TENETS OF CATHOLIC
IDENTITY IN EDUCATION
Donahue Academy is a leader in Catholic, classical education. Our school’s leadership has been instrumental in distilling, articulating, implementing, and promoting – in accordance with Church teaching – the five key principles of Catholic school identity on a national level.
1
INSPIRED BY A DIVINE MISSION
Catholic schools’ educational efforts are part of the Church’s mission of salvation and evangelization for the good of each student and the good of society.
2
MODEL OF CHRISTIAN COMMUNION
Catholic schools form students for relationship with God and with others in love and in service. All instruction is faithful to Catholic teaching.
3
PLACE OF PERSONAL ENCOUNTER
Catholic schools are places where students encounter Christ in prayer, scripture, and sacrament.
4
PLACE OF PERSONAL INTEGRATION
Catholic schools form the whole student: their spiritual, moral, intellectual, and physical dimensions.
5
PURVEYOR OF THE CHRISTIAN WORLDVIEW
Catholic schools seek to impart a Christian view of the world, humanity, life, and history, thereby ordering the whole of human culture to the good news of salvation and the unity of all knowledge.
CHARACTER FORMATION IN CATHOLIC EDUCATIOn
Christum Novisse
We encounter Christ in the way we treat each other, in the material that we study, and most especially in the way we live the faith. Donahue Academy provides students plentiful opportunities to live rich sacramental and liturgical lives.
SACRAMENTAL LIFE
Each morning at Donahue starts with daily prayer over the PA system. We celebrate daily Mass and offer students the opportunity for daily Confession. Our Eucharistic chapel is open all day and students enjoy monthly Eucharistic Adoration. Classes recite the noon Angelus and meal prayer daily, and teams pray together before games. Each trivium stage enjoys a bi-annual retreat, and the whole school participates in the annual Our Lady of the Rosary procession. Vocation discernment guidance is offered via the parish and diocese.
LITURGICAL LIVING & LEARNING
Our students deepen their knowledge of the Catholic faith at each stage of the trivium through curricula from the Augustine Institute, Ignatius Press, as well as the Bible, the Catechism, papal encyclicals, and classic works by great theologians. They bring the liturgical calendar alive with celebrations such as the Stations of the Cross dramatic performance, May Crowning procession, St. Joseph’s dinner, and grand Annunciation feast. Moreover, there are opportunities for local and international pilgrimages.
Virtutem Contendere
We live as Christ’s disciples by putting our faith into practice in good works. Students have many opportunities
to serve one another at school and in the broader community.
SERVICE PROJECTS
Donahue Academy has developed, among others, a special relationship with the Guadalupe Center in Immokalee, FL. Each year brings recurring and new opportunities to serve, whether by running the Thanksgiving food drive, fundraising for new chairs, or serving food at the soup kitchen.
STUDENT CLUBS
Student clubs allow students’ shared interests to blossom – whether planting an edible garden, organizing a pro-life march, participating in robotics and Scholar Bowl competitions, or producing the school’s yearbook. See the Curriculum eBook for the complete clubs list.
resources
Formation Opportunities
See the full range of Donahue Academy’s formation opportunities
CATHOLIC CLUBS
At Donahue Academy our students are encouraged put our mission into practice. Our Catholic Clubs give students additional venues to deepen their love of God and others through the pursuit of all that is true, good, and beautiful.
Pro-Life CLUB
The Pro-Life Club is the largest club in the school. It gathers more than 120 students at the Logic and Rhetoric stages and faculty who respect the dignity of life from conception to natural death. The goal is, with the help of Jesus, to take action against abortion through prayer vigils and to support all lives through acts of charity. Students also fundraise to attend the March for Life in Washington, D.C.
Student Life Committee
The Student Life Committee has two chapters – one for Logic and one for the Rhetoric Stage. Each grade votes representatives who then work under their respective Stage’s faculty advisor to put on events such as fundraisers and dances (at the Rhetoric Stage) and select themes for Spirit Week. Together, these students lead the student body in activities that benefit their peers and the broader community.
Yearbook
Donahue Academy’s Yearbook is an elective available exclusively to Juniors and Seniors. It focuses on capturing the truth, beauty, and goodness of Donahue Academy. Every year, the yearbook team sets out to create a catalog of the year’s best moments, enjoyable for all.
