New private Catholic high school could open at Santa Maria this fall

    The Church of Santa Maria in Orinda may soon be home to a new private co-educational Catholic high school.
    The new school, whose first class may enroll as early as this the fall, would be called Chesterton Academy of St. Serra (CASS), and it would occupy existing classrooms and facilities on the Santa Maria parish grounds near the Village section of town at 30 Santa Maria Way.
    The school is part of Minnesota-based Chesterton Network of Schools, a not-for-profit organization founded in 2013 that counts about 63 educational institutions (mostly high schools) across the country, not including international locations as far flung as Italy, Australia, Japan 
and Brazil.
    The Chesterton high school in Orinda is not owned by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Oakland. Instead, Chesterton Academy of St. Serra would be a private Christian high school whose landlord would be the Oakland Diocese, which owns and controls Santa Maria. But because the students would be steeped in religious teachings and Catholic prayer, Santa Maria church and its clergy would be unofficially integrated into the school’s curriculum and culture.
    “This is a pivotal opportunity for our parish and the local community in a mutually enriching relationship,” said Parish Pastor, Rev. George Mockel, in an Oct. 19 bulletin to his parishioners. “The curriculum is Catholic throughout – beginning with Mass each day, and with Catholic philosophy and theology woven into each subject in the curriculum. A joint committee of capable Santa Maria parishioners and Diocesan officials with the administrative board of the new school have worked together for months to arrive at (a letter of intent), and they will continue to work with me toward a final lease agreement.”
    In addition to reaching a lease agreement, the church and CASS still have important unfinished business with the city before it can open in the fall, according to Lashun Cross, head of the Orinda City Planning Department.
    The church property and its classrooms are located within a public-semi-public and utility zoning district, and a school, whether private or public, requires permission, Cross said.
    The CASS board and the church were of the understanding that after discussions with the planning department staff that the location fell under a “grandfather” clause, according to Francesca Parini, president of the board of the Chesterton Academy of St. Serra.
    The church property’s use might be grandfathered, but the school board and the church first must file mandatory paperwork before the city can make that determination.
    The grandfathered use permit is dependent on whether the property was used continuously without disruption as a school, Cross explained.
    At the time this story went to press, the city had not received additional information necessary to determine the zoning status. It has reached out to the CASS school board about next steps, including documentation showing that the Church has authorized use of the land to the school. Grandfathered or not, the board can still apply for a new use permit, Cross said.
    There are currently four Chesterton Network high schools in California, including Menlo Park, Dixon and the Sacramento area, with three more slated to open in 2026, including Orinda.
    The Chesterton Network is an affiliate of an umbrella not-for-profit organization called the Gilbert Keith Chesterton Society, also based in Minnesota, named after a popular writer and thinker of the early 20th century who publicly converted to Catholicism.
    Both the Chesterton Society and the Chesterton Schools Network are considered Catholic “lay apostolates,” which are canonical private associations whose missions are to evangelize Christianity and Catholic faith through education, socialization and other means.
    As a result, the Chesterton Network of Schools organization and its member schools are not owned or operated by the Catholic church.
    Presuming that the city, church and Chesterton board work through their planning and zoning issues, Parini and the school board are working diligently to expand Catholic high school options in the East Bay, she says. Parini is one of seven East Bay parents who spearheaded launch of the school, strategically positioning it east of the Caldecott Tunnel. Orinda’s access to BART and Highway 24 also attracted the group to the Santa Maria site, Parini said. “Having BART right there was very important to us,” she added. “As was having a church on campus.” Another example of collaboration between the church and the independent school is that the Chesterton Academy is ultimately likely to be listed as a member of the Oakland Diocese while still maintaining its independence as a fee-paying member of the Chesterton Network
    A testament to the success of the Chesterton high school model is the rapid growth of the network, which is expected to add another 30 or so schools over the next two years, Parini said. Each school is its own private not-for-profit organization led by local residents, which applies for membership to the Chesterton Network. Once accepted, the schools pay fees to the parent network in exchange for what amounts to an almost turn-key start-up, leveraging the proven Chesterton model, including brand, curriculum, books, teacher recruiting, sports and other extra-curricular activities. As a result, “you don’t have to reinvent the wheel,” said Parini, who was born and raised in Italy and attended the University of Southern California to study business.
    Parini, who has four children with her eldest in eighth grade, lives in Walnut Creek and was looking for a smaller affordable Catholic high school that focuses on a “classical” liberal arts curriculum, including literature, philosophy, theology, and foreign language. Chesterton students read, study, and debate the great thinkers of Western civilization, like Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Augustine, and Thomas Aquinas. The math and science sequences include physics and calculus while the fine arts sequences offer drama, music and arts. The Chesterton ethos is to educate the person as a whole, Parini said. (For more details on curriculum and approach see Chestertonschoolsnetwork.org)
    For her part, Parini said she benefitted from a classical humanities curriculum in her native Italy, preparing her well for USC and for her career as a financial and investment analyst. In addition to the subject matter, Chesterton differentiates itself using the Socratic teaching method that requires smaller classrooms. The goal is to keep subject class sizes between 15-20 students, she added. The school hopes to start with a ninth grade cohort next fall of about 25-30 students, adding at least one grade each year and reaching four grades, 9-12, in about three years. At first, total enrollments would remain under 150 students but could eventually climb slightly higher depending on demand, Parini said. The school expects to earn California state accreditation in under three years.
    Another tenet to the Chesterton approach is affordability, which of course is relative. The Orinda school, which is already is accepting applications for fall 2026 enrollment, is starting annual tuition at $15,980. That does not include various enrollment fees, books, uniforms (which are required) and fund raising requirements that together can tack on another $1,000 – $2,000. Still, it pales in comparison to De La Salle (boys only) and Carondelet (girls only), which are larger Catholic high schools in Concord whose recent yearly tuitions and fees have surpassed $25,000. St. Ignatius College Preparatory High School in San Francisco charged just under $35,000 in recent annual tuition, according to Niche, a school ranking and research website.
    Chesterton Academy of St. Serra in Orinda, like most Chesterton schools, is expected to provide sports and other extra-curricular activities. The types of sports tend to skew toward individual sports, such as golf and tennis, and team sports that require fewer athletes to compose a squad, such as basketball, Parini explained. Each school decides what sports to offer based on what the students want to play. The Orinda school has already begun the application process to join the North Coast Section of the California Interscholastic Federation, the statewide association that regulates high school leagues and championship tournaments, Parini said.