March 5, 2022
"If you don't know where you're going you might end up someplace else." Yogi Berra
Clarifying our Mission
Unless you have attended some previous board meetings in 2021 or perhaps read it on the school website recently, you may not have noticed that Lake Lure Classical Academy now has a new mission statement.
It replaces the previous mission statement, which had been in place for many years. 
The decision to revise the mission statement was the result of some long-strategic planning discussions with the board’s consultant, Dr. Brain Carpenter.
The consensus was that the existing statement didn’t properly reflect the school’s purpose.
Dr. Carpenter shared a few examples of strong mission statements from other charter schools.
Next, a small subgroup of the board, along with Ms. Cohen, began working on a new version of the mission statement. 
The revisions from the subgroup were shared with the board and staff for review and feedback. Following a significant amount of deliberation, the subgroup made its final recommendation to the school board.
The board approved the new mission statement during the November 2021 board meeting.
Since the new mission statement represents a change to LLCA’s original charter document, the final step came in February following approval by the State Board of Education and the Charter School Advisory Council.
The School Board believes this revised statement more clearly and effectively articulates what LLCA is all about and what it offers to all students. 
Vote for this Month's Special Teacher
Parents, please be sure to vote for our March Teacher of the Month. Our teachers need to know that the work they do is appreciated, so please take a minute to complete the Google Form and vote for the teacher that you feel deserves to be recognized this month.

Thank you for Our Spring Face Lift!
We want to thank our partner, New River Landscaping West for their generous donation of mulch to cover our areas around the school. Mr. Blakeley and his crew spent the entire day last Friday cleaning and mulching. New River Landscaping is located in Polk County.
Announcing Upcoming Student Photo Shoots with Lifetouch Photography
We are happy to announce that Lifetouch Photography will be handling our school photos for the remainder of the current school year and for the new school year too! The following dates are tentative for spring pictures. More information will be forthcoming as it becomes available.
Current Schedule:
  • Spring sports photos: on or around March 23rd. This will include baseball, softball, and soccer. 
  • Cap and Gown photos for Seniors: on or around April 6th. (Depending on receipt of caps and gowns from Jostens).
  • Spring individual photos for all K-5 students - on or around April 21st. 
Students will be allowed to dress up (not dress down) for these photos. 
All school rules concerning proper school dress will apply. 
The 6th-12th grade students will be allowed to participate on a pre-paid basis. The reason behind this is that historically many of the upperclassmen do not usually participate in spring photos. 
Lifetouch will send out flyers before the date.
Thursday, March 10th - End of the third nine weeks. Report Cards will be distributed next week.
IMPORTANT:
Thursday, March 17th - Parent-Teacher Conference Day. No School for Students.
If you have not been contacted by your child’s teacher and would like to set up a conference, please email Mrs. Youngblood to schedule a conference at [email protected] or email your child’s teacher directly.
Friday, March 18th - Teacher Workday. No School for students.
March 14th - LLCA Open House & Discovery Tours for Families of new and prospective students, 10 am - 2 pm
March 12-19th - North Carolina Spring Break
March 29th, 11 am - Lottery Drawing for the 2022-2023 School Year. On-campus & Livestreamed on Facebook

Read up on News Every Week from Ms. Powell, Ms. Sias & Ms. Kristin
This Week: Third Grade Teacher, Jessie Massey
Mrs. Massey is a 2nd-year teacher, both of which she has completed here at LLCA. In her spare time, she enjoys acting with her local community theater,(this picture is how she celebrated this past week's observation of Read Across America), a hobby she began in her own elementary school days. One of her favorite parts about teaching is how curious and inquisitive the students always are!
"I love seeing the connections they make between what we're learning in our Core Knowledge units and their real-world everyday life experiences, " she says. "They are constantly providing the class with questions that challenge our depth of knowledge in such surprising ways, and I love seeing them engage with their peers in quality academic discourse!"
Mrs. Massey contributes much of this to our school using the Core Knowledge curriculum, which is one of her favorite things about LLCA. "I was always the kid that wondered 'what if,' and the wide range of topics Core Knowledge covers lets me keep being that person alongside my students. I hope more than anything that each of my students NEVER grows out of that thirst for knowledge and the need to always learn more." 
What's Happening in Mrs. Massey's 3rd Grade Grade These Days?
Mrs. Massey's class is currently learning about light and sound and has especially enjoyed determining the difference between how light interacts with transparent, translucent, and opaque objects. Here, there are integrating some art and creativity by discovering how the direction of light rays and the location of an opaque object will affect the shadow that is created by the object.
Additional Elementary School News
There were lots of celebrations and activities in the elementary school this week. Students celebrated Read Across America by wearing crazy socks and hats on Wednesday. Mrs. Brooks’ first-grade class wore pajamas as a reward for working hard and Mrs. Bradley’s kindergarten class finished Presidents and American Symbols and her first graders finished A New Nation. 
Re-creating the Front Lines of World War One
During the Unit on World War One, Mrs. Blackwell's 7th Grade Social Studies students worked together to build model trenches using boxes of dirt, spoons, popsicle sticks, rocks, and wire. They recreated the front line, support trench, reserve trench, communication trenches, no man’s land, the duck-boards, and barbed wire."
A Taste of College Life for the Class of 2025
Our 9th Graders enjoyed a campus tour at Gardner-Webb University this week for a campus tour. We believe that it is critical for students to visit colleges so that they have a chance to learn about the opportunity of college and what is required of them while they are in high school if they are to be successful applicants to college in the very near future. Members of the Class of 2025 enjoyed a tour of GWU, heard from an admissions representative, and participated in some fun team-building activities.
Reminder: Upcoming Parent Meetings!
Mr. Smith and Mrs. Powell are continuing to meet with parents before the 2022-2023 course registration. The final meeting is at 5:30 pm on March 10th for parents of rising freshmen. These meetings provide an overview of the registration process and offer some recommendations for how parents can help students prepare for the upcoming academic year as well as for life after high school.
For questions, please email
High School Principal, Michael Smith at [email protected]
High School Counselor, Jennifer Powel at [email protected]