In response to many requests from young women to make extended stays in the monastery, our small school was founded in 1996. In the past 15 years 80 young women have attended the school. Although a few have entered the monastery as novices, most of our students go on to work out their salvation in the world, pursuing further studies in college or continuing on their chosen paths as Orthodox wives and mothers, priests’ wives, or serving the Church in other ways.
Holy Protection Home School is not an accredited school, but operates as a home school with a certified teacher who directs and assists the students in all aspects of study. Students can pursue a high school diploma, or prepare to pass the GED high school equivalency exam. Most of our students have scored high on achievement tests, and were accepted at the colleges to which they applied.
The school only has accommodations for 6 students, who over the years have ranged in age from 8 to 18. We don’t have a set age requirement as our experience has been that successful attendance in the school has more to do with the personal desire and motivation of the student rather than a specific age. When needed, classes for multiple grades are creatively combined to accommodate as many students as possible.
A small building near the main house functions as the classroom where the students put in an average length school day. After-school hours are spent with the sisters in monastery work and chores which might include cleaning tasks, working in the garden or orchards, caring for the goats and chickens, assisting with work in the bookstore or working with the sisters on the current monastery project. Many of our students have acquired a number of building and homesteading skills.
The students attend the full cycle of daily church services and also the common trapeza with the sisters and guests. This can be a rigorous schedule for some, but those who set their hearts on it quickly adjust and grow to love the experience of the structure and continuity of each day.
Young women choose to enter the school for a variety of reasons, depending on available family or educational resources. Our prayer is to be able to offer a refuge, under the Protecting Veil of the Theotokos, to allow these young women to grow spiritually, to preserve their purity, and to deepen their love for the Orthodox faith that their lives may glorify Christ and His holy Church.