HOMESCHOOLING has deep roots in the Catholic tradition, dating back to the early millennia and continuing through the mid-1900s. Families, particularly those in diplomatic, military, or remote professions, embraced homeschooling as a practical solution. By the 1980s, as public schools faced academic and disciplinary challenges, the demand for homeschooling curricula surged. This growth accelerated in the 1990s due to escalating violence and social issues in schools, including Catholic institutions. Today, over 2 million students are homeschooled in the U.S., including more than 100,000 Catholics. Research consistently shows that homeschooled students outperform their public-school counterparts academically and socially.
While early homeschooling focused on basic education (reading, writing, and arithmetic), modern parents increasingly seek higher standards and a more rigorous curriculum. This shift has led many Catholic families to embrace classical education, a tradition supported by Church Fathers and rooted in the teachings of St. Thomas Aquinas. Classical education, with its emphasis on the liberal arts and the Great Books, provides students with the tools to discern truth from error—a preparation that begins in the primary years and continues into high school.
The Angelicum Academy offers a curriculum faithful to Catholic teaching and the Magisterium of the Church, inspired by the intellectual tradition of St. Thomas Aquinas. With its classical approach, the Academy equips students to seek understanding and attain their ultimate purpose in life. By blending faith with intellectual rigor, the Angelicum Academy ensures that students are not only educated but prepared for a lifetime of faith and learning.
Our Patron Saints
The Angelicum Academy, as the name suggests, takes St. Thomas Aquinas as one of its patrons and protectors. “Angelicum” is a Latin nickname often used for schools in reference to the Angelic Doctor of the Church—St. Thomas Aquinas. For example, it is commonly used to refer to the Pontifical University of St. Thomas in Rome (an unrelated institution of higher learning). We use it as the formal name of our Academy. Numerous Popes have urged the Church to turn to St. Thomas for sound teaching in philosophy and theology—perhaps most notably Pope Leo XIII, in his 1879 encyclical Aeterni Patris, subtitled “On the Restoration of Christian Philosophy in Catholic Schools in the Spirit of the Angelic Doctor, St. Thomas Aquinas.”
Our second patron is St. Frances Xavier Cabrini, the patron saint of Catholic education. Each year, we make a pilgrimage to her shrine near Denver, Colorado. The shrine features a towering statue of the Sacred Heart atop a mountain, overlooking Denver from the west at the Cabrini Shrine. It was there that Mother Cabrini, in a Moses-like moment, directed her sisters—who were considering abandoning the mountaintop site due to a lack of water—to discover the miraculous spring that still flows abundantly today.
Church
Recognition
The Angelicum Academy is officially recognized by the Church as a Catholic home school program. See official recognition letter on the left, pursuant to the Code of Canon Law, Canon 803 § 1.
Visiting Address:
6 South Teton St., Ste. 622
Colorado Springs, CO 80903
