A class takes advantage of nice weather to move their learning outside the classroom. (Photo courtesy of Sara Hofflander)
By Marcus Ashlock
There are some misconceptions that missionary discipleship begins with a ceremonial anointing of the Christ follower or a grand revelation of God’s will for our lives; in truth, it can look as simple as our Blessed Mother’s response to her purpose.
Yes, she did have both a ceremonial moment and grand revelation through St. Gabriel the archangel, but the simplicity of her saying yes to the Lord is a model we can all follow in our lives. We can be open to hear the Holy Spirit’s prompting in our hearts, to say yes to God, and to be willing to allow God’s will to be done in our lives.
Sara Hofflander experienced the Holy Spirit’s promptings in her own heart, and she said yes to God’s will in her life. That yes has produced much fruit through St. Joseph Academy.
Listening to God
For Sara, what began as a way to enhance the homeschooling education of her children five years ago has borne fruit through keeping God first in her desire to listen to him and live her life deliberately in God’s will. As the head of St. Joseph Academy at the Cathedral of Saint Joseph in Sioux Falls, she describes how this idea of starting a hybrid school (part homeschooling and part traditional schooling) came to her in prayer.
“My children were school-aged and it kind of came out of nowhere, this understanding that God wanted a hybrid, classical Catholic school at the cathedral,” Sara said. “I didn’t really have any capacity or understanding of how to make that happen.”
Two years later, Sara knew other parents were also wanting to enhance their own children’s education, and this idea, revealed in prayer, started to form the foundation for a new educational option for homeschooled children.
“A good friend of mine, Hannah Motz, wanted to offer her children a Catholic classical education and just wasn’t seeing that as an option here in Sioux Falls,” Sara said. “At that time, she had asked Father Morgan [at the cathedral] if she could just use two classrooms, and he gave us permission, and we actually set up one room as a Montessori classroom, and we had hired a teacher.”
Sara states they were able to work through a classical curriculum in the second classroom, mostly just working with their own children. During the first few years, it was mostly parental instruction, and different homeschooling families began joining in at the cathedral.
“We were collaborating as a group, but as you can just tell, it would thrive more if it had an official structure,” Sara said. “After having years of conversation of what would this look like if they were able to hire teachers and officially run it as a school, there were a lot of things w
e tested back and forth, step by step looking at how and what could be most effective.”
Sara was able to take classes through the Institute of Catholic Liberal Education (ICLE), and connecting with like-minded people through ICLE gave Sarah’s parent group additional insight to revisit the hybrid school idea.
Fast forward to the first official school year in 2024-25, the St. Joseph Academy has 65 students from the Montessori pre-school through seventh grade. There is also a plan to expand into the high school grades in the coming years.
“We’re a bustling little school. We do intend to add one grade per year by adding eighth grade next year; and then we intend to expand through high school,” Sara said. “In the fall of 2026, we’ll be adding Chesterton Academy and expanding up in the building and then also with higher grade levels. This will allow us to offer a rich, dynamic high school experience that is classical and well vetted throughout the country. We’re really looking forward to that, too.”
Sara, along with other teachers, is seeing a difference in the children attending school at the Academy.
“In my own kids, I see that they’re becoming much more self-motivated and hardworking,” Sara said. “Among all of the students, I noticed that they’re becoming a lot more thoughtful and respectful and diligent, and their language is improving.”
“They’re learning how to reason, so we hold seminars in our classroom, and it is really sweet to see second and third graders able to discuss things a lot of adults are not able to discuss,” teacher Libby Kunzmann said. “We’re starting to see some critical thinking and the ability to express themselves and their opinions.”
Parents are feeling more connected to Christ and their children through the experiences at the Academy, growing together as a family. Parents homeschool two days a week and then children attend the academy the other three days per week.
“As a parent, this experience has helped me to connect with my children in a new way while being more engaged in what they are learning,” Christi Pease said. “I would say it has also helped me to slow down, to grow in patience, and to cherish my children in a new way.”
Critical thinking in third graders, children engaged in their own learning and education, and parents seeing themselves slowing down in an ever-increasing fast-paced world are only some of the fruits growing from the beginnings of a private prayer life and a desire to say “yes” to God. Nothing can be achieved without keeping our eyes on Jesus.
If you are interested in exploring a Catholic classical education for your children at the St. Joseph Academy, you can visit the academy’s website by going to stjosephclassicalacademy.org for more information.
