Drexel High School opened Aug. 16 with an enrollment of 16 students in ninth and 10th grades. The school follows an integrated Catholic classical curriculum that combines core subjects into Humane Letters and implements a physics-first approach to science taught by Tanja Akerblom. (Photos provided) BELMONT — Parents in the Charlotte area have a new educational option for their high school-aged children.
Modeled on an integrated Catholic classical curriculum, Drexel High School opened Aug. 16, launching its inaugural school year with Mass at the Basilica of Mary Help of Christians at nearby Belmont Abbey.
The high school is operated independently of the Diocese of Charlotte. Only ninth and 10th-grade students were admitted for the 2023-’24 academic year, but the school will add 11th and 12th grade in the next two consecutive years. Sixteen students are enrolled this year, and classes are held at Connections Church at 304 McAdenville Road in Belmont.
Drexel High School’s stated mission is “to form students in Truth, encourage them in wonder, educate them in the liberal arts and sciences, and prepare them for life as capable and responsible children of God committed to knowing, loving, and serving God through their work, leisure, and prayer.”
The idea to start the school came from parents who are committed to classical liberal arts and wanted to ensure there was an option for students to continue on that path after middle school graduation.
“We sat around my kitchen table and said, ‘OK, we’re starting a school,’” said Jenny Ryan, the acting head of school and a mother of six, with two attending Drexel High School this fall. “We needed something for our families on the west side of Charlotte who want to continue their classical education in the Catholic tradition.”
St. Katharine Drexel, the patroness of the school, was a pioneer of the Catholic faith and education. She was a major benefactress in the construction of the basilica at Belmont Abbey and area Catholic churches.
Currently, the school is primarily run by its board of directors, many of whom have children at St. Michael School in Gastonia or homeschool and want to ensure that they are able to continue their classical education in high school.
Joseph Wysocki, the dean of the Honors College at Belmont Abbey College and his wife Jeanne; Phil Brach, the development director of Belmont Abbey College and his wife Liz; and Kelly Salomon, the vice president of Newman Guide Programs for the Cardinal Newman Society and her husband Mike; and Jessica Grabowski, the Respect Life program director for the Diocese of Charlotte and her husband Paul, are among the board members.
“All of our board members are couples because we thought it was important since parents are the primary educators of their children, so we consider both to be equal board members,” Ryan said.
The search for a permanent headmaster will soon commence, with the hope to hire one in the next year. For now, the leadership is pleased with the progress of the school.
There are three teachers on staff, including Haley Tomaszewski, who most recently taught at St. Michael School. Her classes include algebra, geometry, Latin I, and a mini course on drawing. She is also co-teaching a course on the Feminine Genius.
“My desire is that students find beauty in mathematical patterns, order in Latin translation, and wonder in the design of creation; but much more, I want Drexel students to realize what it means to be fully human and, in loving the good, to become more like God themselves,” she said.
The school’s curriculum combines philosophy, history and English into a class called The Humane Letters.
“These subjects speak to each other so well and because we follow that classical timeline, the literature is influencing the history and vice versa and the philosophy is influencing the literature of the time that we’re studying,” Ryan said. “The students are already making connections, which has been great to see.”
The science sequence is different too.
“It’s a physics-first approach in which all students start with conceptual physics, and that’s because it’s seen as the foundation of all the other scientific subjects such as chemistry and biology,” Ryan added.
The curriculum also includes Art of Leisure, which involves a variety of courses, such as Tomaszewski’s drawing class, aimed at helping students incorporate leisure into their lives, helping them to find a healthy balance with work and to avoid automatically turning to a screen to unwind.
Ryan noted that the school supports students in discerning their primary vocation, such as being a wife and mother or husband and father, as well as their secondary vocation in the type of work they are called to pursue.
“It’s been a very exciting time,” Ryan said as she expressed gratitude for everyone who has helped make Drexel High School a reality. “We expect to grow incrementally and look forward to seeing all God has in store for our school.”
— Annie Ferguson
For more
Applications for the 2024-’25 school year will open in October. For more information, go to www.drexelhigh.org.