September 27, 2019
Chesapeake Academy's mission: to inspire each student to approach learning with 
curiosity and creativity, 
pursue excellence in all endeavors, 
and act with integrity--
so each can make our community and world a better place. 
The Head's Heads UP

 The power of children's voices in our world has been highlighted recently, particularly around issues of environmental stewardship, and I wanted to speak to Chesapeake Academy's efforts to steward our resources well and to teach our children to do the same. 

Much of the focus of environmental stewardship looks really familiar to older generations, who reused and reduced waste out of necessity and as a habit. With all the items of “convenience” we have access to, thinking about our carbon footprint now has to be a choice. 

As a school, we are concerned about our carbon footprint, and we are making changes over time to increase our energy efficiency and reduce waste. However, there are things we can all do right now to be mindful of the resources we use. 

Our students gather paper, plastic, and aluminum weekly throughout the school to recycle. Staff members and parents have volunteered to take these recyclables each week, but we also know there is a global glut of materials that have been sorted and may never be recycled. Some of this ends up in landfills or in the oceans despite our best efforts. Reducing our trash and recycling waste is an important step we can take here and at home. 

We hope that you will help us reduce single use plastics and other items that need to go into trash or recycling. Glass containers, bento boxes, thermoses, and other containers that can go back home to be washed and reused are excellent options for lunches. From an environmental, healthy eating, and financial standpoint, reusable containers cannot be beat! In addition, when students take their containers back home, it helps reduce food waste, as they aren't tossing unfinished items (that could be eaten later) into the trash. We do ask students in the lunch room to recycle anything that they can from their lunches, but it is a small measure when compared to proactive packing and planning.

When students forget utensils or cups, we have some in Academy Hall for their use. Again, we teach students to wash these items after lunch so they're available for someone else to use next time. 

Middle School students purchased a composter several years ago. Students will begin composting food scraps (such as banana peels) again soon, which is another way to reduce what goes into a landfill. As my grandmother used to say, “it it came from the Earth, it can go back to the Earth.” 

I welcome your suggestions in other ways that you and we together can help students develop an understanding of good habits for their environmental stewardship. 
Class Acts...
What's Happening on the Halls?
Old Grey Mare Publishing Company

Thanks to a team of outstanding volunteers, pre-k 3&4 has embarked on their yearly campaign for authorship. Students dictate their passions to kindly editors who transcribe their texts for teachers to tailor to encompass each child's specific learning goals. Students learn the concepts of language using their own words and ideas! As books are completed, families gather with the class to hear the finished book presented by the author of the day. These are always keepsakes!
Roll Up Your Sleeves, and Lend a Hand!

Volunteers are needed for October 11 in the afternoon of October 12 beginning at 9 a.m. to setup . 

Ticket holders are asked to work one hour during the event to make this the best event ever. We need folks to serve hamburgers, hot dogs, fried oysters, as well as grill hamburgs and hot dogs. Help at fire pit is needed for folks to carry oysters to tables. Other slots that need filling are registration/greeting, raffle ticket and CA logowear sales. Please see Catherine Emry, Lauren Leo, or Michelle Ritter to volunteer or call 804.438.5575.  

All proceeds benefit Chesapeake Academy’s academic and co-curricular programs and support financial assistance.


Loving the Library!

Kindergarteners are excited about our new James Library. They love spending time sharing favorite reads, checking out books, and taking part in hands-on activities that promote a greater understanding of text and develop a love of books. Most recently, students listened to a reading of  The Giant Jam Sandwich  and then made their own sandwiches using blackberry and raspberry jam. After much chomping and finger licking, students moved on to a video reading of  The Bear Ate My Sandwich  and made comparisons of the two books. Learning is alive in the CA library! 
Kindergarten is On The Road Again!

