An Atmosphere of Joy

By Nora Kenney

City Journal 2/14/2024

Dale Ahlquist is the most effective education reformer you’ve never heard of. His network of classical Catholic high schools, the Chesterton Schools Network, will open its 69th school next fall, thanks to the efforts of parents who revere his model and work pro bono to replicate it in their hometowns.

The network’s purpose is to offer students affordable access to a rigorous classical curriculum, which includes the Socratic method and is also faithful to Catholic Church teaching. The secret, Ahlquist says, is daily Mass—and G. K. Chesterton.