All parents/guardians are welcome to join us this Monday evening (December 5) for the second installment of our Parent Academy Series with Michael Thompson, Ph.D. This adults-only event will take place in our Schoedinger Theatre from 7:00-8:30 p.m., and over the following two days Dr. Thompson will also visit with faculty and students in grades 4-12 while he is on campus. Dr. Thompson is a consultant, New York Times bestselling author and psychologist specializing in children and families.
This Saturday, December 3, the Columbus Academy Alumni Association will recognize and honor Phil Carlin ’58for his outstanding contributions to our athletic program. Starting at 5:30 p.m. in the Susan Neal Theatre Lobby, there will be a reception with heavy hors d’oeuvres and desserts. Then Phil will be inducted into our Athletic Hall of Fame at 6:30 p.m. and, immediately following, will be recognized during halftime of the varsity boys basketball game against Bexley. All are welcome to attend!
In honor of the 497 Columbus Academy alumni and five current faculty/staff, coaches, facilities and security team members who have served our country in the armed forces, the school bell atop Morris Hall rang 502 times on Veterans Day. Our upper school Camerata then performed “America the Beautiful” on the balcony overlooking the Senior Quad. From our very first graduate (Carey Evans, Class of 1914) to our first alumnae to serve – Mary Beth Ray ’06 and Jamie Scheiman ’06 – to our most recent graduate Luke Nester ’21 at the U.S. Naval Academy, Columbus Academy commends the spirit of service its many alumni, faculty, staff, coaches, parents and friends have chosen to uphold.
Dec. 9 Fourth Grade Musical and Empty Bowls Service Event
Dec. 14 PACA Monthly Forum
Dec. 16 Sixth Grade Naval Project and LS Winter Closing Program
Dec. 20 Annual Holiday Luncheon
Jan. 3 School Resumes
Jan. 6 US Semester Grades Posted
Jan. 10 MS Semester Grades Posted
Jan. 11 PACA Monthly Forum
To Our Generous Community
During this season of giving, please consider joining in the 2022-23 Annual Fund, our school’s largest and most important annual fundraising effort. First-semester gifts and pledges are especially helpful as we plan for a successful year. Donations support faculty and their curricular innovation, flourishing arts and athletics programs, tuition assistance, and new opportunities that arise. To ensure your tax-deductible donation is counted in 2022, please give onlineor postmark your envelope by December 31. For assistance, please contact the Development Office. We are grateful to all who have already participated! Thank you.
PACA Monthly Forums
The next two Parent Forums hosted by the Parents’ Association of Columbus Academy will feature our school nurses on December 14 and our college counselors on January 11. Please join us on the fireside of the dining hall at 8:00 a.m. on those Wednesdays for coffee and opportunities to get more involved in our community!
College Counseling Coffees
Our college counselors will be hosting the following three informational coffees for interested Academy parents from 8:00-9:00 a.m. on the dining hall’s fireside:
Jan. 14 Planning a College Visit
Jan. 25 Standardized Testing
Feb. 1 Athletic Recruiting
Admissions Screening Dates
In anticipation of a busy upcoming admissions season, our Admissions Office has select screening dates for current Academy families with another child they would like to apply to Lower School for the 2023-24 school year. The screenings are scheduled to start at 8:30 a.m. on the fireside of our dining hall on Tuesday, December 13, for PreK & Kindergarten and Thursday, December 15, for Grades 1-4. To schedule one of these sessions, by December 5 please call either Assistant Director of Admissions for Early Childhood Lisa Spolter at 614-509-2283 or Associate Director of Admissions (Grades 2-8) Lauren Leahy at 614-509-2236.
Summer Internship Program
Would you like to have a Columbus Academy upper school student intern at your organization? The summer internship program is now recruiting partner organizations with in-person and virtual opportunities for Summer 2023. Contact Director of InternshipsJennifer Conti at ContiJ@columbusacademy.org orclick here to learn more.
Celebrating the Academy Experience
Organ Day & Other Campus Activities
The 19th year of Organ Day for our seventh-graders took place in early November as Dr. Andy Bezant welcomed 10 doctors to his classroom. A total of three sessions brought the entire seventh grade class through the rotation that included interacting with lungs, ankles, leg bones and much more to help educate the students on how the human body is formed and processes. Learn more and view photos from this event by clicking here. For coverage of other recent campus events, click on the following links:
Winter and Spring offerings in our ASA (After School Activities) program can be viewed here. Each activity runs from 3:30-4:30 p.m. unless otherwise noted. Registration opens for winter classes at 9:00 a.m. on Monday, December 5 (look for registration button on this page). Spring ASA registration will open at 9:00 a.m. on Wednesday, March 1.
Celebration of Leadership Speaker
We recently welcomed Dr. Brian Greene – theoretical physicist, New York Times bestselling author and professor of physics and mathematics at Columbia University – to campus as part of our Celebration of Leadership. Dr. Greene spoke to our upper-schoolers about science phenomenon and discovery, complete with interactive visuals from his work with an award-winning NOVA miniseries (view photos). Dr. Greene then answered questions from students before spending a fun and informative evening with Annual Fund leadership donors at COSI. More from this donor appreciation event will be shared soon!
Thanksgiving Events on Campus
Gwen Nzimiro, an upper school librarian and Academy parent, created a Thanksgiving video that was used to help explain the holiday during a lower school assembly. Kindergartners received a special surprise when their senior buddies joined them to decorate “turkeys” (apples) with candies and marshmallows. And our tech theatre students enjoyed their final “Techsgiving” gathering with retiring theatre director Scott Dillon.
Empty Bowls/Soup for Shelter
All are invited to join us next Friday, December 9, for the annual Empty Bowls/Soup for Shelter at the Otterbein University Campus Center from 5:00-7:00 p.m. Tickets are $15 per person and include bottomless soup, bread, beverage, cookie and your choice of a handcrafted bowl made by a Columbus Academy ceramics student. Click here to purchase tickets online or see Christy Bening in person to buy. For more details about this partnership, click here. Also, click on the link below for more news from our service department:
The 6th Annual Student Art Show is currently on display in our Morris Hall Art Gallery! Next time you are on campus, be sure to stop by and see selected works from lower, middle and upper school art students who have painted, photographed and designed outstanding pieces. Scroll through this gallery of pictures to get a sneak peak! In the coming weeks, we'll be sharing more from the recent choir, band and orchestra performances but in the meantime click on the following links for previews of those concerts.
Our 2022-23 winter sports program can now be viewed by clicking here. This season we have 138 student-athletes competing at the freshman, junior varsity and varsity levels for basketball, bowling, ice hockey, swimming & diving and wrestling as well as hundreds more on our middle school and youth teams. In addition to the links below, check out more sports coverage on Instagram @academyvikings. Go Vikes!
“You are not only an incredible director but an actor, too,” said senior Vaanika Jindal to Scott Dillon after the final performance of our fall play. “We all just thank you from the bottom of our hearts so much for being our mentor and our friend.” Dill, as he is affectionately known to students and colleagues alike, is retiring at the end of this school year. In addition to the curtain call and tribute to Dill, you can view the “Little Women” photo gallery and assembly teaser scene. Click on the following links for more faculty/staff and alumni news:
