Campaign Overview
St. Martin’s Academy places boys in an environment abounding with space to grow in authentically masculine ways and provides an education for the whole person: body, mind, and soul. Having completed the construction of lodgings and main hall for our young men, we are continuing to look for friends and patrons who will support us in the actualization of our founding mission. We are looking to immediately build a fieldhouse and temporary chapel that will give us the breathing room to raise a chapel that is lasting, magnificent, and central to the campus and life of the school. Here are a few ways you can become a part of our movement.
Campus Development Timeline
From an untamed brushy hillside surrounded by mixed prairies and woodlands to its eventual transformation into a mature campus of sturdy buildings, fruitful farmland, and a magnificent chapel, St. Martin’s Academy is building a lasting home where generations of students can experience the profound difference of an education rooted in reality.
✓ Theotokos Hall
The construction of Theotokos Hall, our largest planned building, was completed in 2019. Theotokos is sustainably constructed of native oak timbers and stone, and is our permanent dining hall and hearth.
2019
✓ Ten Bunkhouses
In 2021 we completed construction of ten bunkhouses, each housing five to seven young men. The bunkhouses are spartan in nature but include basic amenities such as running water and electricity. Our students are responsible for their care and maintenance.
2021
ACADEMIC BUILDING, LIBRARY, AND AMPHITHEATRE
As our school and campus matures, we’ll add a beautiful academic building, with classrooms, faculty offices, and a robust library. An amphitheater for plays, concerts, and talent shows will nestle into the hillside.
2024
Chapel
The crown jewel of our campus will be our chapel, built of native stone and situated on the highest point of campus. From Morning Prayer and Holy Mass to the recitation of the Rosary and the chanting of Compline, life will radiate outward from the Blessed Sacrament, endowing everything we do at St. Martin’s with purpose and eternal significance.
2026
Ways to Support Us
St. Martin’s Academy is building a beautiful, sustainable home that will form influential leaders by nurturing authentic masculinity, healing the imagination, awakening wonder, and developing attentiveness to reality. We invite you to prayerfully consider joining us, by contributing to our Raise the Rafters campaign with a one time or recurring donation, a monthly, quarterly, or annual pledge, or by sponsoring a student’s tuition.
Why St. Martin’s Academy is Different
A far cry from the typical school environment, St. Martin’s Academy gives young men proximity to creation and its maker, relief from the sedation and constant noise of screens, as well as meaningful challenges, discipline, and responsibility. In this environment of farm work, study and prayer, boys find the rich and fertile soil they need to grow into holy men.
60 Students from 20 Different States
Student to Faculty Ratio
Average Private School
St. Martin's Academy
Tuition + Room & Board
Average Boarding School
(source: educationdata.org)
St. Martin's Academy
Screen Time (Hours Per Week)
Average Teenager
SMA Student
63 hours is 3,780 minutes
Let's take a look at how those minutes breakdown in an average week at St. Martin's.
The Christian West has faded, and so many who long for its return write checks in vain to political celebrities hoping they will restore its glory. I send my money to St. Martin’s Academy instead. St. Martin’s is the crucible of the restoration of the Christian West, for at this magnificent and joyful school, Christian gentleman—citizens of the West—are being formed yet again.”
President, Catholic Answers
Advisory Board
Dale Ahlquist is President of the American Chesterton Society, and publisher of its flagship publication, GILBERT. Dale is also the creator and host of the popular EWTN series The Apostle of Common Sense, and he is the author of three books on Chesterton including G.K. Chesterton: The Apostle of Common Sense, Common Sense 101: Lessons from G.K. Chesterton and The Complete Thinker.
Francis Bethel, O.S.B. attended the University of Kansas where he studied under John Senior, Dennis Quinn, and Frank Nelick. In 1975, he entered the French Benedictine Abbey Notre Dame de Fontgombault, where he made his vows as a Benedictine monk in 1977 and was ordained a priest in 1983. In 1999 he returned to the United States and was among the founders of the Benedictine monastery of Our Lady of Clear Creek in Hulbert, Oklahoma. Fr. Bethel serves as Prior of that Abbey, as well as the Master of Novices and the Master of Oblates.
Christopher Check is president of Catholic Answers. A graduate of Rice University, for nearly two decades he served as vice president of The Rockford Institute. Before that he served for seven years as a field artillery officer in the Marine Corps, attaining the grade of captain. He lectures on Church and military history.
