School News – 11/15/2023

School News – 11/15/2023

by | Nov 15, 2023 | Uncategorized

Classical Curriculum Highlight: Cursive 

A core element of Classical Charter Schools of America’s curriculum is the teaching of cursive: the style of writing in which all of a word’s letters are connected. Students begin learning to write in cursive in 2nd grade, and by the time students reach 4th grade, they are expected to only write in cursive. There are numerous benefits to writing in cursive, most notably that it has been shown to increase reading skills and information retention.

In January, CCS-America holds its annual Handwriting Competition, where all students showcase their best writing! 1st place winners and honorable mentions will receive cash prizes, and classrooms that display overall handwriting excellence will receive door medallions. Start practicing now!

Research on Cursive

Safety Continues as the Number One Priority

Mr. Ed Carter, a law enforcement expert and parent of a CCS-Southport 6th grader in her 7th year at the school, will serve on North Carolina’s Center for Safer Schools (CFSS) new Parent Engagement Committee. This committee will focus on elevating parent voices in safety within the state’s schools. 

Read about his experience and intention with the safety committee here!

Veterans Day Program

On Thursday, November 9th, each CCS-America campus had its own Veterans Day Program honoring those who protect us and our freedom. Thank you to the music teachers who led our students in patriotic songs, and thank you, parents, for joining us. Check out the performances below!

CCS-Leland

CCS-Southport

CCS-Whiteville

CCS-Wilmington

Our School Pledge

CCS-America students and staff start each day reciting the Pledge of Allegiance and the School Pledge. 

Our School Pledge focuses on prioritizing health, truth, and virtue. At the beginning of the school year, students start Character Education class with a deep dive into the importance of the Pledge. Then, each month, students learn about a character trait and connect it to the Pledge to further that understanding and meaning.

We encourage each parent and guardian to discuss the tenets of the Pledge with their students and how you both can apply the Pledge to life and goals!

See the School Pledge Here

School News – 11/1/23

School News – 11/1/23

by | Nov 1, 2023 | Uncategorized

Do Y0u Need a Hero? 

Veterans Day is observed annually on November 11th to honor and appreciate all who have served in the United States military.

At Classical Charter Schools of America and The Roger Bacon Academy, we are honored to have eleven veterans on our staff. Not only did they bravely answer the call to duty and defend our liberty, but they continue to dedicate their lives to others by serving as educators.

On November 9th, students from Classical Charter Schools of America will pay tribute to veterans at each campus’s Veterans Day Program. To our courageous veterans, we are infinitely grateful for your service and sacrifice. Thank you for protecting us, defending our rights, and now, for your dedication to our students.

Who are our campus heroes?

Join Us! 

We are so excited to open another major campus facility! Join us on November 21st at the Leland campus for the grand reveal!

What can our students do now?

Determination! 

Virtuous traits are an important part of the CCS-America curriculum. Students are recognized monthly for displaying a specific trait from our school pledge that they are not only saying but also practicing in their daily lives.

October’s character trait was Determination. Students who are determined will overcome obstacles to reach their goals. Each student “pledges to keep myself healthy in body, mind, and spirit.” A determined student applies these words by exercising and eating properly, reading more, and being encouraging to their classmates.

Who has learned to be most virtuous at CCS-Leland?

Who has learned to be most virtuous at CCS-Southport?

Who has learned to be most virtuous at CCS-Whiteville?

Who has learned to be most virtuous at CCS-Wilmington?

 

School News – 10/18/2023

School News – 10/18/2023

by | Oct 18, 2023 | Uncategorized

Welcome to Quarter 2!

Thank you all for a great first quarter! We are looking forward to a fun and busy quarter two, full of learning and activities! Here is what to look forward to:

National Principals Month 

October is National Principals Month! We are so thankful for our Headmasters and Assistant Headmasters who together have 70+ years of experience serving our schools! Please help us make them feel extra special this month!

  • Mr. Steve Smith, Lead Administrator, serving our schools since 2006
  • Mrs. Laurie Benton, CCS-Leland Headmaster, serving our schools since 2012
  • Mrs. Jourdan Crawford, CCS-Leland Asst. Headmaster, serving our schools since 2013
  • Mr. William Stidham, CCS-Southport Headmaster, serving our schools since 2019
  • Mrs. Amy Monroe, CCS-Southport Asst. Headmaster, serving our schools since 2016
  • Mrs. Dawn Ivey, CCS-Whiteville Headmaster, serving our schools since 2012
  • Mrs. Kimberly Patrick, CCS-Whiteville Asst. Headmaster, serving our schools since 2012
  • Mr. Marcus Dos Santos, CCS-Wilmington Headmaster, serving our schools since 2018

Teachers of the Year

All four Classical Charter Schools of America campuses recently named their Teacher of the Year, Beginning Teacher of the Year, and Teacher Assistant of the Year, given annually to the schools’ standout educators.

The Teachers of the Year are nominated by their colleagues for embodying the high ideals and standards of The Roger Bacon Academy. The award is highly competitive, and we are so proud to recognize these remarkable individuals! Congratulations to the 2022-2023 Teachers of the Year!

