Principal’s Address
Posted on by Classical School
100 Reasons to Celebrate the 2017-18 School Year!
School Events~
A successful Fall Fest was led by Coordinator, Anne Krieg and the Fall Fest Committee members, and attended by a large number of Classical families despite the rain!
The Scholastic Book Fair, led by Laurie Munson, was once again a great success. The Book Fair earned books for classroom libraries, gifts of books for teachers, and provided book donations to the community.
Family fun was had by all at events such as Rockin’ 50s and 60s school dance coordinated by parent volunteers, Dia Thao & Annie Knudson.
Classical School held its 6th annual Fine Arts Night which featured the visual and musical talents of our Classical students. Thank you for the hard work of our art and music teachers, all parent volunteers, and thank you to all Art Club members who helped contribute activities for Fine Arts Night!
Classical students participated in the Fang Reading Club and earned tickets to the Timber Rattlers Family Fun Night.
We held another successful Knowledge-a-thon this year. Many thanks to our dedicated parent volunteers led again by Sheri Hartzheim and her hard working committee members. KAT brought in over $23,500 for Classical School! Congratulations to Mrs. Bomann’s kindergarten class that collected a whopping $2,863.05 in KAT pledges—that’s amazing!
A large number of students in 2nd-8th grade participated in the Classical School Essay Contest.
Minds in Motion, our outdoor, knowledge-based, physical education event started by Mrs. Katie Jadin and now continued with Ms. Jiskra, is in its 5th year!
Special Grade Level Events~
7th & 8th grade students traveled to Concordia Language Village for a Spanish language immersion 4-day weekend in November. Many thanks to the parent volunteers who accompanied the trip–John Cuff, Ernesto Gonzalez, Andrew Norman, Heather Hayes, Maria Schachner, Carmichelle Neitzke-Pizarro.
Thank you to all of our teachers who go over and beyond to provide unique opportunities to enhance our wonderful curriculum! Thank you to all the parent volunteers who assist with these special events. Some of those special events include: Medieval Feast, Roman Street Festival, Greek Olympics, Red Carpet Week, Fieldtrips, PASTA Night, Band Together, Opera for the Young, Minds in Motion, Greek & Latin Root Parade, “Alice in Wonderland” Croquet & Tea
Teachers and parents of the 5th graders quickly created an alternative Civil War Living History Day when the district event was cancelled due to weather. Quite a feat! The teamwork was humbly impressive!
Guest Speakers & Presenters~
Ms. Ingrid Nahm, parent volunteer, presented on solar energy in 6th grade science.
Ms. Lucy Wang & Ms. Zhan Chen, parent volunteers, presented on China for the 2nd graders.
Mr. Harry Herres, grandparent volunteer, presented on his experiences serving in the military during Vietnam War (8th grade history)
Ms. Michelle Prebble, parent volunteer, presented to a kindergarten class on Africa.
Mr. Nathan Munson, parent volunteer, will present on Japan to the 2nd grade.
Dr. Hilary Webster and Dr. Greg Long, parent volunteers, presented on human growth and development in 5th grade.
Dr. Hilary Webster, parent volunteer, will perform a heart dissection and present information on the circulatory system in our 4th grade science classes next week.
Dr. Greg Long, parent volunteer, presented his wonderful Mr. Bones presentation explaining about the human skeleton and the function of the bones. (3rd grade science)
Clubs & Activities~
Classical School Spanish Club this school year led by Señora Lariviere.
Solo and Ensemble: Classical School had 23 entries (solos, duets, & a trio) by 20 students in the WSMA (Wisconsin School Music Association’s) District Solo & Ensemble this year. Of the Class A entries, four student soloists and one duet made it to State. Congratulations participants on your musical progress; thank you for representing Classical School well!
Our Student Council hosted a very successful fall food drive benefiting St. Joseph’s Food Pantry. They served at St. Joe’s assisting in sorting and packaging food. They also collected dollar bills for their Have a Heart campaign for the homeless.
Once again, the Yearbook Committee and Classical parent, Duyen Bagwell, is putting in long hours to produce a beautiful yearbook to commemorate another successful year.
We had a year filled with opportunities to participate in clubs and after-school activities such as: Art Club, Battle of the Books, Forensics, Ski Club, Solo and Ensemble, Typing Club, Girls Running Club, Chess Club, Safety Patrol, Student Council, Middle School Athletics, Yearbook, Spanish Club. Attendance in our clubs and programs is outstanding–at last count, rosters totaled over 500 students!
Staff Appreciation~
Our wonderful Staff Appreciation Committee, led by Carly McDougal, let our staff know how much they are valued throughout the school year by providing delicious meals on conference nights and a week’s worth of treats during our Staff Appreciation Week.
Parent volunteer, Jill Delfosse and her committee, provided snacks for all of our staff meetings this year.
Laurie Munson, parent volunteer and Book Fair Coordinator for many years, once again provided us with a “Book Fair Breakfast & Browsing” during the week of Scholastic Book Fair.
Student Council provided creative gifts & treats for staff in May.
Parent/Grandparent Volunteers~
So many of our parents and grandparents give of their time and energy to help build and maintain our program. We are truly fortunate to be part of this caring & collaborative community!
Current & Prospective Classical Students & Families~
Fifty-eight 8th graders are about to graduate Classical School. This year’s class will be our seventeenth graduating class!
264 prospective students applied for 2018-2019 admission during the lottery; 125 kindergarten applications were received; 139 students applied hoping to gain enrollment in 1st – 8th grade.
Three Prospective Parent Meetings were held this year to better educate prospective families on the philosophy of Classical School.
Classical managed a booth at the AASD All School Fair held at City Center and at the Appleton Mini-Charter Fair held at the Community Early Learning Center. Classical School also again participated in the Go Valley Kids Family Fun Expo held at Appleton North High School.
Many tours and observations were provided to prospective families interested in Classical School. Upwards of 200 calls and emails were answered from parents interested in our program.
A Classical School promotional video was produced this year! Thank you, Joanne Bielmeier, for your leadership in accomplishing this project. To view the video please go to our website http://classicalchar.wpengine.com/ . You will find the video on the homepage. It’s wonderful!
Classical Leadership~
Mr. Bomann led our school through another successful school year and looks forward to his 2nd year as our Classical School administrator.
Teachers successfully completed the Core Knowledge curriculum as promised in our mission. They proctored the state mandated assessments and MAPS testing which we use in documenting student growth. They accumulated many hours of professional enrichment & program involvement, held leadership roles on our Educational Program Committees, and continue to work with the CCSA Board in strengthening our Classical School Curriculum.
The CCSA Board (all volunteer parents) successfully worked to uphold our commitment to parents in regards to providing a rich and rigorous curriculum . They have advocated for building improvements, spoken with legislators about the educational landscape in Wisconsin, and recruited potential Board members. Rolando Sanchez and Ms. Terri Meisel have joined our CCSA Board this year. Thank you Tim Broeckert, Melissa DeVantier, Joanne Bielmeier, Anne Tretinyak, Peter Chen and Raj Dugal for continued membership on the Board.
It’s incredible to reflect on our program each year. Through commitment and dedication by all stakeholders, we have created a program by which our children can grow and thrive in mind, body, and spirit. We are very proud of everything our students, staff, and the CCSA Board have accomplished!
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