CA Pride - Carmen Campbell

Carmen Campbell is most likely the first person you met when you visited CA. And she is one of the first people to greet our preschool and K students with a handshake and a smile each morning. There are good reasons why she is the person so many of you identify with at CA. .As Admissions Director, Mrs. Campbell’s top priority is making certain that CA is the best choice for your child and your family. I believe there are few people who know as much about Christopher Academy as she does.

I first met Mrs. Campbell when I taught her oldest daughter in second grade. She was a very active parent volunteering to help with events, driving on field trips, and supporting the school in so many different ways. All four of her children graduated from CA when it was still The St.Christopher School going only through third grade. After a short time away from CA, imagine how delighted I was when I returned to discover that Mrs. Campbell had become part of our staff in 1996. She is the person with whom I work most closely every day and I am so thankful for that.

Mrs. Campbell has played a key role in the growth and expansion of this school because she truly believes that we provide children with such a strong foundation for the future. She brings the dual perspective of both parent and administrator to every action she takes. I think this helps her connect to our new parents as they consider enrolling their children. She knows how important this decision is and works hard to help them make the best choice.

As the "second in command", Mrs. Campbell has many responsibilities. One of the things I think she does best is model good citizenship for our young students. She has high expectations of excellent conduct and never misses an opportunity to guide students to do the right thing. No matter how busy she is, she has the time to talk through a problem with a child. She may not be a classroom teacher, but she is doing important teaching every day. In her patient, gentle way, Mrs. Campbell is striving to guide every child to develop into the best person he or she can be. She is excited about their successes and comforting when they are hurt or sad. In every interaction, she is showing students the way to respect themselves and others. Now that is what I call fostering a love of learning .

Serving on an Accreditation Team

Last week I told you how important I think it is that CA is accredited by the Virginia Association of Independent Schools (VAIS ). This week I am totally immersed in the accreditation process at a school in Northern Virginia. From Sunday through Wednesday I have the opportunity (and responsibility ) to learn as much as I can about this school. As Vice Chair of the accreditation team I have already visited the school once and have spent many hours reviewing their report, curriculum, and many other required documents. Now I am seeing this school come to life as I meet the teachers, students, parents, and trustees. I am observing classes, playground time, eating lunch with the kids, watching carpool, and so on.

How does this benefit CA? Visiting another school is the best professional development an administrator or teacher can get. All of the information about this school is confidential and I can not share any specific details. However, I can share ideas and experience that I gain from this visit. As I spend time in this school I will be able to affirm what I think we are doing very well at CA as well as get ideas to share with teachers and trustees that might be good for us to consider. It may be as simple as a class lesson or project that I happen to observe and think one of our teachers might like to use in her class. Or I could learn about a policy or program that I think might be appropriate for CA.

While I am spending these few days in this school, I am working with five other educators from different schools throughout Virginia who are also serving on this team. Through our formal and informal discussions I am learning from them. This is one of the aspects of VAIS membership that I so appreciate ...networking with other schools. When CA earned our initial accreditation in 2005, I commented that we had ended our "splendid isolation " and become part of a group of outstanding schools. We can benefit from the experiences of other schools; they are always happy to share information and experiences.

Two of our faculty, Miriam Terry and Mary Lou Wilson, have also served on accreditation teams. I think they will agree that it is a wonderful learning experience (and a great deal of hard work). I miss all the CA kids this week, but I am so glad to have this time to grow professionally.

Next week we will be opening the online surveys that I mentioned last week. I can tell you that the team I am serving on now is taking a close look at the surveys that parents and other stakeholders completed. The same will be true when an accreditation team visits CA. Please watch for the instructions on how to complete these surveys. We need your participation. Thank you.

CA PRIDE - Kim Bikowski

I have known Mrs. Bikowski, our 4th & 5th grade language arts and social studies teacher for quite a while. And I have always been impressed by the genuine joy she has for teaching. I think what she loves most is getting to know each child as an individual and then doing her best to help that child flower into the best person he or she can be.

