Greetings!
Week One of classes was a huge success and we seem to be off to a great start with review and pretesting well underway. The seniors started their on campus ACT class taught by Princeton Review and even braved the weather yesterday morning to take a sample test. Our “specials” teachers - Glenn (music), Heather (art) and Roni (dramatic arts/clay) already have the place alive with music and decorative beauty - and even a life-sized horse (a high school art project for the State Fair) is being stabled in the Big Hall. Thanks to the tech help from Dan (teacher/tech guy), we navigated the technical intricacies of setting up online courses from UNC-G, Oklahoma State and Virtual High School to get students going with diverse course offerings from business to philosophy. Krista (PE) has everyone breaking a sweat in classes and our soccer team played their first home game with a burgeoning number of team members and greatly improved skill. Scott (Director of Admissions) has also been breaking a sweat with a flurry of admissions activity on students from near and far. Suffice it to say that in a “walk around” one day last week I felt excited and blessed to see everyone so happily engaged - there is a palpable “feel” from the place on such days and I hope that all of you can experience it both first hand and through your students.
On Tuesday our first college rep - from Drew University in Madison, New Jersey will be on campus. Interested high school students may attend during 4th period. Drew is a school with which I am very familiar - my sister is a proud graduate and my daughter was accepted there last year along with Cami Leeds (Class of 08). Drew has a generous scholarship program, wonderful internships that take advantage of the 45 minute train commute to NYC, and strong programs in everything from art to science and business. The college rep who is coming was also our most outstanding presenter last year so I encourage you to encourage your student to attend.
Costa Rica is calling.....will you be there? We have picked this exciting school trip as a relatively inexpensive (versus Europe) means to reinforce our Spanish and cultural studies. Celia (Spanish teacher) has worked with the NETC tour company to put together an exhilarating and educational itinerary. NETC is the company we used 3 years ago for the Italy trip. We selected this company due to the high caliber educational focus of their programs and people, the quality hotels and meals and the outstanding refund program (the reason we require the purchase of the Total Surety Insurance- a great product). My entire family (along with several other Camelot families) participated in the Italy trip and it was not only “worth it” - it was outstanding. Not to be corny, but it was life changing. Traveling with just a group from our school was a unique “family” trip - we learned and saw so much on the full itinerary that we all came back wanting to return. I strongly encourage you to discuss and explore this as a family - the DEPOSIT DEADLINE IS MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 15. Go to www.educationaltravel.com to revisit the itinerary, pricing and to sign up.
User name: Costa Rica
Password: ourcrtrip
If there is interest from the participants we will offer a fundraiser associated with this trip - probably a dining coupon book sale. These fundraisers generally raise enough to cover spending money and a small portion of the travel.
Finally, on Friday our soccer team has an away game at Franklin Academy (Wake Forest). They will need to depart school at 2:30 PM. Parents of players need to let me know if they would like their student transported to/from the game and also if they are available to help transport others (please respond with number of seat belts available). I’ll confirm via return email.
Have a great week!
Best,
Thelma