St. John Chrysostom Academy

“Organization modified bylaws and restructured the board.”

“Board reviews 990 before filing”

“No documents available to the public”

“Mission st. John chrysostom academy unites classical education and orthodox christian formation. Students benefit from the reliable disciplines of formal education and the nurturing environment of faith. Young minds are directed toward the good, the true, and the beautiful, and young hearts toward the gospel and holy tradition to educate and form our students as complete persons. Vision st. John chrysostom academy provides classical, christian education so that students will grow in virtue, wisdom, and joy. Chrysostom academy is dedicated to providing a comprehensive formational education in harmony with the eastern orthodox church. Guided by a commitment to the timeless traditions of the christian church, mind, and worldview, chrysostom academy educates students for the church, the lehigh valley, the united states, and the world.”

“During the fiscal year ending june 2023, the academy was able to accomplish the following: 1.academic year 2022-2023 - the academy opened its doors to students on september 6, 2022, with 26 students. Taking into account the particular circumstances of student enrollment, grades 1 and 2 were combined into one cohort, and grades 3 and 4 were combined into one cohort. Middle school started with students in grades, 5, 6, 7, and 8 using a university model schedule: core classes on m, w, f, and specials on t/th. 2.facility - all classrooms and labs were ready to serve students on the first day of school. All new furniture, chalk boards, and textbooks were purchased and ready for students in september 2022. 3.curriculum - all student resources were purchased and ready for the beginning of school. 4.faculty/staff - a total of 9 staff/faculty were hired to begin the school year. Of this, over 3/4 had degrees at the masters/doctoral level. Teachers were outfitted with proper technology, teacher resources, and materials. 5.students - in addition to the 26 students enrolled at the beginning of the academic year, 2 more students were accepted into the program on a part-time basis (t/th attendance). 6.culture - a lot of thought and time was spent developing both faculty/staff culture and student culture. Almost immediately, a house system was implemented based upon the old english house system present in many prestigious american schools prior to the 1980's. In these houses, students competed for house points with the goal of winning the house sword. House points were tallied on a weekly basis and two major events, fall's crown games and springs gryphon games added a particular ethos and camaraderie to the academy. 7.faculty/parent council - a parent teacher organization, faculty/parent council was begun with 5 parents. The council spent most of the year organizing, writing and adopting bylaws, and planning for future parental involvement. The goals is to get 100% parental involvement by the end of 2023-2024. 8.accreditation - the academy began the process of seeking accreditation from the association of christian schools international. Most schools are not permitted to apply for accreditation for at least 3 years after their being started, but after visiting the academy and reviewing the work that had already been done by the headmaster and his team, acsi invited chrysostom academy to apply for accreditation. The application will be submitted in october of 2023. 9.marketing - definition of the academy brand, in both online and physical forms (mailings, print media, and school spirit wear, were expanded during the 2022-2023 academic year. Regular and consistent social media posts were targeted at demographics of families essential to the growth and success of the school. 10.implementation of a student information system - the academy chose facts sis as its school system for application, enrollment, communication, grading, and academic records database. The sis was fully implemented by february of 2022 and is now being used in all major operational components of the academy. 11.board restructuring - in february of 2022, the board had a consulting meeting with a former ceo of a biotech firm from silicone valley. The executive spent two days with the board offering wisdom on how to transition the founding board to an overseeing board. The bylaws were retooled to give a more accurate picture of the academies operational structure. A formal board meeting was held, bylaws were ratified, and founding members who did not want to continue their tenure were able to step down”