Ville de Marie Academy was founded in 1991 by a small group of devoted Catholic parents wholly committed to the spiritual and intellectual formation of their children. It was the conviction of our founders, that while parents are indeed the primary educators of their children, their duties as educators could be more perfectly fulfilled as they united to form a school that would reflect their devotion to genuine Catholic education. Thus, they built a school designed to complement the solicitous formation which parents strive to achieve continually in the context of the home. Accordingly, Ville de Marie is a place where the lessons of home are affirmed without compromise and the governing principles of the school are indeed the same convictions that animate the life of the well-ordered home.
The school now finds itself entering its seventeenth year of operation. What makes Ville de Marie so unique? Well, there are many features. First, it is noteworthy that although we are certainly a Catholic institution of learning we are not formally connected to any single parish within the Diocese of Phoenix. This is largely due to the fact that our academy draws from so many parishes across the Valley. Our students and families come from Phoenix, Scottsdale, Paradise Valley, Tempe, Mesa, Gilbert, Chandler, and Queen Creek. What unites these families, however, is a deep love for the Catholic faith, which is the source of our commitment. This love drives us to embrace Holy Mother Church's call to the laity to play a vital role in the renewal of Catholic education in America.
Another unique feature of Ville de Marie Academy is the fact that we instruct kindergarteners through seniors in high school. The breadth among our student body enables our school to maintain a wonderful familial atmosphere in two ways. First, it affords siblings the opportunity to attend the same school even if they are many grades apart. And second, it allows our academy to better mirror the life of the family that of course can include children who range in age from toddler to teen. At Ville de Marie, the younger children bring a joy and innocence that foster a disposition in the entire academy that is ideally suited to the life of learning. In turn, the older students learn the true meaning of leadership as they serve those children who are so eager to emulate the actions and attitudes of the upperclassmen.
Having a campus chapel with the Blessed Sacrament in reserve is truly unique. This enables the students, the faculty and the families to develop and cultivate Eucharistic piety. The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is celebrated weekly and Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, which has a special place in the heart of Ville de Marie, takes place regularly.
Lastly, the education itself is in fact unique. We provide a classical Catholic curriculum that has definitely withstood the perennial unpredictable changes of pedagogical reform. We believe that it is only by holding on to the traditions of the past, be they magisterial, familial, cultural, or educational, can one possess the security, which alone give stability amidst the sea of change that confronts modern man. We do not blindly adhere to all that has gone before us; we simply recognize that if one does not cling to that which is proven and timeless, one is very likely to seek those things which often prove to be either empty or even destructive.
Character development is key to Ville de Marie's education. Education means the right development of character, mind, and body. The development of mind and body only, while forgetting about character, will only produce an intellectual without morality. A man's principles are not obvious, but his conduct is. Character is the total of all the qualities that have been engraved upon the soul and that have become part and parcel of a man. Character is the collection of virtues possessed by a person. In our classical liberal arts education, cultivating virtue in children, and teachers, permeates the entire day. However, first and foremost, it must start in the homes of the children. In his Encyclical on the Christian Education of Youth Pope Pius XI states the solution so eloquently:
"Disorderly inclinations must be corrected, good tendencies encouraged and regulated from tender childhood, and, above all, the mind must be enlightened and the will strengthened by supernatural truth and by the means of grace, without which it is impossible to control evil impulses, impossible to attain the full and complete perfection of education intended by the Church, which Christ has endowed so richly with divine doctrine and with the Sacraments, the efficacious means of grace."
The development of character in children should be the highest objective of priests, parents, and teachers.
Thus, the guiding principle is that our curriculum achieve formation, not just information. Our curriculum is structured to develop the intellectual and moral habits of the child, i.e. to form the character. Our curriculum is an integrated classical liberal arts curriculum that forms the whole person to think, reason, express, and convince. This is where students become truly free - free to be who God intended them to be.
By making the most of this curriculum, we strive to inspire the students and provide a vision for their young minds. We want to foster in the students the enthusiasm to think things through and organize this knowledge in a logical form, and express their thoughts effectively by writing or speaking. This is known as the Trivium - grammar, logic and rhetoric.
What stands out in our curriculum is our systematic and orthodox treatment of Catholic theology. The younger children are instructed with the help of the Saint Joseph Baltimore Catechism, which is complimented with Dr. Maria Montessori's method of teaching the Liturgy of the Mass and the stories of Sacred Scripture called the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd. Our middle school students again draw from the Baltimore Catechism while also using the Faith and Life Series published by Ignatius Press. Our high school students study The Holy Bible, The Catechism of the Catholic Church, Fathers and Doctors of the Faith, Council documents, and encyclicals, to mention a few.
It is our hope and most fervent prayer that our students will take this precious formation and serve Holy Mother Church faithfully as saints in this generation and the next.
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