Electives… Educational and Fun!

At Classical Charter Schools of America, we value extracurricular activities as part of a well-rounded education. Electives provide many educational opportunities that allow students to learn skills, work together, and sometimes even compete. Our electives include the fine arts, life skills, and academic and athletic competitions. Each year our CCS-America Middle School students participate in at least two electives. During winter break, they have the opportunity to stay where they are or switch to a new elective. This allows students to partake in a variety of electives to explore their interests. If you have any questions about our elective programs, please contact our Dean of Resources and electives, Mrs. LaFave at jlafave@rogerbacon.net.

Elective Descriptions

Employees Celebrate Good Times and Invite You to Join Our Team

The Roger Bacon Academy hosted, celebrated, and honored its 371 employees with a fun-filled night of dancing, dinner, and friendship March 26 at the Wilmington Convention Center. This tradition has occurred every other year since CCS-Leland’s opening in 1999. During the event, employees were acknowledged for their years of dedicated service and the growing list of names is a testament both to The Roger Bacon Academy’s commitment to its employees and the employees’ commitment to our mission and to CCS-America students. Teachers of high growth were recognized, as well as the schools’ Teachers of the Year. Not only were there drawings for gift cards throughout the evening; but each guest received a golf umbrella and polo shirt as a party favor to end the night.  “This is my fifth gala and each time it is fun to see the event grow in size, the same way our schools have grown over the years!” exclaimed, Dean Heather Greco.  Please consider joining our team for the upcoming 2022-2023 school year!

Employment at CCS-America Years of Employment 

Staff Spotlight

All four CCS-America schools recently named their Teacher of the Year, Beginning Teacher of the Year, and Teacher Assistant of the Year, all of whom were honored at RBA’s Gala on March 26. The Teachers of the Year are nominated by their colleagues for embodying the high ideals of The Roger Bacon Academy. At CCS-America schools, we are fortunate to have a richly-talented group of individuals who serve as excellent role models for our students. This makes the awards highly competitive, and we are so proud to recognize these remarkable teachers.

The CCS-America Teachers of the Year

I Pledge to Keep Myself Healthy in Body, Mind, and Spirit

Students recite these words every morning in The School Pledge. However, it is important to go beyond reciting and apply these words to daily life. Especially as students approach the end-of-grade (EOG) testing period, self-care makes all the difference in handling school and personal stressors. Keeping students and ourselves healthy in body, mind, and spirit is, as The Pledge states, staying physically fit, mentally awake, and morally straight. How can we do this? Follow these steps for a great start: Get an adequate amount of sleep. Eat a healthy breakfast. Have a technology “curfew”. Encourage students to talk to a parent, trusted adult, or friend. Have FUN! As stressful as testing and school can be, encourage your student to participate in activities that bring them joy.

More ways for your student to improve on self-care!

Alumni Spotlight

Meet Austin Morgan! Mr. Morgan graduated from Columbus Charter School, now Classical Charter Schools of Whiteville, in 2017. He is a Freshman at High Point University and is planning on pursuing a Nursing Degree. Learn more about Mr. Morgan and how his CCS-America education prepared him for high school and college here!

CCS-America Middle School Students Bring Home Science Olympiad Medals!

We are proud to announce that our CCS-America middle school students from Whiteville and Leland earned several medals, including three First Place medals, in the Science Olympiad competition held at UNCW on March 12th. The First Place wins qualify the teams/students to compete in the upcoming statewide competition, to be held April 22-23 at NC State University. Science Olympiad students compete in 23 events in genetics, earth science, chemistry, anatomy, physics, geology, mechanical engineering, and technology. CCS-America fielded three teams in the regional competition, with two or three students competing in each category. Science Olympiad is offered to CCS-America middle school students as an elective. If your child is interested in this elective for the 22-23 school year, registration will open in the spring! “Science Olympiad is an excellent model for the types of tasks they would be given on a daily basis in a career in science and technology,” explained RBA founder Baker Mitchell, and an engineer by training, “In competition, students are given a problem, a set of guidelines, and a set number of resources to solve the problem to the best of their ability. They get to creatively apply what they’ve learned in our classrooms to a real-world situation. They see firsthand why science and math are so important our lives.” Here are the results:  CCS-Whiteville *Coach: Mr. Schmucker Read It, Write It, Do It – 1st Place *Qualified for State Competition  Rocks and Minerals – 4th Place CCS-Leland Varsity *Coach: Mr. Johnson Bridge – 1st Place *Qualified for State Competition  Storm the Castle – 2nd Place Experimental Design- 2nd place Mission Possible – 6th Place Electric Wright Stuff – 7th Place   CCS-Leland Junior Varsity *Coach: Mr. Johnson Crave the Wave – 1st Place *Qualified for State Competition  Ornithology – 2nd Place Bottle Rocket – 3rd Place

See All Results from the Competition Here!