Fr. Paul N. Check graduated from Rice University, TX with a BA in history, and then served as an officer in the US Marine Corps for nine years prior to entering the seminary. He was ordained a priest of the Diocese of Bridgeport, CT in 1997. He holds an STB from the Gregorian University and an STL from the University of the Holy Cross, both in Rome. In 2008, he was selected to succeed Fr John Harvey as the Executive Director of Courage International.
Bishop Conley studied in the University of Kansas’s Integrated Humanities Program under John Senior, Dennis Quinn, and Frank Nelick. In 1980, Bishop Conley entered seminary for the Diocese of Wichita, and was ordained a priest on May 18, 1985. After serving the Church in many different roles, Conley was appointed as Bishop of Lincoln, Nebraska by Pope Benedict XVI, and he was installed as the ninth Bishop of Lincoln on November 20, 2012.
Dr. John Cuddeback received a Ph.D. in Philosophy from The Catholic University of America in 1997. He writes and lectures on various topics including virtue, culture, natural law, contemplation, and friendship. His book, True Friendship: Where Virtue Becomes Happiness, was republished in 2010. A Third Order lay Dominican, he currently teaches in the Philosophy department at Christendom College.
Dr. Anthony Esolen is a writer, translator of classical poetry, and professor of English Renaissance and classical literature. He has taught at Furman University and Providence College, and joined the faculty of Thomas More College of Liberal Arts as a professor in 2017. Esolen has translated into English Dante’s Divine Comedy, Lucretius’ On the Nature of Things, and Torquato Tasso’s Jerusalem Delivered.
Dr. William Edmund Fahey is the third president of Thomas More College in Merrimack, New Hampshire. He holds an A.B. in Classics and History from Xavier University in Cincinnati; an M.Phil. in Ancient History from the University of St. Andrews (Scotland); and an M.A. and Ph.D. in Classics from the Catholic University of America. Dr. Fahey has been published in both scholarly and popular journals, and is a Benedictine Oblate of Clear Creek Abbey.
Bishop Kemme was ordained to the priesthood on May 10, 1986, at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Springfield, Illinois. After serving the Church in a variety of roles, he was appointed vicar general/moderator of the curia in 2002, and served as diocesan chancellor from January to June 2005. In 2014 Pope Francis appointed Kemme to be the eleventh bishop of Wichita, and he was consecrated by Archbishop Joseph Naumann of Kansas City, Kansas on May 1, 2014.
Dr. Whalen obtained his Ph.D. in English from the University of Kansas where he studied in the Integrated Humanities Program under John Senior, Dennis Quinn, and Frank Nelick. He taught at the University of Kansas and Belmont Abbey College before joining the faculty at Hillsdale College in 1994, where he now serves as Provost. Dr. Whalen is the author of The Consolation of Rhetoric, and has published articles on Renaissance poetry, non-fiction prose, and the history and philosophy of liberal arts education.
David Williams is a founder and Board Chairman of Valor Public Schools. A graduate of Fairfield University, he holds Masters degrees in History, Liberal Arts, and Theology from the University of Notre Dame, St. John’s College, and the John Paul II Pontifical Institute. Prior to starting Valor Public Schools, David served as Executive Director of Great Hearts in San Antonio for three years, and as the Founder and Headmaster of Glendale Preparatory Academy for five.
Prior, Clear Creek Abbey
The Friends of the Holy Cloak
We invite you to consider joining The Friends of the Holy Cloak, a special society open to anyone who has given at least $1,000 during the previous or current calendar year. Within the society there are four membership levels, each corresponding to a period in the life of St. Martin of Tours:
SOLDIER $1,000–$4,999
- Enrollment in a monthly mass offered for St. Martin’s Academy benefactors
- Receipt of exclusive quarterly newsletter for donor club members
- St. Martin’s Academy hat and sweatshirt
- Invitation to faculty lectures and other St. Martin’s Academy special events
MONK $5,000–$9,999
- All of SOLDIER plus:
- Set of two St. Martin’s Academy ceramic mugs
- Annual Report recognition (if desired)
- Invitation to annual Benefactor’s Feast directed by students and faculty
BISHOP $10,000–$24,999
- All of SOLDIER and MONK plus:
- Two complimentary VIP tickets to The Prairie Troubadour
- Blessed icon of St. Martin of Tours
SAINT $25,000 and higher
- All of SOLDIER, MONK, and BISHOP plus:
- Name on prominently displayed plaque in Theotokos Hall (to be moved to the Chapel upon completion) and to be included in student’s nightly intentions during the recitation of Compline.