Who We Are
“Being good is an adventure far more violent and daring than sailing around the world.”
G.K. Chesterton
We at St. Dunstan’s Academy strive to work towards what John Senior dubbed “the restoration of innocence” by immersing our boys in an environment full of the things that help them, by God’s grace, become good men.
St. Dunstan’s Academy was designed and founded by a group of Anglican teachers, priests, parents, and laymen, who share in common a commitment to training up young men to live faithfully in the Kingdom of God. Most of those involved in the school’s inception live in and around Charlottesville, Virginia, and all believe that education should impart a right sense of reality to those who receive it. Education is formation, and that formation is something conferred on the young first and foremost by their mentors, parents, and clergy. By gathering together others who share this vision of education, we hope to give young men the gift of an inspiring school experience marked by joy, devotion to Our Lord, noble endeavors, and adventures in goodness.
Administration
Thomas Fickley
Headmaster and Founder
Thomas is a native of Charlottesville, Virginia. He earned his BA and MA in History, and wrote his Master’s thesis on the history of American educational philosophy. He has been teaching high school history, philosophy, government, and literature for ten years in independent boarding and day schools, where he also coached numerous sports at the varsity and junior varsity levels. Thomas received his Anglican formation at All Saints Anglican church in Ivy, Virginia, which has been his family’s parish home since 2013.
Thomas’ enthusiasm for mentoring and inspiring young men comes from years of practice in the field, and from the joys of raising six sons and a daughter with his cheerful and brave wife, Natalie. Thomas has won several teaching awards, including two Golden Apple Awards (one at each school he has served in) and the Living Well Award at the Covenant School. He currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Mars Hill Audio Journal, and the Board of Directors at St. George Classical School in Lexington, Virginia.
Thomas seeks to encounter as much of the Good, True, and Beautiful in his daily endeavors as he can. Aside from teaching, his most enjoyed activities include timber framing, playing bluegrass banjo, reading both the Good and Great books, camping with his family, reading to his children, brewing strong coffee, reciting poetry, and splitting wood by hand.
Fr. Mark Perkins
Chaplain and Assistant Headmaster
Fr. Mark Perkins recently moved back to central Virginia with his wife and three children to help launch St. Dunstan’s Academy. Fr. Perkins is a graduate of Hillsdale College (BA, 2009) and Trinity School for Ministry (MAR, 2019).
Prior to entering ministry full-time, he taught for nine years at The Covenant School in Charlottesville, Virginia, where he also coached basketball and soccer. He was awarded the Rotary Club’s Mentor Award after his first semester of teaching. In 2019, Bishop Walter Grundorf ordained Fr. Perkins to the priesthood on the Feast of St. Wenceslas (September 28). Before he became Chaplain and Assistant Headmaster at St. Dunstan’s, he served for three years as Curate at St. Alban’s Anglican Cathedral in Oviedo, Florida.
Fr. Perkins played rugby at Hillsdale College and then in a men’s league after college and looks forward to introducing the boys to the sport. His love for the human scale of traditional village life and for regenerative farming emerged during a couple months working on a biodynamic organic farm in rural Upper Franconia, Germany after college. His writing on education, theology, and history has been published in Christianity Today and Public Discourse, among other places. He also serves as Executive Editor for Earth & Altar (earthaltar.org) and on the Domestic Missions Team for the Diocese of the Eastern United States of the Anglican Province of America.