A Letter to Catholic Families Searching For An Alternative

Dear Searching Catholic Parent:

As we prepare to end another school year at Padre Pio Academy, we’d like to give those families who have been thinking about joining our community something to ponder as you begin summer break.

Maybe you found us through the Newman Guide. Maybe you've been searching "faithful Catholic school near me" for the third time this week, hoping this time the results will be different. Maybe a friend mentioned us, or you saw something shared in a homeschool group, and you thought: could this be it?

We'd like to speak directly to you.

You Know What You're Looking For

You want a school where "Catholic" means something. Where the teachers believe what they teach. Where your child won't spend twelve years undoing the formation they received at home.

You've probably been told this doesn't exist, or that it's only for families who homeschool, or that you'd have to move across the country to find it.

We want you to know: it exists. It's in Lakewood, Ohio.

What Padre Pio Academy Is

Padre Pio Academy is a K–12 classical Catholic school on the west side of Cleveland. We are private and independent, founded and run by lay Catholics, not a diocese or a religious order, which means our ability to hold the line on what we believe is not subject to the winds of institutional change.

We teach a classical curriculum rooted in the seven liberal arts: the Trivium (grammar, logic, and rhetoric) and the Quadrivium (arithmetic, geometry, music, and astronomy). Our students read great books. They study Latin. They learn to reason, to argue, to write, and to think. The goal is not merely a transcript that gets a child into college. The goal is a person formed in virtue, grounded in faith, capable of pursuing truth wherever it leads.

Everything at PPA points toward one purpose: Magnifying Holiness in the lives of our students.

We do this through three tenets that shape every classroom, every lesson, every day:

Inspiring Wonder — because wonder is the beginning of wisdom, and children who are filled with awe for God's creation become adults who seek Him.

Pursuing Truth — because truth is not a feeling or a personal perspective. It is a Person. Jesus Christ said, "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life," and a classical education takes that seriously.

Igniting Faith — because faith is not an idea to be memorized. It is a way of life, cultivated through daily prayer, the sacraments, and the slow work of formation that happens over years, not weeks.

Why the Newman Guide Matters

Recommended By the Newman Society

In the spring of 2026, Padre Pio Academy was officially recognized by the Cardinal Newman Society and named a Newman Guide Recommended School, one of fewer than 50 K–12 schools in the entire country to receive this distinction.

We don't say this to boast. We say it because we know how hard it is to know who to trust. The Newman Guide exists precisely because Catholic families deserve a way to cut through the noise.

To be recommended in the Newman Guide, a school must undergo a thorough review for compliance with Newman Guide policy and curriculum standards — standards derived from Church councils, popes, Vatican congregations, the Catechism of the Catholic Church, and other Church documents. This kind of credibility cannot be bought. It is an independent confirmation that what a school says about itself is true.

When the Cardinal Newman Society places a school in the Newman Guide, they are telling Catholic families across the country: you will find authentic and faithful instruction here.

For families who are new to us, that external confirmation matters. It should. You're making one of the most important decisions of your child’s life.

We Are on the West Side of Cleveland. That Matters.

Greater Cleveland has a growing community of families who want exactly what we've described. We are grateful for every faithful school in this region. But for families west of the city - in Lakewood, Rocky River, Westlake, Bay Village, Avon, North Olmsted, Strongsville, and beyond - driving east every morning is not just inconvenient. It's a barrier that keeps good families from a good education.

Padre Pio Academy is here, on the west side, for you.

We are K–12, which means your child can begin classical formation in kindergarten, in the grammar stage of the Trivium, the precise age when memory is at its strongest and the foundation of all future learning is being laid, and carry that formation all the way through high school graduation. You don't have to piece together a classical elementary education and then scramble to find a secondary school that continues what you started.

One school. One mission. Twelve years of formation.

To the Family That Has Never Heard of Lakewood

If you're reading this from somewhere else, from across the country, or across the world, wondering whether a move to the Cleveland area might be possible, we want you to know that Lakewood is a real and beautiful place to raise a family.

Lakewood sits on the shores of Lake Erie and offers spectacular views of the great lake and nearby Cleveland, Ohio

It sits on the western shore of Lake Erie, just minutes from downtown Cleveland. It is a walkable, parish-rich, working city with a strong Catholic history and a growing community of families who have come here, in part, because of schools like ours.

Families have moved to the west side of Cleveland specifically to be near Padre Pio Academy. We don't say that as a sales pitch. We say it because it is true, and because if you are in that season of discernment, wondering whether to uproot, wondering whether any school is worth it, we want you to know that other families have asked the same question and decided: yes. It is.

What to Do Next

If any of this resonates with you, we would love to meet you.

We offer private tours throughout the year. There is no pressure, no pitch — just a chance to walk through our classrooms, meet our teachers, and see with your own eyes what classical Catholic education looks like in practice.

You can also explore more at pioacademy.org — read about our curriculum, our mission, and what a classical education actually means for a child at every stage of development.

And if you're not ready for a tour yet, that's fine. Subscribe to our school news. Follow along. Watch what we're building here.

You've been searching for something real. We believe you've found it.

Welcome to Padre Pio Academy.

Padre Pio Academy is a K–12 classical Catholic school in Lakewood, Ohio, and a Newman Guide Recommended School. Private tours are available year-round. To schedule a visit or learn more, contact us at pioacademy.org.