Dear Families and Friends,
It is with profound gratitude and great excitement that I write to you as the new Headmaster of Chesterton Academy of Christ the King. I am deeply honored to partner with you and help build a school where students can grow in the gift and intelligence of the Catholic faith.
“To be rooted,” Simone Weil wrote, “is perhaps the most important and least recognized need of the human soul.” We are living in a historical moment in which we are encouraged to live without roots. We are surrounded by information but disconnected from tradition; constantly stimulated yet without wonder; connected digitally yet untethered from community, and therefore alone and lonely. What has occurred is that school has become a place filled with fear: fear of failure, of making mistakes, of taking risks. It has become a joyless place where anxiety increases. Especially here in Northern Virginia, where it is very easy to become obsessed with performance and achievement, one can live in forgetfulness of what truly matters in life.
At Chesterton Academy, we are convinced that there is a more intelligent and beautiful way of living. We are rooted in the person of Jesus Christ who awakens in us a love for what is true and good. Here, students will be formed by a reasonable faith, a radical hope, and a fire of charity that will create a joyful culture of communion. They will be able to experience belonging to a place where they can discover their own worth, grow in their vocation, bring their deepest questions, and be enriched by the gift of others. The school will be an intellectual community that sees more than the world sees, that names what is good and what is evil, and that communicates the deepest truths of life. It is my hope that, in learning how to listen, to speak thoughtfully, and to seek wisdom together, they will contemplate the whole of reality and form virtuous friendships that will last a lifetime.
I am convinced that this new school is a gift to the Church and to the world. I invite you to join us at this historic moment in the renewal of Catholic education. Together, let us courageously build a school where students will fall in love with Christ and His Church and, grounded in this love, bear fruit that will endure for eternity.
I look forward to meeting you soon.
In Christ,
Apolonio Latar
Headmaster Apolonio Latar III
Founding Headmaster Apolonio Latar brings more than fifteen years of experience in education and youth ministry, including nine years teaching Theology at St. Paul VI Catholic High School in Chantilly, where he has also served for three years as Academic Dean of Curriculum. He earned his B.A. in Philosophy from Rutgers University, a theology degree from Pontifical Lateran University, and his M.Ed. in Administration and Supervision from Marymount University. His scholarly work has appeared in respected journals such as Communio, Religions, and Humanum Review, and he has curated exhibits and delivered presentations on cultural, educational, philosophical, and theological topics.