William C. MichaelWilliam C. Michael

Mr. William C. Michael, O.P., is the founder and headmaster of the Classical Liberal Arts Academy and a Lay Dominican in the Catholic Church. Mr. Michael received an honors degree in Classics and Ancient History from Rutgers University and is a member of Phi Beta Kappa. He led the CLAA to accreditation with Cognia in 2024. He has been studying and teaching the classical liberal arts for over 30 years.

What is the Best Catholic Homeschool Curriculum?

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Choosing the right Catholic homeschool curriculum is one of the most important decisions a parent can make. This choice will shape your child’s intellectual development, moral character, and spiritual formation. It will influence how they understand the world, how they live in it, and most importantly, how they pursue the eternal end for which they were created: to know, love, and serve God. Most articles and reviews that discuss the “best” Catholic homeschool curriculum fail to appreciate the depth and seriousness of this decision. Too often, the criteria they use to compare programs are drawn from the world of product … Continue

Trump’s School Choice (WSJ)

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Parents may hear news of President Trump shutting down the “Department of Education” and wonder how that can be possible. Here’s a helpful opinion piece explaining why it’s necessary. Public schooling, for a society as large and diverse as the United States, can never work. This is why we have states in the first place. https://www.wsj.com/opinion/trumps-school-choice-education-department-learning-disabilities-teaching-grades-1e6e3fdd?st=eZgqxm

Reflection on Adoro Te Devote (Dominican)

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by St. Thomas Aquinas, O.P. Adoro te devote, latens veritas, Quæ sub his figuris vere latitas; Tibi se cor meum totum subicit, Quia te contemplans totum deficit. Visus, tactus, gustus in te fallitur, Sed auditu solo tuto creditur. Credo quidquid dixit Dei Filius; Nil hoc verbo Veritátis verius. In Cruce latebat sola Deitas, At hic latet simul et Humanitas, Ambo tamen credens atque confitens, Peto quod petivit latro pœnitens. Plagas, sicut Thomas, non intueor: Deum tamen meum te confiteor. Fac me tibi semper magis credere, In te spem habere, te diligere. O memoriale mortis Domini, Panis vivus, vitam præstans homini, … Continue

How to Unenroll a Student from the CLAA

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If you wish to unenroll a student from the CLAA, please follow these instructions: Gather Info from the CLAA Study Center (optional) Before making any changes to a student account, take time to save any information on the Study Center that might be useful for your student records.  You may wish to take screenshots of course progress or grade books, save copies of assignments, etc.  Once you have enrolled, this information will no longer be available. Cancel your Tuition Subscription. Login to your account on the CLAA website and cancel the tuition subscription for the student to be unenrolled. Notify … Continue

A Simple, Stress-Free Homeschool Plan

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Summary Homeschool parents are often stressed by many unnecessary concerns.  One of the most obvious of these is the concern for college admission. There is no need for a student to gain admission to a freshman class at a selective four-year university.  In fact, it may be imprudent to do so.  We choose to homeschool for many reasons, one of which is the desire to provide our children with a safe, supportive environment in which to grow physically, intellectually and spiritually.  It doesn’t make much sense to throw all of that away for the sake of college studies. No such … Continue

Grading and Assessment in Classical Catholic Education

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Transcribed by otter.ai Today is January 29, 2025, and this is William Michael, Headmaster of the Classical Liberal Arts Academy. Today, I’d like to take some time to talk about grading and assessment in the Classical Liberal Arts Academy, because I believe that this is where the Classical Liberal Arts Academy really differs the most from any other program, from any modern school, any other homeschool program. It really is with assessment and grading that we separate ourselves in ways that I believe are really important for the development of Christian learning. The Problem with Modern Assessment If we think … Continue