Joseph M. Norton
Former Headmaster and Trustee, Holy Angels Academy
The Cardinal Newman Society gratefully presents the Saint John Henry Newman Award to Joseph M. Norton, longtime Headmaster and Trustee of Holy Angels Academy in Louisville, Ky., which is the oldest operating independent, lay-run school for Catholic education in the United States. His 35 years of pioneering leadership in faithful Catholic education has blessed hundreds of families locally as well as families nationwide. On their behalf, we recognize Joseph Norton for his inspirational and selfless leadership, and we uphold Mr. Norton and Holy Angels Academy as models for the reform of Catholic education.
The Cardinal Newman Society is honored to present the St. John Henry Newman Award to Mr. Joesph M. Norton, a true pioneer in classical independent Catholic education. Born in 1952, in Lexington, Kentucky, Joe received Catholic schooling through high school and then received a degree in education from Eastern Kentucky University and later a Master’s degree in Education from the University of Louisville.
After exposure as a young teacher to “Catholic” schooling that was either weak or heretical, Joe sought a position in an authentically Catholic school, and in 1982, began teaching at Holy Angels Academy, a Pre-K through Grade Twelve private, independent school in the Archdiocese of Louisville. He served as Headmaster for thirty-five years and as a trustee for many years prior to recent retirement. He continues to work in an advisory capacity and enjoys the low stress part time work of trimming bushes and washing windows at the school.
Joe considers the greatest gift bestowed on the Academy during his tenure was permission to have the Blessed Sacrament present in the school’s chapel. Among other many blessings while serving as God’s “little instrument” was gaining a school chaplain from the Father of Mercy to nourish the students with the grace of the sacraments.
During his time as headmaster, Holy Angels became fully accredited by NAPCIS (National Association of Private Catholic and Independent Schools), and became a Newman Guide Recommended school.
Norton served many years as a NAPCIS trustee, and currently serves on an advisory board for Saint Thomas Aquinas Classical Academy. He resides in Louisville, Kentucky, with his wife, Juli, of 42 years. They have been blessed with seven children and 19 grandchildren.
Joe Norton credits his parents, Edward and Rita Norton, with his love for the Catholic Faith. He is thankful, by the grace of God, that they were able to recognize what was going terribly wrong with Catholic education in the 1960s. Joe Norton’s goal in life is to live by the motto, Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam—do all for the greater glory of God.
Also in 1973, a small group of families near Louisville, Ky., sought the assistance of Dominican Sister Elise Groves, O.P., to help them open an independent school faithful to the Church’s teachings. Holy Angels Academy, dedicated to the angels surrounding the throne of God, received recognition as a Catholic school at its opening by Archbishop Thomas J. McDonough. It currently serves 101 students and appears to be the oldest operating independent school, going strong after 50 years.
For 50 years, Holy Angels Academy in Louisville, Ky., has remained dedicated to providing an authentic Catholic education to children and families. Inspired and initially led by Sr. Mary Elise Groves O.P., a small group of lay faithful quietly worked to open Holy Angels Academy in 1973 to “preserve Catholic education in accord with the Magisterium of the Church” as the effects of Vatican II, the sexual revolution of the 1960s, and the Land O’Lakes Statement held the public’s attention. Facing numerous financial challenges throughout its 50 years, Holy Angels Academy has persevered despite moving several times before settling at its current location. The school currently has a student body of 101 students in grades PreK-12 and uses a classical approach, which it adopted even before it gained its current popularity. The Holy Angels school motto, “Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam” (For the Greater Glory of God), is evident in its religious practices. Students attend daily Mass and recite the Morning Offering, with prayers to St. Michael, their guardian angels, and special prayers for parents and the evangelization of youth rounding out a typical day. Recognizing the advantage of being small and the disadvantage of not having a parish for financial support, Headmaster Michael Swearingen relates that it was all thanks to those “faithful Catholics so willing to sacrifice for the good of the students” that Holy Angels Academy continues today. With a keen view toward helping its students achieve their full potential on earth and their ultimate destiny of eternal happiness in Heaven, Holy Angels Academy strives, according to Swearingen, to “love students as parents do, willing what is best for them each day.” The Holy Angels mission statement is, “To educate and form our youth by the means of Catholic schooling in the classical tradition, so as to prepare them to lead holy and honorable lives for God and country and thus attain the end for which they were created, that is, eternal happiness with God.” The school website boasts endorsements from Archbishop Joseph Kurtz of Louisville and Bishop Joseph Strickland of Tyler, Tex., stating respectively, “Holy Angels Academy is a wonderful example, an example to be imitated” and “Holy Angels is about… passing on Light and Leaven, Truth and Joy to the beautiful children and young people that are here.” When asked about his hopes for Holy Angels Academy, Swearingen humbly replied, “to serve students, by the grace of God and under the intercession of our Blessed Mother, for another 50 years.”
