Letter from our First CASJ Graduate Angelo Kulda

A Reflection on My Experience at a Classical High School

By Angelo Kulda

December 1, 2025

Attending Chesterton Academy of St. James (CASJ) in Menlo Park, California as an inaugural student and its first graduate was a unique experience at the time from Fall 2022 to Spring 2024. Now in my sophomore year at the University of Dallas I know for certain that my studies there prepared me very well for college and life in general. The challenging workload and curriculum at UD is substantial, particularly the amount of reading and writing, but with the skills developed at CASJ I am able to manage it successfully. 

CASJ stood out from previous schools I attended most notably for the hands-on class structure and the similar objective of each class. The core of each class sprang from the same foundational goal: not just the mere understanding of the subject, but how the subject pointed to, and enkindled a curiosity for discovering the True and the Good. In contrast with an unclear sense of direction at my previous high school, every class at CASJ built off others, adding its own important contribution to the integrated and cohesive whole of my education.

With the guidance of teachers, students wrestled through the work to grasp a deep understanding of the content as opposed to being given answers to memorize. Teachers prompted discussion and invited engagement which made it easy for students to work together to come up with meaningful answers drawn from the text and our discussions.

Technology was hardly present in the classroom, and most of our work was handwritten. I found that this helped me to think through my ideas, and drastically improved my handwriting and spelling.

At CASJ, homework, on average, took about an hour each day. The majority of it was reading, followed by a weekly writing assignment. At my previous school, the at-home workload was overly demanding, leaving little to no time for anything else. As I now navigate college on my own, I am grateful that CASJ formed me with the example of a healthy work-life balance, which has made school feel less like a burden, and more like a privilege.

With the skills I developed at Chesterton Academy of St James I am able to wrestle with a text, think critically and write proficiently in college. In my freshman year at the University of Dallas I performed surprisingly better than I expected, academically. Now in my sophomore year at the university's Rome campus touching, seeing and learning much of the world-improving, awe-inspiring goodness of Western Civilization I know that I am very blessed to have studied at such an exceptional high school. I enjoy daily standing on a high school educational foundation that is supporting me, not only toward academic and professional success, but to a sense of flourishing in all areas of my life now and moving forward.