The Chesterton Academy of Rochester is named for the great English writer and Catholic convert,

G. K. Chesterton (1874-1936).  Chesterton is our school patron because he exemplified the Catholic faith through a life filled with joy, wonder, and gratitude.

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Chesterton was considered one of the world's most outstanding men of letters in the earliest 20th century.  An accomplished essayist, novelist, and poet, he wrote a hundred books on all different subjects.  In 1922, he shocked the literary establishment by converting to Catholicism.  He was later eulogized by Pope Pius XI as "a gifted defender of the faith," and there is presently a popular movement to have him canonized.  He not only represents the fullness of faith and reason but also Catholic joy and common sense.