The Living Literature Event Congratulations CCS-Whiteville Beta Club!

CCS-Whiteville Betas are headed to Nationals after an outstanding performance at the North Carolina Convention. With 11 top five wins and a state leadership position, they represented CCS-America in the finest manner. The mission of the Beta Club is to promote academic achievement, character, service, and leadership. At State and Nationals Conventions, Beta Clubs compete in various events that relate to classes at CCS-America. The National Convention will be held in Nashville, Tennessee June 27-30^th. We look forward to cheering the CCS-Whiteville Betas on!

See Winners Here!

Guest Perspective: Laurie Benton, CCS-Leland Headmaster  

CCS-Leland’s 8th Grade Takes on the Nation’s Capital

It was a privilege to attend the 8th Grade Washington, D.C. Field Trip. Being able to enjoy new experiences and build relationships with our 8th graders and their parents was an honor.  We visited several museums and historic sites, such as the National Archives Museum, home to the Declaration of Independence and Constitution, and the Washington Monument. We also toured Ford’s Theatre, site of President Lincoln’s assassination. One of the most exciting things our students got to see was a group of presidential helicopters landing on the back lawn of the White House! Witnessing students gain an experiential connection to the ideas, concepts, and subject matter taught throughout their time at CCS-Leland was an unforgettable experience for me. I sincerely hope students look back on this trip with fondness and a desire to learn even more about our country’s history!

Photos

Students of the Month

Character education 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. February’s character trait was Dependability. Students who are dependable do what they say they will do, even if it is difficult. Dependability is seen in the School Pledge as “I Pledge to be truthful in all my works.” These students apply these words to their everyday lives by being responsible decision makers others can rely on. Congratulations to all of these students who demonstrated exemplary dependability. Check them out on the links below!

CCS-Leland

CCS-Southport

CCS-Whiteville

CCS-Wilmington

“Celebrate good times, come on!”
What’s the best way to show off all your hard work? With celebrations of course! On March 11^th, kindergarten students put on a Letterland Parade! Dressed as their favorite Letterland characters, they marched around campus to celebrate mastering the alphabet while being cheered on by the rest of the elementary school! Following the parade, students who have met the goal of being a fluent reader participated in the “I Can Read” ceremony. These readers were awarded a certificate and read a story to all in attendance. Way to go kindergarteners!

CCS-Leland Letterland Parade
CCS-Whiteville Letterland Parade
CCS-Wilmington Letterland Parade

Drivers, Start Your…PENCILS!
We are thrilled to bring back our FASTAR® tournament this year! Students have been working hard and have shown great progress during their Tune-Up sessions. We look forward to cheering on our racers as they compete at the big race events at the end of April and then on May 12th for the Race of Champions! FASTAR® is a voluntary, extra-curricular academic tournament and it stands for: Fluent Academic Skills Tournament in Arithmetic and Reading. The goal of FASTAR® is to encourage students to improve their basic skills through practice in an exciting and rewarding tournament modeled on automobile racing. Research shows that practicing to the point of fast, smooth, nearly automatic response – fluency – has several benefits: memory of the skill is retained longer, the student is able to perform the skill for a longer time before getting tired, comprehension may be improved, complex tasks are easier with a stronger foundation in basic skills, and homework times may decrease.

See our FASTAR® Promo video here! FASTAR® FAQs are located at the bottom of this webpage.

20-21 NC School Report Card Determines CCS-America Outperformed… Yet Again!
We have recently been given access to a preview of the North Carolina School Report Cards for the 2020-2021 school year. While there is no way to measure the hard work our educators and staff pour into our students each day, it does contain snapshots of information about our schools. In the data linked below, we compared CCS-America to the State of North Carolina’s average. Parents, you can expect to receive a copy of your school’s detailed North Carolina School Report Card this spring.  We are incredibly proud of our students and staff for their hard work and drive. Year after year, we continue to outperform our peers, and we are especially pleased to say that last year was no different. Thank you for choosing CCS-America! We are thrilled to provide a quality education to students in southeastern North Carolina!

