Institute for Catholic Liberal Education

06/08/2026

"The Diocesan Leaders Academy allowed me to work with fellow administrators who want to make their good schools— GREAT schools, and their great schools — even better! The opportunity to discuss how the Catholic faith can be naturally integrated into every subject, the value of strong pedagogy, the opportunity to see and experience first-hand schools that are thriving as they embrace a Catholic Liberal Education model was encouraging and amazing!"

— Sr. Cecilia Ann Rezac, M.S.
Marian Sisters of the Diocese of Lincoln
Director of Schools for the Springfield Catholic Schools System in Springfield, Missouri
Member of the Diocesan Leaders Academy 2025-2026 Cohort

Applications are now being accepted for the Diocesan Leaders Academy! Read more about Sr. Cecilia's experience in the 2025-2026 cohort:

Basil Moreau once said, “Education is the art of helping young people to completeness; for the Christian, this means education is helping a young person to be m

06/05/2026

The Institute for Catholic Liberal Education seeks a master teacher to participate in ICLE’s work of forming teachers in a Catholic understanding and practice of Catholic liberal arts education.

🌟 The ICLE faculty is a tight-knit community of educators who work together to form Catholic school teachers across the country.

🌟 This position will require travel, averaging two trips per month, each lasting two to three days, to deliver on-site workshops, attend ICLE events, and provide ongoing consultation and webinars for schools.

🌟 This new faculty member will be trained in ICLE's teacher formation curriculum and will be asked to draw from his or her own knowledge and experience to create new presentations and materials. The job will also include ICLE internal projects, as needed, such as curricular research and consulting.

🌟 The ideal candidate would be a faith-filled, dynamic Catholic educator with significant experience teaching in liberal arts schools and in Catholic education. Experience in instructional coaching or mentoring is a plus.

🌟 We are looking for a disciple of Christ with a heart for this mission to help Catholic educators renew their vocations so they may renew their school communities.

📝 Learn more and apply: https://catholicliberaleducation.org/icle-faculty-application-page/
https://catholicliberaleducation.org/icle-faculty-application-page/

06/04/2026

PANEL ANNOUNCEMENT: With great anticipation, we are excited to announce a thought-provoking panel for ICLE's upcoming National Conference on the evening of Tuesday, July 14 in Columbus, OH!

"Image and Likeness: Catholic Liberal Education in the Face of Artificial Intelligence (AI)"

This panel discussion will address key questions regarding the renewal of Catholic liberal arts education and the rise of artificial intelligence. What are the implications of AI for an authentic education both within and outside of the classroom? Grounded in our shared Catholic anthropology and in dialogue with Pope Leo XIV’s recent encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas, this conversation will address acute and timely questions for Catholic educators who seek to provide a ‘diakonia of truth’* in a rapidly changing world. (*service to the truth)

To unpack how our schools can navigate this topic, we are joined by exceptional educational leaders:

🕯️ MODERATOR: Peter Crawford, the Academic Dean for ICLE and founding headmaster of the St. Jerome Institute, who speaks from the front lines of building incarnational, joyful school communities

🕯️The Most Reverend Earl K. Fernandes, Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Columbus and a leading voice integrating moral theology, bioethics, and Catholic education

🕯️Dr. Jeanne Schindler, a Fellow of the The John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family and a leading voice integrating philosophy, theology, and Catholic social thought

🕯️Jake Tawney, the Director of Curriculum and Academic Resources for the Institute for Catholic Liberal Education, bringing a unique perspective as a classical educator trained in mathematics and computer science

Our 2026 National Conference Is Sold Out! Join the Wait List & Sign Up for the Livestream!

06/04/2026

The teachers of St. Regis Academy, Kansas City ended their school year by deepening their engagement with the liberal arts. Over the course of a two day workshop with Jon Ciani of the Institute for Catholic Liberal Education, the teachers asked many thoughtful questions and discussed different approaches to leading their students to the Truth through the subjects they teach.

They considered how even something as simple as the art of counting can awaken wonder and how that wonder can ultimately lead students toward the Beatific Vision.

To learn more about ICLE school services, visit our website at https://catholicliberaleducation.org/school-services/

06/02/2026

Please read ICLE Director of Curriculum and Academic Resources, Jake Tawney's remarks on Pope Leo XIV’s encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas, emphasizing Catholic liberal education as uniquely equipped for this technological moment.

Tawney notes:

"...Let us help our students encounter those 'deepest and most important things' that make up 'reality beyond appearances' in order to cultivate both faith and reason for full human flourishing. And with Pope Leo XIV , let us look to Jesus Christ for our model, knowing that it is 'only in the mystery of the Word made flesh that the mystery of humanity truly becomes clear.' "

Read the full article:

The Creation of Adam. Michelangelo, ca. 1512 Pope Leo XIV’s highly anticipated new encyclical has been billed as a manifesto on artificial intelligence. Without

06/01/2026

What happens when a Catholic school trades modern data-driven testing for an educational model rooted in wonder, awe, and deep integration?

Our chaplain and board member, Msgr. John R. Cihak, recently joined host Deal Hudson on Ave Maria Radio's "Church and Culture" to discuss how the Institute for Catholic Liberal Education (ICLE) is helping over 300 member schools across the country reclaim their heritage.

We would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to Deal Hudson and the entire team at Ave Maria Radio for having us on the show to share our mission.

