A Classical & Christian School in Ogden, Utah.
Brendan was a voyager. Legend has it that more than a thousand years ago, he set out in a leather boat, questing for the lost island where the Garden of Eden—a garden on a mountain, rising out of the sea—was still hidden.
Our little school is named in his honor, because—though we have no plans of setting sail for lost islands in the Great Salt Lake—we still share his task: Our school is on a voyage for God’s holy mountain, the Kingdom of God. We are on a quest to see the Father’s will carried out in the city of Ogden, the state of Utah—indeed, throughout the earth—as it is in heaven. This project is no mean task. It will be the work of lifetimes, generations, and millennia—but it is the task the Lord Jesus has left us.
Since this task is one measured, not in minutes, but in lifetimes, one of the most pressing needs of each generation is to raise our sons and daughters up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord Jesus Christ—to raise up the next generation in the faith to take the mantle, run the race, and push the plow further down the furrow.
What does this have to do with a school? I thought discipleship was just a matter of spiritual things? What does math, history, science, and grammar have to do with it? Not so fast: If Paul was telling us the truth in Colossians 2:3, if all of the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden in Christ, then our children need more than Sunday School. If Solomon was telling us the truth in Proverbs 1:7, and the fear of the LORD is the beginning—not just of wisdom —but also of knowledge, then our children need more than an hour of Sunday School every week.
They don’t just need Sunday School—they need a school. That’s why we’re here. We’re here, because our children are arrows, and the future of the earth is our target. We’re here, because the earth is the LORD’s, and the fullness thereof. We’re here, because it is the glory of God to conceal a thing, and the wisdom of kings to search that same thing out—whether it be a mathematical thing, a linguistic thing, a historical thing, or literary thing.
We’re here because the Christian life is a voyage—cradle to grave, Monday to Sunday, childhood to retirement—for God’s holy mountain. Join us!
So what’s tugging on our compass needle? What is our educational pole star? Glad you asked.
No Neutrality
Why does 2+2=4? Why does light travel at 299,792,458 meters per second? Because Jesus is Lord. There is no such thing as a neutral education.
No (State) Strings Attached
St. Brendan’s will never be funded by state or federal coin—because the king’s coin always come with strings attached.
Classical Curriculum and Pedagogy
The story of the West is the story of 2,000 years of Christ’s conquest. Our curriculum and pedagogy are built on the riches of this great tradition.
Unapologetically Christian
St. Brendan’s is education for the saints. We don’t want to make pagans who know Latin, but students who know the Lord. Education is a part of Christian discipleship.
Light Homework.
No Busywork.
Regurgitating factoids from a canned textbook into blanks on a worksheet is not education. Classroom rigor and building reading habits means little to no homework.
Mastery of the English Language
Students will master the skill of reading well, thinking well, and communicating well as they read, narrate, debate, and focus on the art and discipline of rhetoric.
A Foundation in Foreign Languages
From the elementary years, students will attain literacy in Latin and biblical Greek—as well as a neighbor language, such as French or Spanish.
Prioritizing Historical Literacy
Because you can’t know the times unless you know the past, students study their way from ancient to modern history three times before graduating.
There’s so much more to say.
Now that you’ve caught a glimpse of Saint Brendan’s from afar, it’s time to take a more detailed tour.
New? Start Here.
Here’s a longer introduction to all that drives us here at SBCCA.
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