CCS-America EOG Results Comparison to the State of North Carolina NCDPI Report Card FAQ

Let’s Go RBA!
Congratulations to all of The Roger Bacon Academy Cheer teams for placing in the top five of their divisions at The Quest National Championship! These athletes and coaches put RBA values into their practice and continue to make us proud! Cheer Parent MaKesha Murphy said, “RBA Cheer has given my daughter the confidence to push herself further in her gymnastics and cheer abilities. Her determination in cheer has carried over into the classroom. She even has the confidence to compete in FASTAR this year!” All six teams have been invited to another National Championship in April! Amazing job coaches and athletes!

Pictures

Staff Spotlight
This week’s Staff Spotlight is CCS-Wilmington 5th Grade teacher, Ms. Amanda Sauls! Ms. Sauls started as an Assistant Teacher at CCS-Wilmington five years ago. Within those five years, she has been Teacher of the Year twice and is now Lead Teacher. Learn more about Ms. Sauls and her incredible impact in the video below!  

Alumni Spotlight

Meet Abby Layton! Mrs. Layton attended Charter Day School, now Classical Charter Schools of Leland, Kindergarten through 8th Grade. Mrs. Layton is still involved in The Roger Bacon Academy by coaching the students of the RBA Cheerleading Squads. She has been part of all 21 National titles as either an athlete or a coach. Mrs. Layton is currently working on her Master’s in Business Administration.

Learn more about Mrs. Layton here!

And the Winners Are… Handwriting Day Results!

The much anticipated Handwriting Day results are in! We are so proud of all of our students for their hard work and overall exceptional penmanship.  Entries were judged on spacing, size, shape, slant, the use of proper capitalization, and even content. Judges went by each classroom and decided on a winner and the honorable mentions. Then, within a grade level, each class as a whole was assessed based on their overall performance. The classes with excellent handwriting were rewarded with an ice cream party and a door medallion to display! Please take a look at the presentations below of remarkable handwriting from our students!

Handwriting Day Winners: Leland Handwriting Day Winners: Southport Handwriting Day Winners: Whiteville Handwriting Day Winners: Wilmington Handwriting Day Winners: Blended Learners

RBA Archery Returns to the NASP Tournament

The CCS-Leland Archery team competed for the first time in two years this past Saturday. With an almost all rookie-team, they finished with a score of 2911 placing them in 8th. “We have rebounded after COVID to compete with a team of almost exclusively rookie archers and still beat out half the pack. With only six 8th graders aging out, we are already looking forward to climbing our way back to the top of the pack next year.”- Coach LaFave. Great job to Coach LaFave and our athletes for all of the hard work they put into this season!

Pictures Results 

CCS-Leland Projects and Plans!

Since its founding in 1999, Classical Charter Schools of Leland has grown from 53 students to over 900 students. This growth has brought exciting changes throughout the years, and there is much more to come!    Projects completed this past year: -The Elementary school loop road was expanded to accommodate two lanes of traffic to speed up the drop-off and pick-up processes.  -A new EC building was built on the Middle School campus to provide better facilities for the EC department and to give the Middle School more room for pull-out groups in reading and math.  -Drainage was repaired between the football field and the 5th grade. This road will soon be repaved with temporary pavement until construction is complete.    Projects coming soon: -A new Elementary office building with an auditorium (including a gym and a stage!) is in review, soon to be in permitting.  -A new septic system to support both the Elementary and Middle schools is in permitting.  -The parking lot which will have over 280 spots and be used as staging lanes has been cleared and is in use. It is planned to be paved in the Summer of 2022.    Thank you, CCS-Leland parents, for your patience and understanding while the campus undergoes these exciting changes! We have a lot of great things to look forward to! 

History & Growth of CCS-Leland

Question: What does the Olympic motto, “Citius, Altius, Fortius” mean?

Answer: “Faster, higher, stronger.” This is one of the questions that is part of Classical Charter Schools of America’s Classical History Bowl presented by The Roger Bacon Academy (RBA). History Bowl team members in grades 5-8 are expected to learn up to 400 questions by the end of the year! These questions correspond with RBA’s chronological history curriculum. The following time periods are taught in our classical history program: -3000 B.C.-A.D. 476-Beginning of civilization through the Fall of the Roman Empire, taught in 1^st and 5^th grades. -A.D. 476-1453: The Middle Ages, taught in 2^nd and 6^th grades. -1453-1850: Age of Exploration and the Beginning of the USA, taught in 3^rd and 7^th grades. -1850-Present: The War Between the States through 9/11, taught in 4^th and 8^th grades. During the final History Bowl, students will be awarded medals, and schools will earn a coveted trophy to display for the year at their school. The final History Bowl will be held at CCS-Wilmington on April 29.