You may not know that Mrs. Bikowski first taught at CA (then known as The St. Christopher School) as a Pre-K teacher when her daughters were students here. She also taught elementary art in the afternoons.One year I had the job of assisting her in 2nd and 3rd grade art. That was when I got to know first hand what a wonderfully creative teacher she is as well as how caring she is. She moved to Portsmouth Catholic when her daughters transferred there. Over the years she gradually returned to teaching elementary students (as she had taught in the beginning of her teaching career) and specialized in middle school language arts and social studies.

When I heard that Mrs. Bikowski had decided to leave Portsmouth Catholic, I jumped at the chance to talk her out of retiring and into returning to us. And I am so glad that she did. She brought with her a wealth of experience with upper elementary students that was so valuable in developing (along with Mrs. Terry) the very successful fourth and fifth grade program we now have.

I so enjoy stopping by Mrs. Bikowski's class when she is discussing a social studies or literature topic. It is so evident that she is really listening to the students and validating their thoughts and ideas. It is also interesting to visit her classroom when students are working on a writing project. Mrs. Bikowski actually enjoys teaching grammar as well as inspiring expression through writing. As a result students are developing excellent writing skills that will serve them for a lifetime.

Best of all Mrs. Bikowski finds a way to connect to each individual. It is not unusual to walk into her room and find students working in different configurations with some working independently while others may be with a partner or small group. She quietly moves around offering assistance and encouragement as needed. This feels like such a warm, nurturing learning environment.

Fostering confidence in oral language is another area in which I think Mrs. Bikowski excels. She helps students develop and plan their own presentations whether for classmates or a school audience. She helps them find something they will be both excited about and comfortable doing. I always look forward to the creative ideas that her students have for programs such as our "Celebration of Grandparents and Grand Friends" and ,of course, the 4th grade talent show is always a highlight of the year. Now that is what I call fostering a love of learning.

Proud Member of VAIS

Christopher Academy is a member of the Virginia Association of Independent Schools (VAIS). This means that CA is an accredited school. Does this really matter to your child on a day to day basis? Is CA a better school because of accreditation? My answer to both questions is an emphatic YES!

Christopher Academy (formerly The St. Christopher School ) has been known for high academic and citizenship expectations since we were founded in 1970. Providing a developmentally appropriate curriculum in a stimulating environment has always been the mission of CA. Accreditation did not change any of that, but it certainly has helped us build upon the School's strengths. Let me tell you how.

My predecessor, Dottie Seward, on the eve of her retirement asked me as her successor to lead the school through the accreditation process. During her 27 year career with The St. Christopher School she had developed an exceptional faculty, strong curriculum , and excellent reputation in the community. Accreditation had not seemed necessary for the school to continue to serve our families. However as she looked to the future of education, she saw great value to our being part of a network of schools that also worked to attain high academic and citizenship standards. She researched options for accreditation and identified VAIS as the accrediting association that she felt was best for our school. She told me the process would be rigorous...and she was correct.

I encourage you to visit the VAIS website at www.vais.org to learn more about this association. You will be hearing much more about it over the next weeks and months as CA has begun preparation for our ten year accreditation visit. We are going to need your support and participation as we prepare and work through this process. Your first opportunity to participate will be to complete online surveys about CA for our accreditation study. You will be receiving detailed information about when the surveys will be scheduled and how you will login to complete them.

When you visit the site, please take a moment to look at the state and regional maps showing the VAIS member schools. I think you will immediately see that CA is part of a group of excellent independent schools across the Commonwealth and especially here in Hampton Roads. You also will see the Standards of Accreditation that each school must meet. The process of accreditation is ongoing. A school does not simply meet the criteria one time; schools must demonstrate that they continue to meet the standards. This process of continuous review and improvement is why I so strongly believe that CA and our students benefit from our membership in VAIS every day.

CA PRIDE - Jill Atchley

It is not unusual for Ms. Atchley to be greeted as soon as she walks in the door with a request from a teacher asking if she has "just a minute to come help her." I can't begin to tell you how many times in the course of a typical school day she gets this request (often from me as well). The reason for that is exciting. We have successfully added a considerable amount of technology resources for our teachers and students to use as tools in their instruction and learning. As the ICT (Information and Communication Technologies) person at CA, she has quite a range of responsibilities on a daily basis. What I appreciate about Ms. Atchley is that no matter how busy she is, she seems to always find that extra minute to help out a teacher or student.

