OVER THE YEARS many teenage girls have come to visit the monastery, to participate in the daily life of the monastery and the Church services. Many of them expressed the desire to stay in the monastery while doing their studies in order to avoid the peer pressure they experienced in public school,  to spend time developing relationships with other like-minded young women and to strengthen their Orthodox world view. After hearing many such requests, the sisters opened the monastery doors to embrace these young women and Holy Protection Home School began. Since then, almost 70 girls have lived with us, ranging in age from 10 to 17, coming from homes all over the country.

Our students, Spring 2009

The students follow a home school curriculum and the sisters provide tutoring and extra curricular classes, such as cooking, food preservation, gardening, sewing, art, handwriting, Old Testament history, Lives of Saints, and singing. Many help care for the monastery animals, milking the goats, feeding the donkeys and caring for the chickens. The girls take part in the Church services, and in the daily life of the Monastery as much as their study-load permits.

A tea party in the courtyard. Spring 2009	In this fast-paced, secular world, it is difficult to remember God and to cultivate a desire for the Kingdom of Heaven. We feel a great responsibility to do all we can to provide a protected and creative Orthodox environment for girls who wish to preserve their purity while preparing themselves for a life of service to God and the Church, and ultimately to be received into the Heavenly Kingdom of our Lord and God and Savior Jesus Christ.