Catholic education in Canada exists within a range of funding models and provincial realities, yet its mission remains remarkably unified. Across Canada, there are stories of Catholic school communities stewarding tradition, families entrusting their children to a faith-filled education, and leaders discerning and navigating the future of Canadian Catholic education.
For Frassati Academy, Atlantic Canada’s newest Catholic school, that story is just beginning. In a region with no public funding for Catholic education, this new school community just opened its doors this past September, with clarity of vision and deep hope for the future.
We reached out to the board, staff, and parents of Frassati Academy and encountered an inspiring story of vision, perseverance, and unwavering commitment — a reminder that the evangelizing mission of Catholic education is still growing, even amidst financial and structural restraints.
Now, six months into its founding year, Frassati Academy stands as a testament to hope for all of us involved in Catholic education across Canada.
The Beginning Days
For founding board member Eric Myatt, the journey to opening a Catholic school didn’t begin with a strategic plan; it began at home.
“For Angie and me, this call didn’t begin as an idea about starting a school. It began as a parental responsibility we could no longer ignore,” he shared.
For Eric and Angie, their children’s education has been an ongoing discernment from day one.
“Public school was a kind of mission field for us. We wanted our children to be around peers of other faiths or no faith at all, and we were grateful for many wonderful teachers who loved Jesus and the Church,” he explained.
Over time, however, they began to notice tension.
“We noticed increasing ideological pressure, mature subject matter introduced at younger ages, and a gradual erosion of parental input into what our children were being taught.”
The family eventually enrolled their children in a local Christian school.
Yet among Catholic families in Halifax, a vision continued to grow: a school rooted unapologetically in Catholic teaching, shaped by a coherent Catholic worldview, and inspired by the lives of the saints.
“Even without public funding, the risk felt worth taking,” Eric explained, “because the cost of not responding felt greater. This wasn’t about reacting out of fear; it was about responding in hope.”
Conversations among discerning parents shifted from “What’s wrong?” to “What’s possible?”
From those early conversations and discernment about Frassati Academy, several pillars emerged:
- Integral formation of the whole person — intellectual, moral, spiritual, and relational
- Classical Catholic education, rooted in truth, goodness, and beauty
- Discipleship and sacramental life as central to the school’s identity
- Partnership with parents as primary educators
- A missionary orientation, forming students for service, leadership, and holiness
“We are not simply preparing students for careers,” Eric shared. “We are preparing them for communion — with God, with others, and with the world they are called to serve.”
Applications for their first school year opened in March; interviews for staff were underway by May; and by September 4, 2025, Frassati Academy opened its doors for the very first time with five staff and thirty five students.
When Families Said Yes
For Becca and Chris O’Hara, Frassati Academy’s opening coincided providentially with their son’s first year of school.
“We were very conflicted about sending our kids to public school,” Becca shared. Concerns about class sizes, values being taught, and bullying weighed heavily on their discernment. “It was a godsend that Frassati opened the year our oldest son started school. It was an answer to prayer.”
With the additional commitment of tuition payments and the natural bumps of joining a school in its founding year, there were risks to joining Frassati Academy so early on. But for Becca and Chris, the vision was compelling.
“We felt that the Catholic vision and community we would find at Frassati Academy would far outweigh any starting difficulties.”
Months later, the fruit is unmistakable.
“Our son is thriving. His creativity is flourishing, he’s learned so much, and his overall attitude toward faith and Church is so positive. We talked about Epiphany for a week after the school celebration!”
Perhaps most meaningful for them is the unity between school and home.
“We never have to worry that the teachers are teaching a worldview that goes against our values,” Becca explained. “A true Catholic education aims to form the whole person as a child of God — and that’s what I want for my kids.”
In every province — funded or unfunded — Catholic education flourishes when families experience this kind of shared mission in their children’s education.
A Principal Prepared by Providence
At the heart of Frassati Academy’s daily life is Principal Paul Harrison, whose involvement, he believes, is no coincidence.
“I had dreamed of starting a Catholic school as early as 2009,” Paul said. The dream remained in the background as he pursued other academic paths.
“When the opportunity arose with Frassati Academy, I felt the Lord was bringing my dream into reality.”
As a new start-up school, the opening day could easily have been overwhelming.