It's that time of year: It is time to plant new things for the change of seasons. Kindergarten visited M&M Building Supply to choose new plants for the Kindergarten Wagon Garden. Not only did students find beautiful flowers and fresh vegetable plants, but a new crop of friends, to boot. Leigh-Erica and Morgan helped us to find just the right plants, and Watering Will read us a story as we cooled off in the AC. Thank you M&M for the planting tips, friendly smiles, great story, special gifts--an afternoon in Hartfield to remember! Want to see more kindergarten fun? Check out their blog, A Day in K.
CAPPA Poster Distribution Committee:

The Office of Admission partners with the Poster Distribution Committee to market Chesapeake Academy to the greater community. This committee would benefit from having a few more folks added. If your schedule requires flexibility, this is the perfect way to give some of those 15 volunteer hours! You will be given posters with a list of locations to display by a certain date. If you are interested in this committee, please contact HIlary Scott at  hscott@chesapeakeacademy.org . Our first distribution of two posters will begin in mid-October!
First Grade Embraces Wild Things

First grade began the year talking about imagination, so the class read Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak. Students spent their first few weeks in art class creating their own "wild thing." Students used texture plates, discussed art styles, and painted with water colors. Once the paint was dry, these fabulous creations were put on "shrinky dink" paper and shunk to more than 1/2 their original style. 

Students will design and build trees for their miniature wild things in the Arts & Innovation Hub. The design process began with discussion about tree parts and how structures/things that are larger on top must "counterbalance" to not fall over. Design papers were distributed with a list of items students would be allowed to use in their tree design, starting with a cardboard cylinder/toilet paper roll.

Students will return to the Hub next Wednesday to begin building their trees. Completed trees and the shrinky dink wild things will all be displayed on a bulletin board outside of our classroom for the community to enjoy. Look for that in the weeks ahead!
Wanted: Ms. Manetz in the James Library is desperate for volunteers to help shelve books and cut some things out in the library! It would be a weekly volunteer position and could occur any day/time as long as it is consistent. Contact Kenzie Manetz if you are interested!
Battle of the Books Teams Begin to Prepare!

Battle of the Books is a reading incentive program for fourth and fifth grade students that encourages high quantity reading of high quality texts. The titles on the assigned book list are chosen for their thought provoking plots. They are intended to get kids thinking about new places, time periods, and/or points of view. Toward the end of the school year, students show off all they know as they partcipate in a team-based game show style book competition called a "battle."

Placed on teams of four to five readers, students will touch base periodically with a coach to ensure they stay on track and keep their book list with completed titles checked off. Students will need to memorize authors and titles for their answers during the competition.

Parents can help by encouranging reading from the battle list and discussing what is happening in a book to encourage overall comprehension and keep enthusiasm high. Consider installing the public library's Libby App on your phone or your child's device so that drive time and at-home leisure time can be spent listening to audio versions of books--maximizing time in text.

The only rule is that students should read and read often. Students may read at home, in the car, and at school. We ask that students keep only one CA library book at at time so that all will have access to the texts.
Ecosystem Zoos!

Third grade students are working on an ecosystem zoo as they study life science by working with a partner to research and take notes on a particular ecosystem. They will use the information to design an exhibit to be included in our zoo. As the project evolves, students will work individually to add their own animal to the exhibit. We will put our ecosystem zoo together to have on display once complete!
Cultural Exchanges Build Global Connections!

Faces and Our Culture is an organization that pairs host families and Guatemalan exchange students for a cultural program. Chesapeake Academy has been delighted to host several previous students from Guatemala. And now we are excited to welcome José Pablo Vilela Cofiña and London Mariée González Ramírez to the seventh grade on October 15. José will be staying with the Dew family, and London will be living with the Leos! Please make a point of welcoming these two great kids to Chesapeake Academy! We have much to learn from one another!

Go, Figurative!

After working with figurative (descriptive) language, Chesapeake Academy sixth grade Writers' Workshop students worked in groups to make posters promoting an amusement park of their choice (some groups invented their own parks). The advertisements had to employ similes, metaphors, personification, and idioms. They were very creative!
Fourth Grade Makes Tools and Baskets in Ancient World History

Fourth grade recently had the chance to become archaeologists and gatherers in Ancient World History! As part of the class' discovery of prehistory and the beginnings of civilizations, students were charged with creating archaeologists tools and baskets for gathering using a limited amount of time and supplies.

