CASJE Names Founding Headmaster
It is with great joy and excitement that we introduce our Headmaster, Dr. Jeffrey Bond! We would like to share with you the qualities for which we were actively praying and searching.
To embody the vision of the Chesterton Academy of St. John the Evangelist, we asked God to send us a joyful, humble servant leader of high intellectual caliber, who is a loving disciple and friend of Jesus Christ. In order to fulfill our mission that students will encounter Our Lord through our rich curriculum and see it lived out through inspiring teachers, we needed our headmaster to be deeply formed in the classical tradition as well as be a compassionate shepherd of souls with apostolic zeal. We knew we needed a masterful and inspiring teacher for our students, and a strong mentor for faculty and staff, one who knows how to inspire beauty and wonder and bring out the best in his students and teachers.
That was a tall order! However, we are humbled to say that God has exceeded our expectations by sending us Dr. Bond. His conversion to Catholicism began while he was in college through his encounter with Truth and Reason in the writings of Plato and Aristotle. During his years at the University of Chicago, where he earned his Master’s and Ph.D, he saw how Truth and Reason are fulfilled in the Catholic Church. He allowed the fullness of our Faith to permeate every aspect of his life as he went on to get married and raise nine children, as well as inspire and form countless students and fellow teachers. He sees with great clarity the connection between cultivating human reason in his students and their worship of the triune God by which they will fulfill their end to behold God face to face. He holds a strong conviction that rigorous intellectual formation is foundational for the strengthening of faith and building up of virtue.
This is a man who not merely teaches, but also transforms the lives of his students. Conversions have taken place wherever he has taught. One of his references, a former student who has become his close friend, says that Dr. Bond had more influence on his life than anyone else. “Dr. Bond had the students electrified from day one. As a result of that class, I fell in love with the truth and my faith became the most important thing in my life. Dr. Bond made the truth come alive and be relevant.”
As founding headmaster, Dr. Bond will hire and form faculty in addition to teaching. He has mentored numerous teachers and is academic dean at his current school. A teacher who attributes his own professional and spiritual formation to the mentorship of Dr. Bond describes his faith as informing everything he does. He goes on to say that Dr. Bond showed him, as well as the students, what the Catholic faith should look like lived out. “He is not just a teacher - it is a vocation to him. There would always be a long line of parents coming to see him on back-to-school night because kids would share with them what they were learning.”
All of this was confirmed when our Board Vice Chair, Victoria Lannon, observed Dr. Bond teach and got to experience his effectiveness in transmitting the integration of faith, reason, and virtue. In his class, she saw the rare combination of order, great interest and engagement by the students, their mastery of the material, laughter, the joy of discovery, and a teacher, who after 45 years of experience, masterfully guided this process through the Socratic method. He knew how to skillfully lead students to self discovery, draw out the timid, help a student be proud of learning from her mistake, notice the confused look on another student’s face and make sure they understood, and affirm students’ progress. The material was challenging and his standards were high, yet it was clear that he had successfully helped his students to live up to them with joy and pride. He knows how to instill a sacred formality to the classroom, which creates a place where students thrive and learn joyfully. While he expects a lot from his students, his demeanor is gentle, and the students feel seen and loved by him while he brings out the best in them.
Dr. Bond’s experience, passion, and vision fit perfectly with the Chesterton charism and mission. Please join us in welcoming Dr. Jeffrey Bond to our Charlottesville community and to the Chesterton Academy of St. John the Evangelist!