“One only gets one shot at the first day of school at a brand-new school,” Paul reflected. “There are no second takes.”
And yet on day one of Frassati Academy, he shared, “I felt a deep sense of serenity and peace.”
That peace, he said, came from surrender.
“Without complete surrender to God’s will, I am sure I would be a nervous wreck.”
Verso l’Alto: Under the Patronage of Newly Canonized Saint Pier Giorgio Frassati
Frassati Academy is named after Saint Pier Giorgio Frassati — a young man whose life radiated joy, courage, deep Eucharistic devotion, and service to the poor.
“St. Pier Giorgio Frassati embodies the synthesis we hope to cultivate in our students:” Eric explained, “deep faith, authentic joy, intellectual pursuit, physical vitality, and generous service.”
In one of his last written notes, was Verso l’alto — “To the heights” — speaking to both of Frassati’s passions: mountain climbing and spiritual ascent.
“He reminds us that holiness is not reserved for the quiet or the withdrawn, but is lived in friendship, adventure, service, and courage,” Eric shared. “He’s a powerful witness to young people that sanctity is possible, desirable, and joyful. His life reinforces our hope that Frassati Academy will form students who are fully alive and fully given to Christ and his Church.”
St. Pier Giorgio Frassati was canonized on September 7, 2025 — just three days after the school’s opening day.
Tuition Discernment, Local Generosity and the National Toonies for Tuition Campaign
Schools like Frassati Academy are directly impacted by Toonies for Tuition.
For independent Catholic schools in Atlantic Canada, as well as partially funded schools in British Columbia and Manitoba, tuition is not simply a line item — it represents real sacrifice, generosity, and deep commitment from families and staff.
Knowing tuition would be one of the most significant factors in both board discussions and parental decisions, we asked Eric what factors went into determining tuition.
“Tuition has been one of the most prayerful and ongoing discernments for our board. From the beginning, we were committed to accessibility.”
The founding board knew that many families who desire Catholic education simply couldn’t afford typical private schooling. At the same time, they were adamant about paying staff fairly and building a sustainable institution. Balancing these realities has been at the heart of their discussions.
“Our approach has been to hold affordability and sustainability in constant tension — supported by generosity, fundraising, and the belief that this mission belongs to the wider Catholic community, not just enrolled families. We continue to revisit tuition regularly, always asking how we can remain faithful to our mission while stewarding the school responsibly.”
The school is currently housed within the Campbell Centre of Good Shepherd Parish in Halifax. Thanks to the parish’s generosity in hosting the school at low cost, Frassati has been able to manage the start-up costs of its first year.
“This school is possible, thanks to our generous donors and the founding families who have committed deeply and financially to this first year.”
This year, Frassati Academy will be among the schools benefiting from the 2025-2026 Toonies for Tuition Campaign. The campaign exists precisely for communities like this — where Catholic education requires support from the wider Canadian Catholic family.
Reflecting on the past two years of watching Frassati Academy grow from a distant dream to a lived reality, Eric shared:
“What I witnessed over the past year at Frassati Academy was Jesus working through the leadership of a few individuals, and humble, shared leadership sustained by prayer, collaboration, and trust. On days when one of us was discouraged, another carried the mission forward. Catholic education is not just about preserving institutions; it is about Jesus — his love and his mercy poured out upon us and upon the children and families we support.”
While financial restraints and fundraising will be an ongoing balance for Frassati Academy, their lack of public funding provides the unique opportunity to choose curriculum, discern guidelines for school life, and guard the Catholic faith and teachings within the school, freely.
For Catholic school principals navigating the role of balancing the guardianship of Catholic identity amid ideological pressure, Principal Paul Harrison offers:
“We must be courageous and bold about what we believe and teach in our Catholic schools. God will have your back. Who else do you need in your corner?”
The story of Frassati Academy reminds us that God is continuing to work powerfully within the varied structures and realities of Catholic education across our country. May we be inspired to grow together as one body, as we discern God’s unfolding plan for Catholic education in 2026 and move in unity where he leads.
Attentive to his voice and promptings, may we trust in his faithful guidance of sustaining his evangelizing mission of Catholic education in our country.
Learn more about the work of Frassati Academy