Student Life
Encountering Christ
Catholicism is central to our mission. For this reason, every school day includes Mass. We teach theology out of the Bible, the Catechism of the Catholic Church, and papal documents. Other important ways we live the faith include annual pilgrimages and retreats, modest and wholesome extracurricular activities, and sacred art and crucifixes adorning the classrooms.
Faith in Our School
Daily Mass
Regular opportunities for Adoration and Confession
Retreats and Spiritual Formation
Faith incorporated into every subject
Regular visits from priests and religious
TRADITIONS & EVENTS
These are some of the events at Chesterton Academy of St. Katharine Drexel that foster community, faith, and fellowship, celebrating important seasons and themes throughout the school year.
-
The first day of the school year is reserved for a special tradition.
-
“Teachers And Parents” Nights have been a tradition since Chesterton Academy of St. Katharine Drexel opened its doors as Drexel High School in 2023. Usually hosted in a family’s home, T.A.P. Nights are an opportunity for teachers and parents to build positive relationships in a more casual setting.
-
-
Celebrated every September 22, Hobbit Day is a celebration of the birthdays of Tolkien’s beloved characters Bilbo and Frodo Baggins of his classic book The Lord of the Rings. Students, faculty, and parents come together for a special lunch (or is it “second breakfast”?) of delicious treats inspired by the books. Gandalf himself has been known to make an appearance!
-
The Drexel community comes together on the last day before Christmas break to share a delicious lunch, exchange gifts, and celebrate the traditions and joy of the Advent and Christmas seasons.
-
Every year on March 3, we come together to celebrate our patron’s feast day with a special lunch.
-
This celebration, held at the end of the academic year, is a time to recognize individual students’ contributions and achievements. Awards are given for academic achievement as well as in recognition of students who have embodied the Drexel Charisms of Gratitude, Charity, Courage, Diligence, and Eucharistic Devotion. Awards are also given to students who have completed a certain number of hours of service to the community, and to individual students in each grade who demonstrate qualities of servant leadership and attitudes of certain saints.
Chesterton Academy of St. Katharine Drexel acknowledges the good of play, which includes organized and intramural sports. Sports offerings are based upon student interest.
“Let us go and do something—something reckless, something desperate. Let us run across the field and do something.”
— G.K. Chesterton, The Ball and the Cross
Athletics
-
Ultimate Frisbee
Cross Country
-
Basketball
-
Tennis
House System
Chesterton Academy’s House system is drawn from the 1,000 year-old tradition of Christian education exemplified in the colleges at Oxford and Cambridge. The Houses provide real, tangible community within the larger school, giving students the opportunity to take ownership, fulfill the call to leadership, and to cultivate the ideal conditions for virtue. Each House has two Senior and two Junior prefects, two faculty advisors, and several parent liaisons.
Clubs & Activities
-
Clubs at Chesterton Academy of St. Katharine Drexel are student initiated and led. Students must first bring their club ideas to the administration for approval and oversight.
-
Students have an opportunity to showcase individual and group talents at the annual Gala fundraiser in February.
-
Chesterton Academy of St. Katharine Drexel students regularly participate in Corporal and Spiritual Acts of Mercy as acts of service to the community, including:
Thanksgiving canned food drives
Baby supplies drives for support of Pro-Life Pregnancy Centers
Christmas & Easter Basket toy drives
All Souls’ Day Cemetery Visits
Organizing spiritual bouquets for those in need of prayers
Performing yard work/clean up for Connections Church, St. Joseph College Seminary, and Holy Angels in Belmont
Pilgrimages
Senior Pilgrimage to Italy
Chesterton Academy of St. Katharine Drexel is planning our first annual Senior Class Pilgrimage to Rome in March 2027. Our pilgrimage will take us to the Vatican Museum, all the major churches in Rome, and on to Florence and Assisi. In Assisi, we will visit the tombs of St. Francis, St. Clare, and St. Carlo Acutis. We will walk the paths of pilgrims, pray at the tombs of the martyrs, view incredible works of art, and enjoy being steeped in Italian culture. This pilgrimage will be a capstone experience to our students’ classical Catholic education, and will allow them to grow in faith and deepen their friendships, all while learning about the history of our Church and the Eternal City and beyond!