History Bowl Scrimmage Photos 

Celebrating the Life, Legacy, and 204th Birthday of a Great American

“Once you learn to read, you are forever free,” wrote Frederick Douglass. This quote encapsulates CCS-America’s philosophy and mission. Born a slave in February 1818, Douglass understood the great importance of education.  It was illegal to teach slaves how to read and write, but the wife of his master taught Douglass how to read the Bible. After he learned, he read anything and everything he could. Douglass was a champion of the abolitionist and women’s rights movements, and a supporter of and expert on the Constitution.  CCS-Wilmington (formerly Douglass Academy) celebrates Douglass’s birthday each year through a variety of activities. Teachers read books about Douglass to students, which emphasizes the value he placed on education. Students end the day by singing happy birthday to Douglass and enjoying cupcakes.  Please click the links below to learn more about Frederick Douglass and the virtue and wisdom his life offers us.

Fredrick Douglass – National Historic Site Narrative of the Life of Fredrick Douglass, An American Slave. Written by Himself

Staff Spotlight

This week’s Staff Spotlight is CCS-Leland 7th grade Science Teacher, Mr. David Johnson! Mr. Johnson has taught in the Classical Charter Schools of America network for 11 years. He leads the Science Olympiad team, and last year they placed fourth out of 44 teams. He was Teacher of the Year for the 2015-2016 school year, and in 2016 he was also awarded the Anne Watkins Middle School Distinguished Service Award by the North Carolina Science Teacher’s Association. Learn more about Mr. Johnson in the video below!

Alumni Spotlight

Meet Kaitlyn Emmer, a 2012 Charter Day School, now Classical Charter Schools of Leland, Graduate! Ms. Emmer runs her own mobile pet grooming company, Stinky Paws. Read how her CCS-America education and experience impacted her personally and professionally here!

MythBusters: Charter School Edition! Myth: Charter schools select their students.  Fact:

A charter school is a tuition-free school that must accept all applicants but operates without some of the constraints of traditional public schools, such as the increasingly politicized curriculum district schools use. In contrast, charter schools enable parents to choose the type of education and school they believe is best for their child.  Myth: Charter schools are not held accountable.  Fact: Charter schools must meet the same academic testing requirements and must abide by the same regulations governing exceptional children as traditional public schools. In fact, if a charter school doesn’t perform academically, it can be closed down. This is not the case for district-run public schools, where failing schools typically undergo improvement measures for years while countless students receive subpar educations.   Myth: Charter schools perform lower academically than district schools.  Fact: According to the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction, “NC public schools have an average academic proficiency score of 56.1% while NC charter schools have a proficiency score of 66.7%.”  Myth: Charter schools take money away from district schools and cost taxpayers more money.  Fact: The North Carolina Association for Public Charter Schools states that for every dollar taxpayers spend per district-school student they spend just 73 cents per charter school student. So, charter schools save taxpayers by operating on less funding while delivering better results than district schools. 

Charter School FAQs 

Your Booster Clubs at Work

Our Booster Clubs work hard to continuously improve our schools. Parents and teachers working together allows for the additional support our students, staff, and campuses need. CCS-Southport and CCS-Leland hosted a Fun Run and Color Run in January. Both schools surpassed their goals! The money raised at CCS-Southport will go towards new carpool sidewalk covers. At CCS-Leland, the money will go towards an LED Marquee to display updates and information each day. Thank you, CCS-America families, community sponsors, and friends for your generous support of our schools! 

CCS-Southport CCS-Leland 

Who is Roger Bacon?

For years, educational institutions have been named for prominent people. George Washington University, Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, and The Roger Bacon Academy (RBA). But, who wasRoger Bacon? Roger Bacon was a medieval English philosopher and professor who lived from 1220 to 1292. A graduate of Oxford University and one of the great scholars and teachers of his time, Bacon was well versed in mathematics, optics, alchemy, astronomy, linguistics, philosophy, and Latin. He was greatly influenced by the Greek philosopher Socrates, who taught by directly questioning his students, establishing what one of his students, Plato, described as the teacher-student dialogue. Classical Charter Schools of America, managed by RBA, uses similar methods. “Education has roots that are bitter, yet yield the sweetest fruit,” Aristotle, a student of Plato, is reported to have once proclaimed. It was this type of testament to education, that inspired RBA founder and CEO Baker Mitchell. Mr. Mitchell also was inspired by the teaching of a Texas educator named Thaddeus Lott, whose Direct Instruction methods are a modern version of Socrates’s dialogues. It’s no coincidence that The Roger Bacon Academy’s offices are located on Thaddeus Lott Lane.

Learn more about Roger Bacon