Seat of Wisdom Resource Learning Center

The Seat of Wisdom Learning Resource Center

Reimagining Education

The mission of the Seat of Wisdom Learning Resource Center is to assist parents in their role as the primary educators of their children by making available to them high-quality academic instruction, co-curriculum enrichment, extra-curricular activities, and wholesome social opportunities in a Christ-centeredCatholic environment. SWLRC offers families the opportunity to take fuller advantage of the talented people and amazing resources that are available to residents of Brooklyn and New York City as a whole, opportunities that “all in one” educational institutions can’t always make the most of. Informed by the Catholic faith and using a classical liberal arts approach to education, our goal is to create a community in which families are supported and children thrive spiritually and intellectually. Numerous studies confirm what our intuition tells us, viz., that students thrive academically when parents are involved in their education. The now well-documented success of the homeschooling movement gives ample proof of the dividends that families reap when parents invest time, attention, and love in their children’s schooling. But not all parents feel equipped to take full responsibility for instructing their children and many simply can’t because of work or other responsibilities. Many homeschooling parents too, to be sure, often feel overwhelmed and benefit greatly when they have a community to turn to for support and additional resources.

The Seat of Wisdom Learning Resource Center was conceived of as a way to make these two ends meet: facilitating parents’ involvement in their children’s education while at the same time being realistic about their limitations and the demands on their time. Parents who take full advantage of the components SWLRC offers will, we hope, find it to be a rich, holistic program that meets their children’s needs and fits their family’s lifestyle.

The Seat of Wisdom Classical Academy:

A Three-day a Week Classical Liberal Arts Core Curriculum for Students in Grades 5 - 8

A recent survey of students’ attitudes toward school by The Princeton Review discloses that over 50% of students questioned “reported feeling stressed, 25% reported that homework was their biggest source of stress, and on average teens are spending one-third of their study time feeling stressed, anxious, or stuck.” A 2019 Wallace Foundation report says that “seven out of ten teens in the U.S. (between 13 and 17 years old) have named anxiety or depression as a major problem among their peers,” and “75% of U.S. high school students expressed [feeling] boredom, anger, sadness, fear, or stress while in school.” Three quarters of high school students questioned and fully half of middle school students describe themselves as “often or always feeling stressed” by schoolwork. But the data is falling on deaf ears. Studies indicate that when schools respond to academic failure and poor test scores by piling on more instruction time and more homework, this frequently—and not surprisingly—backfires in increased student fatigue and attention deficit. “More of the same” is not yielding positive results. Children and teenagers in the United States spend more hours in school than their peers in Asian countries, while Asian students nevertheless consistently outperform U.S. students on math and science tests.

Perhaps even more distressing is that many schools seem to have lost sight of their purpose, with the result that in response to bleak data like this, schools across the country are turning to a classical liberal arts approach to education: an approach that is academically rigorous but at the same time uses developmentally appropriate pedagogical methods, proceeds at a natural pace, and seeks to create an environment in which the goals of education are not forgotten. Students are encouraged to be curious, to ask questions and think for themselves, and to value knowledge for its own sake, so they will not only succeed in school, excel at standardized tests, and get into the college of their choice, but go on to become life-long learners.

“90% of students say that getting good grades is important,” while “less than 10% say that succeeding in school is important because of the value of learning.”

In step with this growing movement, the Seat of Wisdom Catholic Classical Academy will offer students in the 5th through 8th grades a three-day a week academic program that uses the tried-and-true classical liberal arts approach. A three-day schedule liberates students and instructors from pointless busywork. It gives students sufficient time to do assigned reading and complete their homework, and frees them for co-curricular and extra-curricular activities as well as family time. It gives instructors time to prepare high- quality lessons and make meaningful comments on students’ homework. SWCA instructors will strive to meet students first where they are, giving them the time and attention they need to master the basics so they can confidently progress to the next level. Most importantly, SWCA will instruct and form students in the Catholic faith, so that they are guided to see their academic work and

For more information about The Seat of Wisdom Classical Catholic Academy and Classical Education, click here.

The St Cecilia Center for Language and the Arts

The St Cecilia Center for Language and the Arts will offer co-curricular, enrichment classes on the two days a week that SWCA does not meet. Students who enroll in this program will study French, music, art, drama, speech and debate. The center will bring in talented people from the Divine Mercy parish and from around the city to work with the young people and share with them their knowledge, experience, and gifts. Students will have the opportunity to take studio art classes with working artists, join musical ensembles, perform in plays, hone their speaking and reading skills, and participate in service projects. For more information, click here.

After-School Tutoring and Study Hall / Physical Fitness

In our After-School Tutoring Center, students will have access to academic tutoring and a parent- supervised study hall where they can complete their homework in a safe, peaceful, and supportive environment.

Our physical fitness program will connect students with opportunities for sports, dance, and martial arts, as well as out-door activities.

Sub specie aeternitatis

In all its components, the Seat of Wisdom Learning Resource Center will have one consistent goal: to form young Catholics ready to take their place in an adult world and be the “salt of the earth” that we are called as disciples of Christ to be; and to set their feet on the road that, with the grace and providential care of God, will lead them to eternal happiness with their Creator in Heaven.