Drawing from his own experience spearheading Catholic education renewal at his parish school, Msgr. Cihak shared the profound shifts that occur when a school centers its entire curriculum on Christ:

"When we did this renewal with the Institute for Catholic Liberal Education, I saw our kids, and our teachers, too, they transformed. There is so much more peace. There's joy. There's the joy of learning again."

Rather than fragmenting knowledge into isolated subjects to pass a standardized exam, a Catholic liberal education invites students into a unified reality where everything connects back to a loving Creator:

"Liberal education works on recognizing patterns. Of seeing connections. Of knowing the stories. Of seeing yourself in the midst of this meaningful story that's going on between God and the world..."

🎧 Listen to the full segment to hear Msgr. Cihak discuss how this shift dramatically lowers classroom behavior issues, cultivates lifelong retention, and brings true freedom to students' hearts and minds.

Msgr.

05/28/2026

"It all began with a picture study. There we were, myself and eight other diocesan leaders from every corner of the country, engaging in a great discussion about Thomas Cole’s four-part painting series, The Voyage of Life. Although not new to the renewal of Catholic liberal education, I was a brand-new diocesan leader, eager to learn and fully aware of all the things I did not know."

Applications for the Diocesan Leaders Academy are being accepted through June 10. Apply now or pass it on to your Diocesan Leaders!

READ MORE ABOUT Diocese of Lansing ASSOCIATE SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS STEVE VAUGHAN'S EXPERIENCE HERE:

Childhood, Youth, Manhood, Old Age, Thomas Cole, 1842, National Gallery of Art It all began with a picture study. There we were, myself and eight other diocesa

05/26/2026

“If I had not done the Credential Program, I very likely would have stopped teaching after my second year. My first year was really challenging … but the tools I was given through the Credential Program renewed my own confidence … and fed my own love for learning.”
— Credential Candidate

🎉 ICLE's newly expanded Western Regional Cohort is designed to serve educators across California, Oregon, Washington, and Nevada. While hosted by three specific dioceses (Archdiocese of San Francisco, Archdiocese of Portland in Oregon, Diocese of Oakland), the cohort is open to any K-12 teacher from the West Coast, including those from independent schools and other neighboring dioceses. Thank you to diocesan leaders Christopher Fisher, Andrew Currier and Elias J. Moo for your faithful and mission-aligned collaboration in this partnership.

🔍 Please peruse our WRC brochure to learn more about the program here:https://catholicliberaleducation.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/WRC-CEFC-May-2026-Edition-1.pdf and
📰 Educators and School Leaders, read more about the expansion here: https://catholicliberaleducation.org/2026/05/22/san-francisco-oakland-and-portland-dioceses-will-now-form-western-cohort-of-icles-catholic-educator-formation-and-credential-program/

05/25/2026

Today, on the Feast of Mary, Mother of the Church, we look to Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres’s 1852 masterpiece, The Virgin Adoring the Host, to cultivate our sacramental imaginations, that we might see divine truth mirrored in earthly beauty.

In this image, Mary demonstrates the disposition of the Church: hands clasped, eyes cast in prayer, and her entire heart centered in adoration of the Holy Eucharist.

We invite our community of educators to join the Institute for Catholic Liberal Education (ICLE) in offering this portion of our organizational Act of Consecration today:

Mary, Mother of the Church,
We entrust the work of the Institute for Catholic Liberal Education to your motherly care.

Through your prayers, example, and guidance, make us docile to the inspirations of the Holy Spirit and to the guidance of the Church. May He ground all our work in humility and love.

May He fill us with wisdom and form us into fit instruments for serving Catholic schools and educators. Provide the Institute with the material resources needed to fulfill God’s plan.

Draw to the Institute associates on fire with the love of Christ and His Church, with a passion for spreading Catholic wisdom about education. May all who labor on behalf of the Institute grow together in charity and friendship.

Mary, Mother of the Church, pray for us!
Amen

📖 Read ICLE's full Act of Consecration here (made in 2017): https://catholicliberaleducation.org/our-mother/

05/23/2026

"On behalf of the Diocese of Oakland, we are truly honored to host ICLE's Western Regional Cohort in a beautiful setting at San Damiano Retreat Center," said Dr. Andrew Currier, Superintendent of Schools for the Diocese of Oakland. "I wholeheartedly believe in the strength and significance of the formation provided by ICLE and am truly hopeful that the fruits of these efforts in teacher training will give rise to greater renewal in Catholic schools."

📢 ICLE is pleased to announce a significant expansion of its Catholic Educator Formation and Credential (CEFC) program for the 2026-2027 academic year! Building on the successful 2025 launch of the Western Regional Cohort, the Archdiocese of San Francisco and the Diocese of Oakland will now join the Archdiocese of Portland in Oregon as host dioceses for CEFC.

The Western Regional Cohort is designed to serve educators across California, Oregon, Washington, and Nevada. While hosted by three specific dioceses, the cohort is open to any K-12 teacher from the West Coast, including those from independent schools and other neighboring dioceses.

For the upcoming 2026-2027 18-month program, in addition to five integrated courses delivered through distance learning, the cohort will convene for three in-person workshops. This structure brings mission-aligned formation directly to West Coast educators participating in a groundbreaking Catholic alternative to state licensure.

Applications are live now! Read more about the expansion here:

The Institute for Catholic Liberal Education (ICLE) is pleased to announce a significant expansion of its Catholic Educator Formation and Credential (CEFC) prog