First, teams brainstormed designs and then set to work in the Arts & Innovation Hub to bring their ideas to life. Once the projects were complete, the class had the chance to test their creations outside. Archaeologists used their tools to uncover real artifacts Ms. Emery buried behind Wiley. Meanwhile, gatherers tested the strength of their baskets with fruits, vegetables, and plenty of fallen pecans from the parking lot. Considering the size, purpose, and proportions of the tools and baskets encouraged students to thoughtfully consider how prehistoric people lived and the ways that we uncover clues of the past. 

Citizen Scientists become Conservation Activists

Chesapeake Academy is delighted to be benefitting from a grant received by the Friends of the Rappahannock (FOR) for work on the lower Rappahannock River and Carters Creek. "These sorts of authentic learning experiences create a deep comprehension of complex issues for our students," explains Head of School Julie Duvall.

In a three-part process, the FOR is partnering with CA science teacher Robin Blake to teach students to identify shoreline erosion, understand its relationship with dead zones, and plan potential solutions. The first step was a kayak tour of shorelines in Carters Creek that helped Chesapeake Academy's sixth, seventh, and eighth grade students recognize physical risk factors for erosion and the varieties of runoff and pollutants that impact water quality in local creeks and the Rappahannock River. In interconnected waterways, these same pollutants eventually create dead zones in the Chesapeake Bay. 

Next week, Student Project Coordinator Brent Hunsinger from the FOR will visit the school to address broad conservation strategies for the Rappahannock River and the Chesapeake Bay.

The final phase of this project involves creating a water-retaining garden (with rain barrels for natural water collection) to stem erosion into the creek behind the school. This herbaceous buffer will also tie into the Henry G. Selby Nature Trail and Chesapeake Academy's outdoor classroom that was recently designated as a Woodland Habitat by the National Wildlife Federation.

Eighth grade students will compose a paper exploring regulations that impact conservation and create ads to persuade people to help protect the Chesapeke Bay by pointing to specific measures that can help reduce the influx of pollutants. "This is an exciting project: our students learn from real problem solving--and impact the health of local marine environments," enthuses Robin Blake. "A real win-win!"

Coach's Corner

This is shaping up to be a very positive season in Osprey Athletics! Coming off a string of Osprey wins, Chesapeake Academy's volleyball team traveled to Ware for a match on Monday where they lost 2-0.

The varsity soccer team hosted Lancaster Middle School on Thursday losing in a hard-fought contest.

And both JV and Varsity soccer teams welcomed Light of the World Academy to campus on Friday for a practice/scrimmage.

Looking ahead, the volleyball team will host Ware on the September 30 before traveling to Northumberland Middle School on 10/2. The soccer team will travel to Lancaster Middle School on 10/1.
The Past is Prologue...and Poetry

This week, seventh grade US History students are learning about life in Colonial America. During our discussion about slavery, students analyzed and read "To the Right Honorable William, Earl of Dartmouth" by Phillis Wheatley. This poem, written in 1773, shows a desire for freedom that tells an important story of Pre-Revolutionary War America. Wheatley was the first African American woman to publish a book of poems, many of which detailed her life as a slave in the New England colonies. 
Algebra Students Coding? Yes!

Algebra students are discovering the similarities between problem solving in an algebra class and the process of coding through Code.org C omputer Science in Algebra initiative. Lessons are designed for students who are new to coding through a program called  Bootstrap  that enables students, over the course of a yearlong program, to create their own video game. Twenty lessons throughout this unit will focus on algebraic concepts including order of operations, the coordinate plane, scientific notation and functions, and applying algebra through word problems, all with an innovative result. More information can be found at  code.org/curriculum/Algebra .
Let's Stock our New Library with Birthday Books!

Students are loving the inviting new Chesapeake Academy library. This dynamic space attracts readers, and that offers us the perfect opportunity to fill our shelves with exciting, informative, and engaging tomes to promote reading with our learners. 

