Feltre School: The Grammar School for Adults

The Feltre School refers to itself as "a grammar school for adults." Although the subjects taught at the Feltre School sound basic -- English grammar, composition, and mathematics -- they are designed for adults and are taught at the university level. Founded in 1992 by Robert Ultimo and other Northwestern University alumni, the school provides professionals and adult students with rigorous courses in the traditional liberal arts, including writing, the humanities, public speaking, philosophy, and classical Latin.

Over the past decade, the school's enrollment has grown steadily over the past decade. Its turn-of-the-century home at 22 West Erie Street in River North only helps to further its scholarly appeal to the independent student. "We believe in the idea that people want a place where learning is treated as one of the highest values," says Ultimo, who formerly taught Latin and Roman history at Northwestern.

Students are drawn to Feltre not only for the warm setting, but because they find themselves in a community of like-minded individuals working under the direction of knowledgeable and impassioned teachers. "You simply cannot replace the insight that results when we gather together to learn," says Ultimo. "Not only do our students learn from working out their ideas in discussion, but they also learn by watching the teacher engage with the subject. That experience is at the very heart of learning."

Ultimo believes the school's success is due in part to the enduring need we all have for a sense of community. "The times demand," Ultimo believes, "that each of us find the contribution we can make where we live. Our students come to us to study the liberal arts because they know that the liberal arts, and in particular language, give them a voice in the larger world."

The Feltre School is located at 22 West Erie Street in Chicago, Illinois. They can be reached at 312.255.1133 or online at www.feltre.org.

This article originally appeared in the Winter 2002-2003 issue of Chicago Learning Guide Magazine.