Ms. Atchley began with us in 2000 when we received a Beasley Foundation grant to establish our computer lab. At that time she was managing 10 student computers in the lab, an office computer, and a few desk top computers in classrooms. She very quickly realized that our students are digital natives and that we must be ready to teach them the skills they will need in the 21st Century. With that goal in mind, she has taken the lead in researching and identifying the electronic devices, software, and online resources that will enable us to do this.

Today Ms. Atchley is managing quite a range of equipment and online resources. We now have iPads for fifth grade, 49 chrome books for third, fourth, and fifth; the computer lab; Epson interactive overhead projectors; Promethean board; laptops for teachers; and student laptops or desktops in many classroom. That is a lot for one person to manage.

Managing doesn't mean just keeping the equipment up and running. Ms. Atchley knows that the equipment is only beneficial if we do meaningful things with it. She begins by learning as much about the potential uses before she ever proposes acquisition of the new technology. She has found a number of wonderful online programs to which we now subscribe such a Spelling City, Storia, Trueflix, Bookflix, just to name a few. Teachers count on her assistance to continue researching and implementing additional options,

Ms. Atchley also instructs students both in the lab and in classrooms. She coordinates lab instruction with classroom teachers to ensure that she is supporting curricular objectives. She also works with Ms. Shiembob and third grade students every Thursday to use their chrome books to complete a number of projects. She makes herself available to work with students in other classrooms as requested by teachers. An essential part of her work is to guide our students to become good digital citizens so that they may use the internet and electronic devices safely and responsibly.

And if all that weren't enough, Ms. Atchley manages school administration financial and communication technologies. She took the lead in working with Fancy Media last year to develop our new website and is doing the bulk of back end management of the website, email, Parentreach, and our attendance program. She truly keeps us going in so many respects.

While her job is clearly demanding, nothing energizes Ms. Atchley like seeing a teacher incorporating our technologies in their instruction or seeing students independently and responsibly using these tools. Her excitement is infectious...that's what I call fostering a love of learning!

Students Feel Valued

"Students know they are valued" is a statement in CA's philosophy.  I asked 4th and 5th grade students if they feel valued.  After a brief discussion of what that means, they told me "yes". Once again they managed to surprise me with their observations when I asked the question "what are some of the ways we make you feel valued?" I expected to hear things such as teachers display their work in the classrooms and hallways, we announce how they are doing with their running goals every Friday, teachers tell them when they are doing well.

These more obvious ways of showing them they are valued were not what the said first. These are the things they told me:

• They liked that when they came back to school this year the playground looked so nice and that the main playground equipment had been painted. They understood that work had been done to prepare it for them so that they had a fun, safe place to play together. Thank you Mr. Widlacki and Worley Grounds.
• They liked that we had also gotten some new things for their P.A. Classes.
• One student commented that it was great to have the pavilion built last year because they really needed shade on the playground. Others quickly agreed and added that the pavilion is a nice place for lunch and that their teachers sometimes have outdoor classes in it. Thank you, Mr. Jolley, for the pavilion!
• They mentioned the new technologies that have been added this year. They enjoy using these resources to learn.
• One student said it made him feel valued that the teachers try to have good classrooms. That led to a discussion about two aspects of "good classrooms":
• The physical arrangement and appearance of the classrooms are well suited for kids, inviting, interesting, and comfortable.
• The other aspect of a good classroom is the lessons and activities the teachers plan.  Students appreciate interesting and challenging learning experiences.

Overall, the students let me know that they do know that they are valued at CA.  That is a nice feeling.

CA Pride - Our Faculty and Staff

Christopher Academy has a fantastic team of teachers and staff. And TEAM Is the operative word. We work together on a daily basis to ensure that we are bringing the mission of CA to life in all that we do. Depending on how long your child has been a CA student, you may feel that you know a great deal about our teachers. Over the next several weeks I plan to introduce you to them from a different perspective....mine. These will include brief "behind the scenes" glimpses of what I see each day as I walk around the building and playground.

Just to illustrate what I mean by team, I will share a short story: Last Friday, at the conclusion of our faculty meeting the faculty surprised me with an early "Boss's Day" card and gift. While I deeply appreciated their very generous gift and kind words, I rarely feel like a BOSS. I consider myself to be quite fortunate to know that I am part of a learning community in which we continue to learn and grow right along with our students. What better way to foster a love of learning than for us to model our love of learning for our students.

