Davidson Elementary School students are collecting pennies and other monetary donations to help fight cancer, and hope to raise $6,000 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society by the end of the month. Meanwhile, the Community School of Davidson is set to receive accreditation this June, Grace Covenant Academy students prepare lunches for Charlotte’s homeless, and McKinney Academy students will perform at Barnes & Noble in Birkdale. Also, North Mecklenburg High School and Cannon School plan open houses. Read below for details.
DAVIDSON ELEMENTARY STUDENTS COLLECT PENNIES TO FIGHT CANCER
DAVIDSON - Members of the Davidson Elementary School student council are collecting “Pennies for Patients,” and will donate the money to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Last year, the school contributed $5,784 to the LLS campaign, and this year it aims to exceed that number.
Help the students achieve their goal of $6,000 by Feb. 29 by donating spare change, dollar bills or checks made out to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Or, click here to donate online.
COMMUNITY SCHOOL OF DAVIDSON TO RECEIVE ACCREDITATION
DAVIDSON - Community School of Davidson is set to receive accreditation through the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) when the organization’s board meets in June. Reviewers for the international accreditation organization AdvancED, which includes SACS, announced the recommendation on Wednesday, Feb. 8, to a packed auditorium of faculty, administrators, and board members. The session capped an 11-month application and evaluation process that concluded with two days of on-site visits to CSD’s two campuses last week.
Citing the school’s commitment to differentiated instruction and best-practice methods for developing curriculum, the review team congratulated CSD for not only articulating a clear vision for educating children, but also for sustaining that vision in practice for over a decade.
“The executive summary you prepared for us was impressive,” shared Dr. George Griffin, AdvancED Chairperson from Chapel Hill, NC. “But we wanted to see for ourselves whether the vision and commitment really translated as you described.” he paused for a moment, before smiling and adding, “What we found is that everyone here lives that vision everyday.”
CSD Administrator Juli VonCanon spearheaded the accreditation process and coordinated the school’s related internal review efforts.
Accreditation reviewers rate schools in seven key areas, including: Vision and Purpose, Governance and Leadership, and Commitment to Continuous Improvement. The typical ranking received by newly accredited schools is a rating of “operational,” which CSD received in one category, and the AdvancED review team rated CSD “highly functional”–the organization’s top rating–in the remaining six areas.
“The process has been extremely affirming for our school, both in terms of our mission and vision,” Ms. VonCanon said. “We are overjoyed by the outcome of this process, which underscores our own commitment to ongoing assessment, evaluation, and continual improvement.”
GRACE COVENANT DELIVERS BAGS OF LUNCH – AND LOVE
Grace Covenant Academy students (from left) Nicholas Kotsakis, Andrew Simonson, Abi Boomgarden, Jordan Jones and Madison Mojica prepare bags of lunch for Charlotte's homeless. (GCA photo)
CORNELIUS - Instead of heart-shaped cards and candies, fifth-graders at Grace Covenant Academy in Cornelius last week made bagged lunches for Charlotte’s homeless.
Students packed 50 bags with sandwiches, chips, fruit and drinks. They then attached to each bag a verse of scripture and a personal note with words of encouragement.
Biblical Studies teacher Lia Bush works with ministries in the city, meeting with and praying for homeless people. And her students wanted to help.
“As a group, they are all beginning to walk out what love looks like in action,” Ms. Bush said.
OPEN HOUSE, IB PARENT MTG. AT NORTH MECK FEB. 28
HUNTERSVILLE - On Tuesday North Mecklenburg High School in Huntersville will host an open house from 5:30 to 7:30. Classrooms will be open and parents and students are invited to drop in. Also during that time, the school will hold a meeting for parents with students in the International Baccalaureate (IB) program. The IB parent meeting begins at 5:30 in the media center.
MCKINNEY STUDENTS PERFORM AT BARNES & NOBLE MON.
HUNTERSVILLE - Students in the McKinney Academy Performance Arts (MAPA) group will perform a skit for children at Barnes & Noble, Birkdale, On Monday at 11 a.m. in the children’s books section. The skit is from The Seven Spools of Thread, an African story about respect.
The performance is free and open to the public.
CANNON HOSTS OPEN HOUSE FEB. 25
CONCORD - Cannon School will host an admission open house on Saturday, Feb. 25, for families of students in grades junior kindergarten through 12. The event begins at 1 p.m. in the school’s Taylor Hall, at 5801 Poplar Tent Road in Concord.
Visiting families will have an opportunity to tour the campus, speak one-on-one with parents and students about the school’s academic, arts, athletics and character education offerings, and learn more about the admission process.
Interested families may register to attend at www.cannonschool.org/register.
For parents unable to attend, Cannon also offers “Walk-in Wednesdays” to accommodate busy schedules. The Admission Office provides campus tours each Wednesday from 9 a.m. to noon, no appointment necessary. Interested parents may also contact the Admission Office at 704-721-7199 to arrange an individual tour around their availability.
