Hendricken High School graduate Brian Mattias and his wife Heather- Rose value Catholic education and they vowed if their two daughters started in a Catholic school they wouldn’t deviate from that path.

Now with their eldest daughter, Alana in 8th grade at Father Doyle School in Coventry they are anxious to enroll her in the Chesterton Academy Our Lady of Hope High School that plans to open on Jefferson Boulevard in a suite of offices last used to display plumbing supplies. It’s not a big space – about 3,300 square feet overall – but then those doing the groundwork for the first New England’s first Chesterton Academy anticipate an enrollment of 15 to 20 in grades 9 and 10 the first year.

Ed Walsh who is working to open the school expects it will rapidly outgrow its leased space and be in the market for a larger facility with room for athletic fields and other amenities. At that point it would be a four-year high school with more than 160 students.

Walsh’s daughter, Sarah, a freshman at East Greenwich High would be a sophomore at Chesterton if everything goes to plan. Sarah was one of three prospective Chesterton students manning the reception desk at Saturday’s open house. With her were Natalia Monfils, who is now homeschooled and Henry Garcia a freshman at LaSalle Academy. As families entered, Sarah had them fill out a form with their contact information, handed them a brochure and informed them they would be given a tour.

Tours didn’t last long. The largest of the rooms had a chalk board with a schedule of a typical class day and a poster-sized rendering of what the room will look like with students seated at a round table engaged in a discussion lead by a teacher.  Rooms for the school are filled with natural light that reflects off the freshly painted ceiling tiles that a crew of parents accomplished. Academy board members and the families of prospective students, as well as their kids, have played active roles in preparing the future school.

There is a chapel with church pews given to the school and cut to fit within the room. They will  be refinished at some point explained Walsh although for the moment they give the chapel a feeling of permanence and belonging. Furniture is on the list of items to be acquired, but the priority is on hiring a headmaster.

John Varieur, one of those heading up the search, said the board of directors has received about a dozen applications with the applicants ranging in age from 30 to 50 and from as far away as Portugal. The board is hopeful of finding a candidate with a long range view for the school and capable of guiding it to meet that goal. They are anxious to get a headmaster aboard but being careful to select a candidate with their shared vision for a classical liberal arts education in the Catholic tradition.

As described in a school brochure, the model of education is inspired by St. Pope John Paul II’s “motto Cultura Vitae, the culture of life. We make it our mission to prepare our students to triumph over the materialism and despair that pervade our culture and to accept our Lord’s offer to have life and to have it abundantly.”

“Here, the faith is not an extra, an add on, or something merely accommodated. On the contrary, it structures the rhythm of our day, the shape of our curriculum, and the expectations that we have for our community members,” reads a passage in literature given visitors.

Chesterton Academy of Our Lady of Hope would be one of more than 40 Chesterton Academies expected to be in operation across the country by the next academic year. The network provides support for the schools  named for English writer and Catholic convert, G.K. Chesterton (1874-1936) “who exemplified the Catholic faith through a life filled with joy, wonder and gratitude,” according to a school flier.

A curriculum overview in the packet breaks down instruction into the humanities that includes literature, history, philosophy, theology language and debate; math and science and the fine arts including music, art and drama.  Athletics and physical exercise are  recognized as playing  roles in the development of the “whole person.” While initial enrollment won’t allow for teams large enough to compete with other high schools, club teams are planned with the use of indoor 80,000 square feet of recreational facilities close by on Jefferson Boulevard.

In locating on Jefferson Boulevard, those founding the new school wanted a location central to the state making for easy access from across the state and nearby Connecticut and Massachusetts. That has proven to be an attribute among those considering the school.

It went into the consideration of the Brian and Heather-Rose Mattias who live in Exeter. Heather-Rose works just around the corner on Service Avenue and could easily drop off and pick up her daughter.

 An even greater consideration, as mentioned by several at the Saturday open house is the $8,000 tuition that is more than half of the state’s Catholic High Schools. There is surely an element of excitement and uncertainty to being the first of anything.

The Mattias family acknowledges that.

“It’s a long leap of faith,” said Heather Rose, “but every school has to have a first class.”