What if a school existed for one reason: to make saints?
On this episode of Man Up, Joe Stopulos sits down in studio with Bryan Gonzalez — founding family, board member, and tutor at St. Thomas Classical Academy — for an honest conversation about Catholic classical education, homeschooling, and what it takes for fathers to raise children for heaven.
In this episode:
- What St. Thomas Classical Academy actually is. A hybrid model: families homeschool Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, then gather together Tuesday and Thursday. Parents stay the primary educators, but the curriculum is already selected — removing what Bryan calls the thorn in the side of homeschooling.
- The mission statement, and the two pillars that set STCA apart: a deep commitment to the Catholic tradition, and education done the classical way — encountering truth, goodness, and beauty.
- Six students to 120. The academy launched in 2017 and now serves roughly 50 families, plus another 30–40 children through Catechesis of the Good Shepherd. It rents space at Sts. John and Paul Parish in Altoona.
- Zero dollars. Bryan explains why STCA receives no funding from the state or the diocese, why the community declined ESA dollars, and what that independence protects.
- Why the priests keep showing up. Rotating priests drive from across the diocese to offer Mass — some on their day off — because 120 kids serving, reading, and singing at Mass fills them up.
- Ephesians 6:4 for fathers: bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord — and what that looks like practically for Catholic dads and male mentors.
- Bishop James Conley's story. He entered the University of Kansas as a self-described hippie agnostic, encountered John Senior's Integrated Humanities Program in the 1970s, and became Catholic his senior year. Joe explains why Conley was the one speaker he wanted for this event.
Visit the school: Mass is at 8:15 a.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays at Sts. John and Paul Parish in Altoona. Come to Mass, and Bryan is happy to give a tour afterward.
THE GALA — Tuesday, October 20
5:30–8:30 p.m. | The Tea Room, downtown Des Moines
Keynote: Bishop James Conley, Diocese of Lincoln
Also featuring testimony from Fr. Mark McGeary
This is a ticketed event and tickets are selling fast — purchase in advance. Individual tickets and sponsor tables are available. Get tickets, watch the 90-second school video, or request a tour at the contact page: https://www.stthomasclassical.org/
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