As you may recall from our Back to School Open House introductions, most of our faculty and staff "wear multiple hats". So as I write these pieces I will focus on one aspect of each person's job at a time. I may come back to another part of her job at a later date. I am going to call this series CA PRIDE - (teachers name) because I am so proud to be a part of this teaching team. I hope you enjoy getting to know them just a little better.

Stimulating Learning Environment

Christopher Academy teachers are so committed to providing their students with a “stimulating environment” that I sometimes look at the calendar and can’t find a blank space for days on end. When I asked the 4th and 5th grade students about what “stimulating environment” means, they figured out that it means we do things that make them want to learn. Exactly! Teachers want to spark students’ interest, curiosity, and creativity.

This led to a discussion of the beginning of the philosophy statement that supports the mission statement. Our teaching philosophy is guided by several beliefs that direct our goals, actions and programs. We believe:

Students are eager to experience the sights, sounds, smells, textures and tastes 

of the world surrounding them. Physical, social, intellectual and academic growth 

is stimulated by an environment rich in a variety of people, materials and experiences. 

Our developmentally appropriate curriculum gives students many opportunities to 

interact with others, explore real life materials, solve problems and express themselves creatively.

Many of our 4th and 5th grade students have been CA students since Preschool, Pre-K , or Kindergarten, so they easily came up with a list of ways that teachers have enabled them to experience sights, sounds, smells, textures, and tastes. Field trips were high on their list of ways that teachers provide a “stimulating environment” such as fire stations, York River, Williamsburg, Hoffler Creek Oysters, science museums, art museums...the list is quite long. They mentioned how we bring in programs such as Virginia Stage Company or Virginia Opera or a science outreach program. Of course, the projects and events that they do with their classmates in school provide a wealth of experiences. Adventure Kids brings in a variety of experiences as does CARES Club. The Stone Soup project was immediately named when we talked about smells!

Art and music classes are additional opportunities to experience the world through textures and sounds. The sound of children singing, listening and moving to music can be heard daily. A stroll down our hallways quickly reveals the wealth of experiences offered through creative artistic expression. Learning about another language and culture happens in our Spanish classes.

In sum, we agreed that we certainly do provide a “stimulating environment” at CA. It is especially great, I think, when students are excited about a project that they know will happen in their next grade. The 5th grade students are looking forward to hatching chicks and discussed how they could use all five senses with this project. However, we did agree that we would bypass the option to taste our chicks!

Developmentally Appropriate Curriculum - What does that mean?

My conversations with our 4th and 5th grade students about CA's Mission and Philosophy continue:

4th and 5th grade students see our motto “Christopher Academy...fosters a love of learning” all the time. But when they saw the entire mission statement, the phrase "developmentally appropriate curriculum" was not immediately clear. I told them they might not be able to define it in words, but they certainly would be able to tell me if an activity, event, lesson, or program felt right to them. We began by looking at a photo of a preschool classroom. We agreed that it looked like a great place for three and four year olds to play and learn. I asked why is it not appropriate for you? One of the first comments was that even though the room was for little kids it was sometimes fun to play with the stuff they used to play with when they were little. I had to smile at that comment because it is certainly true. That is why we occasionally see older kids having a blast in the sandbox. It is fun to be a kid!

My question was would it feel okay to a 4th or 5th grade student to be in the preschool room all the time. They agreed that it would not. We thought about the obvious things such as why they enjoy having individual desks and different types of materials and equipment to use including their electronic devices. But more importantly it is how they have developed their reading, writing, math, social and physical skills each year. One year.builds upon another. They compared the way they were learning math or reading or writing in earlier grades to what they can do now and what their interests are now.

Another aspect of “developmentally appropriate” relates to their social role and responsibility in the school. Because they are able to do much more complex things, they are, in fact, leaders in our school. Our younger students love opportunities when older students are being teachers and role models to them. They look up to the older students and are so excited when they can spend time together. A favorite example is the Book Buddies Program when our second grade students share books and friendships with Pre-K students. For our older students, this opportunity to be a leader and role model is a great way to build their confidence and self-esteem. Throughout the year, I will share more examples of this with you.