role of a Christian, Liberal Arts Education.
Our panel for the evening will consist of Dr. Joshua Mayo (Grove City College), Dr. Gary Hartenburg (Director of Honors College at Houston Christian University), Dr. Michael West (University of Dallas), Dr. Matthew Smith (Hildegard College), and Dr. Kathryn Smith- (Eastern University). Joanne Schinstock will be moderating.
Scholé Academy Tutoring Center Open House
Joanne Schinstock, Director Scholé Academy
Charissa Sethman, Educational Services Coordinator
• Discussion of Scholé Academy Philosophy and Tutor Profile
• Snapshot of Services Offered and How Those Look in Various Disciplines
• Q&A with the manager, principal, tutors, and special needs instructors
Click HERE to learn more about the Tutoring Center and Center for Students with Learning Differences.
Scholé Academy December Lecture Hall
Joanne Schinstock, Director Scholé Academy
Guest Lecturer Joshua Gibbs, Author-Speaker-Teacher
“What Should You Watch? A Selection on Film from Love What Lasts”
When you’re in the mood for a movie, how do you choose what you’ll watch? Given that the average American now spends more than a hundred hours every year just scrolling through Netflix menus, it is safe to assume that most Americans don’t know how to pick a movie. The way in which Christians choose what to watch is quite complicated. They want to be entertained, they want to be enlightened, but they also want to keep their finger on the cultural pulse of the country. What considerations ought to have top priority?
In this lecture, Joshua Gibbs reads the first chapter of Love What Lasts, his sprawling new book about how we choose what to watch, read, eat, wear, worship, and listen to. The first chapter of Love What Lasts is all about film—how film has changed since the 60s, how Christian viewing strategies have changed in the last generation, and what sort of questions confront the man who now has unlimited viewing options. If you often find yourself debating what to watch, are regularly disappointed with your choices, or simply want to have better taste in film—or better taste in general—this reading from Love What Lasts will help get you thinking in a new direction.
Click HERE to learn more about Love What Lasts and Gibbs Classical.
Scholé Academy College Night
Joanne Schinstock, Director Scholé Academy
Joelle Hodge, Classical Academic Press
Scholé Academy, along with Classic Learning Test and a special panel of college partners, is excited to invite you to the 2022 Fall College Night!
Join our panel as they explore the value of a Classical, Christian Higher Education and discuss questions such as:
• How do we measure the value of a good education?
• How should families think about the investment of time and resources when considering higher education?
• In a highly utilitarian, post-Christian era, in what ways is a liberal arts college education beneficial or important?
• What are the non-financial benefits in a student’s future that come from pursuing a liberal arts education in a post-Christian era?
Our panel for the evening will consist of Kimberly Farley (Classic Learning Test), Matthew Smith (Hildegard College), Dr. David Diener (Hillsdale College), Dr. Kathryn Smith (Eastern University), and Dr. Shannon Valenzuela (University of Dallas). The discussion will be moderated by Joelle Hodge (Classical Academic Press).
Scholé Academy November Lecture Hall
Joanne Schinstock, Director Scholé Academy
Guest Lecturer Matthew Smith, President Hildegard College
Math and Science for the Formation of the Soul: Placing the Quadrivium at the Center of Education with Founder of Hildegard College, Matthew Smith
The renewal of the liberal arts that we know as “classical education” is often narrowly associated with a renewal of the humanities — philosophy, literature, politics, history, and the arts. But the majority of the seven traditional liberal arts (arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, music, grammar, logic, rhetoric) are sciences. Classical educators sometimes find it difficult to integrate the study of geometry, physics, mathematics, and biology into a curriculum that inspires our students. Yet it is important to recognize that these “quadrivial arts” are essential not merely for technical knowledge but for the moral, intellectual, and spiritual formation of young people, which is why music and even theology are best taught as sciences. Great thinkers like Plato, Boethius, Aquinas, and Milton give us a roadmap and vocabulary for reinforcing the power of the quadrivial arts to lead students to a clearer vision of what is true, beautiful, and worthy of our love.
Click HERE to learn more about Hildegard College.
November 2022 Coffee with the Principals
Joanne Schinstock, Director and Principal
Presb. Maria Koulianos, Principal of SRS
In this November Coffee with the Principals, deep conversation was had around a new resource from ParentU, an offering especially for parents who value classical education. Anchoring on the idea that an education that passes on a culture must, by default, be one that teaches students to love what has stood the test of time. In Lesson 4: Parent U, Highlighting the Tool, Retrieving & Renewing Truth, Goodness, and Beauty, parents ponder the words retrieve and renew. Renewing is akin to antique shopping- taking that with solid bones and exalting it to purposeful place in life now. Retrieving brings to mind the dog and master relationship. That which has been sent after, diligently sought, and faithfully returned. Learning itself is an art of retrieving, is it not?
Considering truth, goodness, and beauty, why do we need all three? Is it possible to have beauty without truth? Truth without beauty? What’s the relationship between our modern pace of life and the difficulty to make time to savor goodness and beauty? How do we purpose for a life of festina lente or making haste slowly?
These rich ideas and more were shared around a simple cup of coffee on an ordinary Monday afternoon. Join us by watching this conversation or our stopping by for our next Coffee with the Principals.
October 2022 Coffee with the Principals
Joanne Schinstock, Director and Principal
Presb. Maria Koulianos, Principal of SRS
Come join us for a reading of Rudyard Kipling’s poem If, followed by a discussion to continue the journey of exploring this year’s virtue, temperance. Pre-reading of the poem is not necessary. Registration is required.
September 2022 Coffee with the Principals
Joanne Schinstock, Director and Principal
Presb. Maria Koulianos, Principal of SRS
Come and discuss the essential meaning of temperare. September 22 at 1:30pm ET. Registration Required. Join principals, Joanne Schinstock Director and Principal of Schole Academy, and Presbytera Maria Koulianos, Principal of St. Raphael School, for a brief reflection on temperance from Josef Pieper’s Four Cardinal Virtues followed by a discussion on how restful learning can require the student to discern which good things are worth giving up to attain what is better. “Without rational self-restraint even the natural hunger for sense perception or for knowledge can degenerate into a destructive and pathological compulsive greed; this degradation Aquinas calls curiositas, the disciplined mode studiositas” (151). Parents are not required to read the text prior to discussion, but a PDF copy of the text is available HERE, pp. 145-206.