St. John Chrysostom Academy opened its doors at 395 Bridle Path Road to 26 students when the school launched in 2022. When it opens Sept. 2, the Orthodox private school providing a classical, Christian education will welcome 120 to 125 students in kindergarten through 12th grade. The school and its mission keep growing, and Headmaster John Heitzenrater couldn’t be more enthusiastic about it.

Chrysostom Academy offers “an environment where God is put first. We love God and one another, and try to be good stewards of the knowledge passed down from generation to generation,” Heitzenrater said. “It makes us better humans to know these things.”

Heitzenrater, who has been teaching since 2002, was headmaster at Founders Classical Academy in Texas when his mentor Brian Smith reached out and asked him to apply for the position at Chrysostom Academy in the winter of 2021. Smith had hired Heitzenrater for his first teaching position and had been Heitzenrater’s wife’s teacher.

In almost no time at all, Heitzenrater was a big fan of the future school and the Bethlehem area.

“I loved what I saw and jumped at the opportunity,” Heitzenrater said. He and his wife, 11 children and dog moved across the country to the Lehigh Valley in June 2021. Then he took a year to build the program and policies of the future academy.

Heitzenrater said discussions about opening a school began in 2019. He said the Orthodox don’t have a Department of Education like Catholic schools, but rather a “clergy brotherhood” represented by various parishes in the area. The clergy brotherhood “wanted to have our own school model that could provide Orthodox Christian education and also classical education.”

The clergy brotherhood that brought the idea of Chrysostom Academy to fruition includes the Bethlehem area parishes of St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Cathedral and St. Nicholas Russian Orthodox Church; Assumption of the Virgin Mary Ukrainian Orthodox Church, Northampton; St. George Antiochian Orthodox Church, Allentown; and St. Paul Antiochian Orthodox Church, Emmaus.

Heitzenrater said the brotherhood is comprised of Greeks, non-Greeks and Syrians, and noted Father Alexandros Petrides, Dean of St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Cathedral, “spearheaded a lot of what we would do.”

Heitzenrater said the academy offers the same courses as public and Catholic schools, but also emphasizes literature, nature study and advanced mathematics. Some students in the upcoming school year at a grade level will be taking calculous.

“We’re unique and the students are happy and getting connected with reality.”

You won’t find any computers or smartphones at the academy. Rather, students are encouraged to engage “with a book, nature and all beautiful things,” Heitzenrater said.

History classes focus on U.S. and ancient history.

There is also Orthodox Christian studies. Heitzenrater said 15 to 20 percent of students are Roman Catholic or non-Orthodox.

“We try in the early grades to focus on our shared tradition,” he said, noting the Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic churches officially split in the Great Schism of 1054 A.D.

Heitzenrater emphasized they do not proselytize. They teach what the Orthodox believe, and want older students to “think independently, use reason and debate and discuss” their belief. “It’s not the shouting that goes on so much today – that’s not the essence of debate. It’s respectful.” And they can agree to disagree.

Heitzenrater said Christian schools have a reputation for being strict.

“We’ve created an environment where it’s OK to make mistakes. We can then mentor and learn from them.”

“We’ve integrated the Christian faith into the school,” Heitzenrater said, explaining students pray at the beginning of the day and before lunch, and gather for liturgy at special times such as fasting periods and feast days.

There is a music program for students in kindergarten through 12th grade; a theater program for middle and high school students; physical education; and an art program for grammar school students, while middle and high school students have a studio art program. All students learn Greek, with middle school students given the option to continue with Greek or learn Latin.

Sports programs are on the horizon in the future, but for now “we’re concentrating first on the academic program,” Heitzenrater said.

The academy is foundationally accredited and is working toward full accreditation from the Association of Christian Schools International.

“We applied as early as possible,” Heitzenrater said, noting the process will conclude with a full-site visit from ACSI.

The academy held its first graduation June 5, with two students comprising the inaugural senior class. One of the graduates, Heitzenrater’s son, William, will attend Northampton Community College and will then likely study nursing at DeSales University. The other graduate, Roary O’Leary, plans to attend nursing school as well.

“It’s a pleasure to be living and working in this community every day,” Heitzenrater said. “I pinch myself every day to be surrounded by mountains.”

Heitzenrater is also very grateful to be working with the local Orthodox community. “We’re trying to create an environment where kids can grow and work hard, be virtuous and give back, do good with the knowledge they’re given and do good for the neighbor they meet.”

“We want kids to internalize things and understand in a real and substantive way.”

For more information visit chrysostomacademy.org/.