You can help! Please consider contributing to the Chesapeake Academy Birthday Book Drive. Parents, grandparents, and grandfriends are encouraged to fill out a birthday book form ( Click here to get it from the CA website! ), denoting your special Osprey’s name and the amount you would like to contribute to the cause. 

As always, our school librarian and reading specialist, Kenzie Manetz, will select a special book for your growing learner and affix an honorary name plate detailing your gift. 

The books will be wrapped and presented to Birthday Book recipients at a school assembly later this year. Last year your donations purchased 113 literary treasures for CA students. Help us surpass this achievement and stock our shiny shelves with more wonderful fiction and nonfiction titles.
A Glimpse of Future Options....

An admissions representative from Chatham Hall School visited Chesapeake Academy last week to speak with CA girls about boarding school. Chatham Hall is an all-girls boarding schools of approximately 160 students in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains that prides itself on academic pursuit, integrity, and diversity with an international bent. Our seventh and eighth grade girls listened well, asked great questions, and learned about one of the many secondary options that are available to them after they graduate from CA.

Over the course of the year, a number of independent schools will visit CA, and these schools value the independent thought, creativity, and community- mindedness of our students. As part of this process, students should begin to learn about the secondary schools that are the best fit for them.

Refer A Family!

As a Chesapeake Academy parent, you are invited to participate in the Referral Program which could earn your family a  $1000.00  tuition credit! Wait! WHAT? Did you catch that? Yes, you did!  $1000.00  tuition credit will be applied to your account should you refer a family and upon being accepted, enroll at CA! Now, tell me....who wouldn't want to participate in the Referral Program with such a fine reward for participation? Referring a family is a super great way to grow Chesapeake Academy with students you want seated next to your own child! So....take a moment and think about a family that may be a great fit for our community! If you are interested, of course you are, complete the 2020-2021 referral form and submit to Hilary Scott, Director of Admission. Once the form is received, you will work with Hilary to provide the prospective family with a brochure packet and you are on your way! Questions? Contact Hilary at hscott@chesapeakeacademy.org  or 804.438.5575.
Class Website Links

Several classes have embraced websites or blogs as a way to share the details of student experience. If your child's class has one, take a minute to bookmark the site for easy reference!

Student Council Update!

Student Council would like to thank students who ran for class representative of their classes. It takes a lot of bravery to stand up in front of the middle school, and the speeches were amazing! Your willingness to serve is commendable.

Congratulations to our 2019-20 representatives:
  • Fifth grade: Eliza Leo
  • Sixth grade: Jayla Wilson
  • Seventh grade: Anna Carey
  • Eighth grade: Ap Pollard

Middle school students should continue with their preparations for Inward Bound. Space is the theme of the dance this year, so students may get creative when they make their costumes! Ideas include astronauts, aliens, planets, black holes, stars, or anything else they imagine!

Students are also working on designing their advisory challenges for Inward Bound, and they should remember that their materials are limited to duct tape and cardboard. All materials should be brought in before Inward Bound. 
CAPPA Update

CAPPA would like to ask for your continued support for our Box Top’s fundraiser. Please continue to scan your receipts or send them in to your child’s teacher and we will take care of it. It’s starting to add up!

Apple sales are going strong! How many ways can we use apples? Apple sauce, apple pies, apple crumb cake, apple fritters, apple slices, apple butter. Please share your apple recipes and apple graphics on your FB pages when sharing your apple sales with friends, they will notice and it will help generate more apple sales.

The Osprey Nest is looking for used kilts/skirts in the 8 or 10 size range. If you have any, please let Lara Brown know or just send in to the front office.

Get Ready to Shop Stella and Dot!

Christmas is around the corner, and with some planning, your purchases can support Chesapeake Academy as well as delight a loved one. Parent Jennifer Miller will be hosting a Stella and Dot jewelry sale on campus on October 21 and 23 from 3:00 to 5:30 p.m. She will be donating her commission to Chesapeake Academy. Stay tuned for more details!
Take a Peek Tuesdays! 