CCS-Leland:

  • Teacher of the Year: Ms. Erin Brangan
  • Beginning Teacher of the Year: Mr. Erik Veach
  • Teacher Assistant of the Year: Ms. Kaitlyn Eddy

CCS-Southport:

  • Teacher of the Year: Ms. Kimberlee Bareika
  • Beginning Teacher of the Year: Ms. Emily Stagaard
  • Teacher Assistant of the Year: Ms. Kimberly Boumpani

CCS-Whiteville:

  • Teacher of the Year: Ms. Leslie Smith
  • Beginning Teacher of the Year: Ms. Jordan Singler
  • Teacher Assistant of the Year: Ms. Cynthia Walters

CCS-Wilmington:

  • Teacher of the Year: Ms. J’Quanna Dalton
  • Beginning Teacher of the Year: Ms. Sydney Sellers
  • Teacher Assistant of the Year: Ms. Barbara Aaron

School News – 10/4/2023

School News – 10/4/2023

by | Oct 4, 2023 | Uncategorized

Shakespeare Week

CCS-America ended Quarter 1 with its annual Shakespeare Week! Students and staff celebrated with a performance by a court jester from No Sleeves Magic, a presentation from Cape Fear Raptor Center, crafts, and activities capturing life during the 1500 to 1600s!

Students in 6th-8th grade read several Shakespearean plays in their entirety, and some middle school classes even prepared a Shakespeare Showcase for the elementary students. K-5th graders read grade-level-adapted Shakespearean plays and made crafts corresponding with their play. Students learned so much while celebrating the life of the greatest writer in the history of the English language, William Shakespeare!

Check out pictures from the week below!

CCS-Leland

CCS-Southport

CCS-Whiteville

CCS-Wilmington

Charters in the News

Check out the links below to see what is happening with charter schools throughout the country!

Mr. Baker Mitchell, RBA Founder, wrote an Op-Ed published throughout the country on how direct instruction and the classical “trivium” would improve America’s schools. Read more here.

The National Alliance for Public Charter Schools shared results of a national survey of more than 1,200 district and charter school teachers. Check out their key insights here.

Students of the Month

Virtue is an important part of the CCS-America curriculum. Each month, students are recognized for displaying a specific character trait that they are not only learning and practicing, but also recite daily in our Pledge.

September’s character trait was Loyalty. Students who are loyal show commitment, even in difficult times. Loyalty is seen in the Pledge as “I Pledge to be obedient and loyal to those in authority.” Students apply these words to their everyday lives by keeping their commitments, helping those in need, and caring about others.

Congratulations to all of these students who demonstrated exemplary loyalty. Check them out on the links below!

CCS-Leland

CCS-Southport

CCS-Whiteville

CCS-Wilmington

OpEd: Get back to basics to improve America’s schools

by | Sep 25, 2023 | Uncategorized

By Baker A. Mitchell Jr. September 23, 2023

It’s understandable that many parents are upset about what is being taught in their schools. They should be even more upset about what’s not being taught (at least not effectively): English grammar, reading, writing, mathematics, logic, truth, goodness, aesthetics.

Last year’s National Assessment of Educational Progress exams, which tested tens of thousands of students nationwide, found that only about a third of fourth and eighth graders qualified as “proficient” in reading, math, civics and American history. In urban districts, 47% of fourth-graders couldn’t even read at a basic level.

Much of the controversy over what’s being taught revolves around the treatment of race and gender issues in classrooms, textbooks and school libraries. These are legitimate concerns. But focusing solely on book content is a distraction when so many children can’t read the books to begin with.

At the elementary school level — grades kindergarten through five or six — the best model for student success is direct instruction and the classical “trivium.” Albert Chung, the director of the Classical Education Research Lab at the University of Arkansas, has noted that this goes back “to between the 5th century B.C. and the 5th century A.D. during the Greek and Roman classical periods.”

But classical thought “is not limited to these two civilizations,” he points out. “Many other cultures … throughout Africa, East Asia and the Islamic Empire” also had classical periods.

The trivium — Latin for “three ways” — identifies a sequence of three phases necessary for learning any subject. It’s the way students were taught throughout the Western world from the time of the ancient classical scholars until the early 20th century when John Dewey and other “progressive reformers” rejected it.

The first phase, during the early grades, involves the basic facts and vocabulary of a subject. This is known as the “grammar” phase. A major goal during this phase is for students to learn as many words and concepts as possible. These are the building blocks for all future learning:

  • The names of objects, people and places.
  • The rules of math, phonics, spelling and sentence structure.
  • The stories of history, literature and myth.
  • Descriptions of plants and animals.
  • The roots of our language, especially Latin.

Second is the “logic” phase, where students learn to apply and enhance the information, rules and vocabulary they’ve learned. During this time, students become less focused on rote facts, start thinking more analytically and logically, and begin to question the “why” behind the order of things.

Finally, the “rhetoric” phase helps students learn the art and discipline of persuasion. It helps them develop the skills to communicate effectively to become lifelong independent learners.

Any topic can be taught in this sequenced way. While it may be out of fashion, this step-by-step phased succession of learning is no less effective today than it was 2,500 years ago.

Families don’t need the dysfunctional federal government telling them what and how their children should learn. K-12 education hasn’t noticeably improved since 1980, when the Department of Education was established. 

Families know what their children need to learn — and we and others know how to teach them, just as the ancients knew: First you help them accumulate knowledge (grammar). Then you help them understand the why and how of the facts they’ve learned (logic). Then you give them the skills to explain it to others (rhetoric).

At the end of the process, you’ll have well-rounded young adults ready for life’s challenges, for being parents and, as Aristotle said, for making civilization “flourish.”