SAFE ENVIRONMENTS
Academy's graduate
The student who graduates from Dublin Oak Academy knows that personal formation has only begun. The Dublin Oak Academy graduate is well equipped for high school and then college.
Human formation
Human formation cultivates a person’s sensibility to what is good, just, and beautiful, recognizing the harmony of creation in relation to man, nature, and society. It also includes social etiquette, an appreciation for the arts and physical fitness, resulting in a healthy mind in a healthy body. Graduates of Dublin Oak Academy are persons of character and integrity:
Good Manners
Good manners are a reflection of good character and here at the academy, we strive to engender good manners in all our students. These manners are presented by demonstration via their teachers, deans and co-workers, and indeed all the staff of the academy. They are modeled by the good students who come to the academy. They are insisted on by all the formation team and by the rules and regulations.
From the moment the young man wakes up to the moment they go to sleep, there are constant opportunities to show good manners. In a boarding school with 100 other students, they are a necessity. Any boy without good manners will quickly learn that they are a vital requirement for communal living and good social relations.
Christian Virtues
The basis of personal formation is a Christian virtue. The Academy attempts to foster the Christian virtues in its students. In a boarding school, the virtues of temperance (self-control), charity (kindness), purity, diligence (effort), patience and humility are essential for a happy and fulfilling time. The students do not have all the luxuries of home life and need to understand the principles of sharing, sacrifice, and acceptance. The students who initially struggle most are often the ones whose virtues are underdeveloped. These are the ones the academy helps most if they persevere.
Each month at the academy there is a different ‘virtue of the month’ which is emphasized and incentivized through campaigns. The student or teams of students, who display this virtue actively are rewarded with a special prize.
Personal Habits
Living in a boarding school without mommy and daddy requires students to develop personal, independent habits. Mommy and daddy are not there to remind them to do everything. They have to develop personal responsibility. They have to wake early, make their own bed, tidy their own clothes, brush their own hair, organize their own belongings, complete their own homework, send their own clothes to the laundry, purchase replacement supplies, communicate and solve their own little problems, etc.
Students develop these habits by the example of their co-workers, deans and teachers. They also develop these habits because communal living requires them to as the other students will not accept messiness, uncleanliness, or disorganization. Furthermore, the rules and regulations will demand that each student develops these basic habits.
Our hope is that when the student returns home, he takes these habits with him and they inform his personal character for the rest of his life.
Integral Formation
Dublin Oak Academy implements the Integral Formation method of education – a comprehensive system for developing and operating schools in accordance with the principles of education presented by the Legionaries of Christ. This method of education is successfully developing authentic Catholic leaders in schools worldwide. Based on the Christian view of the person, Integral Formation® focuses on the complete development of all dimensions of the person: intellectual, human, spiritual and apostolic.
Integral Formation® is summed up in the motto of our mission: To Teach; To Educate; To Form.
Apostolic formation
Apostolic formation enables the students to go into society to serve as Christian leaders and apostles, actively responding to the needs of the Church and humanity, creating a civilization of justice and love. Through serving others and a vibrant apostolic life, each student discovers Christ, becomes more like Christ and experiences His love more profoundly.
The objective of apostolic formation is to develop in our students the heart of an apostle, a heart sensitive and responsive to the physical, emotional, and spiritual needs of others.
Spiritual formation
The Integral Formation method of education aims to help each student fulfill the mission for which he was created, developing a personal and intimate relationship with Jesus Christ. Christ becomes the ultimate motive for all the student’s choices and actions. The student’s intellectual and human growth moves closer to perfection through God’s grace and the student’s spiritual efforts. Spiritual formation is an ongoing process of conversion. The goal of the spiritual formation program is to help all the students develop an authentic spiritual life. Their thoughts and actions are influenced by a Christian view of the human person and of the world.