ASK YOURSELF WHAT’S REALLY IMPORTANT
THEN HAVE THE COURAGE TO BUILD YOUR LIFE AROUND IT
How We Started
St. John Bosco Academy was born from the inspiration of a group of committed Catholic parents who felt a deeper calling to two of their most zealous passions: forming their children humanly and spiritually, and providing them with a solid education. The older their children grew, the more evident it became that one passion worked against the practical execution of the other.
To train children spiritually and humanly, parents must have consistent and meaningful time with them, and thereby remain the primary sphere of influence during their formative years. To train them academically, however, they need recourse to a strong academic environment. Attendance in today’s modern-day school makes finding family time together increasingly challenging and can increase exposure to competing influences.
Our Mission
The mission of St. John Bosco Academy is to accompany parents in leading their children to heaven by fostering in them a love for what is true, good, and beautiful and imbuing them with an awareness of their high dignity as children of God. By promoting a return to the simplicity of family life through the hybrid model and educating children in virtue through classical methods, we endeavor to form holy young men and women who shape culture by their critical thought, self mastery, and passionate love for Jesus Christ, His Holy Mother, and His Church.
The Hybrid System
Serving the Needs of the Heart, the Mind, and the Home.
The hybrid system blends the best of home school and the best of traditional school into one balanced system. Lower school students are on campus 2 days a week, with the additional 3 days of study and reinforcement done at home. High school students are on campus 3 days a week, with the additional 2 days of study at home, much like a university model. In this way, students are able to benefit from the beauty of the classroom environment, complete with dynamic teachers who engage them in the material and inspire them to fall in love with all that is true, good, and beautiful. The home days allow them to participate in family life and remain bonded to parents and siblings as the primary sphere of influence throughout their formative years.
THE HEART
As creatures made in the image and likeness of God, every one of us has a deep desire to love and be loved— an innate desire for truth, goodness, and beauty. By teaching children from a young age that they were made for goodness, and it is only seeking this goodness that they will ultimately attain the true happiness for which they were created, we foster in our students a joy that is felt when you enter the doors of SJBA. By challenging them daily to practice the human virtues, we help them obtain the self-mastery that leads to true freedom.
THE MIND
The goal of our academic program at SJBA is to teach our students, in the words of St. Thomas Aquinas, “how to order things rightly and judge them well.” We utilize content-rich, teacher-led materials across the core subjects that are designed to inspire students to think critically and problem solve, rather than to simply memorize information. We employ the stages of the classical trivium– grammar, logic, and rhetoric– which correspond to the stages of human development, with the ultimate ends being the cultivation of wisdom and virtue.
THE HOME
We believe, as the Church teaches, that the vital cell of society isn’t an amazing school, youth group, or sports program, but the family.
We believe the most powerful force in the world is a family.
We believe the greatest gift parents have to give to their children is the gift of their influence.
We believe that hearts are changed and values are passed on around kitchen tables.
We believe the seemingly mundane moments of family life are where the world is transformed.
The Hybrid System Objectives
The goal of the St. John Bosco experience as set forth by the founders is threefold, and what we commonly refer to as the SJBA PAC: Preparation for college and higher education, Academic accountability and rigor, and a Community of faithful families.
PREPARATION
Students must be prepared to go into the world and make a difference with their God-given talents: to be in the world and not of the world, to be prepared with a cogent defense of their faith, to have an understanding of objective truth, to be able to discern right from wrong and truth from lies. We endeavor to cultivate critical thinkers rather than good workers.
COMMUNITY
While the family is the primary sphere of influence, now more than ever children need a very strong secondary sphere of influence in order to be counter-cultural, especially as they enter the middle and high school years. Our St. John Bosco families, while each beautiful and unique in their own right, are very united in their central vision of getting their children to Heaven. Having a community of faithful families to support one another on this journey is an essential component of the SJBA experience.
ACADEMIC RIGOR
We aspire to help our students to be the very best version of themselves academically. Holding them accountable to achieve a high standard and inspiring them with what is possible through hard work, determination, and self-discipline is essential to helping them become the person God created them to be and assisting them in their call to go into the world and make a difference.
Locations
SJBA Shiloh Campus
4708 Shiloh Road
Cumming, Georgia 30040
SJBA North Campus
4888 Browns Bridge Road
Cumming, Georgia 30041
Founders
St. John Bosco Academy was born from the inspiration of a group of committed Catholic parents who felt a deeper calling to two of their most zealous passions: forming their children in the faith and providing their academic education.
Dana Brenner
Director of Spiritual Life and Special Events
Vivian Ferrari
Director of Operations, High School Principal
Kim McDonald
Director of Curriculum and Assessments
Julie Wilborn
Director of Finance, Head of Formation
Leadership Team
Statement of Faith
St. John Bosco Academy believes first and foremost that the fullness of Truth resides solely in the Catholic Church. We adhere to the infallible truths revealed to humanity through Sacred Tradition and Sacred Scripture, each proceeding from God through the Church, which was founded by Christ, and is led by the Holy Spirit.
With the ultimate purpose of being in cooperation with God for the salvation of souls, SJBA integrates the moral teachings of the Catholic Church into all aspects of our community. Our complete adherence to Catholic morals and teachings is an inextricably integrated component of our mission and is unapologetically incorporated into every level of our operations.