In this issue: New Faculty Member, Iowa Test Results, Music Camp, and more!

VERITAS CLASSICAL ACADEMY
Taking young minds seriously

115 Victory Place
PO Box 389
Marietta, Ohio 45750
(740) 885-2033  www.VeritasMarietta.com

June 23, 2016
Summer Music Camps
Local musician, Todd Burge, was one of our instructors this summer.
Our summer music camps have wrapped up at the Academy. This summer the camps featured a music exploration camp and guitar lessons. We appreciate the participation of several local musicians and instructors who shared their time and talents with our students, including Mark Doebrich, Todd Burge, Melissa Corcoran, Jonah Litman, Meagan Hahn, and Emilia Jacobs.

Introducing Mr. Kevin Ritter

Veritas Classical Academy is pleased to welcome to our staff Mr. Kevin Ritter. Mr. Ritter will teach history at the 9-12 grade levels beginning in the 2016-17 school year. In addition to being a co-founder of the Academy, he has taught extensively at both the 2-year and 4-year college levels. Ritter is currently a professor of History and Political Science at Washington State Community College and Ohio Valley University.
 
Kevin received a B.S. in Education with a double major in History and Political Science from Central Michigan University in 1990. He stayed on to complete an M.A. in Political Science at CMU in 1992. After 5 years working in Washington, DC, Ritter returned to Western Michigan University to pursue a PhD. in Modern European History the requirements for which he has completed with the exception of the dissertation.
 
Personally, Ritter has owned and operated Coast to Coast Baseball, a private player development program, for the past 16 years. During this time, program participants have gone on to compete at every level of collegiate and professional baseball. As both a coach and delegation leader he has led groups of college bound athletes to represent the USA in Puerto Rico, China, Australia, Switzerland, Germany, France, Belgium, and the Netherlands.
 
Ritter is married to fellow Veritas co-founder, and local attorney, Khadine. The couple has two children who both attend the Academy. "I am so pleased with what we have accomplished in our first two years. Classical education, as a method for instilling both personal virtue and right reason, has been the foundation for quality education for the past two millennia and we are pleased to be the only school offering such an education here in the Mid-Ohio Valley," said Ritter.  

Please help us welcome a familiar face to our faculty!

Iowa Test Results

Students in grades 3 - 8 took the Iowa Test of Basic Skills just prior to the end of the school year. The Iowa test, as it is commonly called, is the standardized test most used by private schools in the United States and some public schools.  We use the test solely to assess our judgment about the strengths of our curriculum and as a comparative tool vis  à vis other schools similar to the Academy. We do not spend class time preparing for the test so as not to cause anxiety or build expectations.

We are pleased to report that our students' Iowa Test results for the 2015-16
school year greatly surpassed last year's impressive scores. Here is a snapshot of the resulting grade equivalents for math and English*:
  • 3rd grade students - 1 1/2 grade levels higher in English and math
  • 4th grade students - 3 grade levels higher in English and 2 1/2 levels higher in math
  • 5th grade students - 1 1/2 grade levels higher in English and math
  • 6th grade students - 2 grade levels higher in English and 1 1/2 levels higher in math
  • 7th grade students - performing at college level in English and math
  • 8th grade students - performing at college level in English and math
*The "grade equivalent" is a number that describes performance in terms of grade level and months. For example, the 5th grade students, on the whole, are performing like typical students finishing their first semester (1/2 the school year) of the 7th grade.

These scores are only part of the academic picture, along with report cards, teacher and parent observations, and even the students' confidence in how much and how well they are learning. When these are added to the second prong of our school's mission - the development of virtue - we are led to a more complete evaluation of student achievement.  

We acknowledge our dedicated school parents, who have the primary responsibility of educating their children, and we thank them for their commitment to their children's education. We are also grateful to our teachers whose devotion to their students is exceptional.

Junior Scholars Camp

Mrs. Nestor and Mrs. Gale have been leading a math and reading camp for our junior scholars over the la st  couple of weeks. They are cu rrently in the thick of mathematics learning about three dimensional shapes. The students are applying their new knowledge by building miniature houses. Next week's lessons will touch on geometry so that they can experiment with angles and add roofs to their structures.
In the News

The Academy made headline news last week with a story in the Marietta Times about our high school opening this fall. To read the article, please click here. 
Veritas Classical Academy| 740-885-2033 | info@veritasmarietta.com | www.VeritasMarietta.com

 IUSTITIA        PRUDENTIA        FORTITUDO       TEMPERANTIA