Do you know someone who is interested in learning more about Chesapeake Academy? The first Tuesday of each month is Take A Peek Tuesday at Chesapeake Academy. Prospective parents and curious community members are invited to join us for an abbreviated tour from 9:00 to 9:30 a.m. Tell your friends to come on by, introduce themselves, take a brief tour, grab a brochure packet and get back to their day!

There is so much to see: the new Arts & Innovation Hub and James Library, engaged students in classrooms, and creative teachers! Visitors can ask questions and just satisfy their curiosity!

Know someone who is interested in Chesapeake Academy who might prefer a more in-depth tour? We can do that, too! Please call Director of Admission, Hilary Scott, at 804.438.5575.

Do you Know an Osprey Merit Scholar?

Chesapeake Academy is on the hunt for the next Osprey Merit Scholar. Osprey Merit Scholars are excellent school citizens, academically capable, responsible, and motivated. Well-respected by teachers and peers, an Osprey Scholar demonstrates academic excellence, leadership, and strong interpersonal and character skills. "This opportunity for students currently in third or fourth grade comes at a very exciting time in the life of Chesapeake Academy," explains Admission Director Hilary Scott. "Chesapeake Academy has a cutting edge curriculum that prepares students to think critically, problem solve, and collaborate effectively. And our Arts and Innovation Hub is developing innovators and designers that can thrive in flexible environments."

This merit scholarship provides for 100% tuition which is renewable annually from enrollment to graduation. Consideration of this Merit Scholarship will begin on November 1 and end on December 13. To be considered for this scholarship, contact director of admission, Hilary Scott, at 804.438.5575 to how to apply.


An Attitude of Gratitude

  • We are grateful for that "roll up your sleeves" outlook at Chesapeake Academy! Our "can do" staff dives in to fill the gap when the school needed a cleaning. Thanks in particular go to Administrator Richard Abbott who leads the way.
  • The team of volunteers in the Development Office continues to set the standard for collaboration and industry! Thanks to every one of you!
  • Have you noticed the cute cadre of wee green men holding flags who guide our drop off and dismissal? Well, hey would not be standing without the assistance of Lawrence Veney and Skyler Casey who filled their feet with sand to hold them upright. Thanks, team!
  • Many thanks to the staff at M&M Building Supply for the time and planning they put into Kindergarten's visit! The kids loved the tour, story, and surprises!
The Gift of Time and Talent is a Treasure!


Dates to Remember

10/1 Soccer at LMS, 4:00 p.m.
10/2 Picture Day/Dress Uniform
10/2 Volleyball at NMS, 4:30 p.m.
10/3-4 Middle School Inward Bound
10/7 Eighth Grade Parent Meeting at Residence, 8:30 a.m
10/8 New Parent Roundtable, 8:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m., in the James Library
10/8 Soccer hosts ACDS (JV @ 4:00p.m.; V @ 5:00 p.m.)
10/8 Volleyball at ACDS, 4:00 p.m.
10/10 St. Mary's School Visit, 12:00 p.m.
10/11 Interim Reports out
10/12 Oyster Roast
10/14 Columbus Day, No School
10/15 Kindergarten Parent Meeting at the Residence, 8:30 a.m.
10/16 Placed-based Extension of the Academic Curriculum (PEAC) experience at Christchurch School, seventh grade
10/17 Soccer ISAC chapionship
10/22 PreK Parent Meeting at the Residence, 8:30 a.m.
10/22 Woodberry Forest Visit, noon
10/23 PALS Richmond Ballet
10/24 Volleyball Championship
10/30 Tag Day
10/30 Profesional Development, No Sports
10/31 Urbanna Oyster Festival Education Days, seventh grade
11/4-14 Book Fair
11/5 State of the School Parent Meeting, 5:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.
11/6 Dress Uniform
11/6 Picture Makeup Day
11/8 Grandparents' and Grandfriends' Day
11/8 End First Marking Period
11/11 through 14 Parent Partnership, 3:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.