Greetings from Carrabassett Valley! I hope everyone has had a great summer. The staff at CVA has been busy with summer programming and preparing for the return of our students later this month. The Facilities crew has been hard at work, sprucing up the campus, and teachers are preparing their classrooms and coursework for the resumption of classes. Our coaches have been busy leading many summer training opportunities both off and on snow around the world. 

As many of you know, this past year CVA went through the decennial accreditation process with the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC). I’m excited and proud to share that CVA has been granted Continued Accreditation for a period of 10 years. The year-long accreditation process offers valuable insight into all aspects of the school and helps to ensure CVA continues to offer every opportunity for our student-athletes to reach their personal best in a supportive community steeped in a culture of kindness, respect, commitment, and gratitude.

The NEASC Commission on Independent Schools commended CVA for our deliberate and clear understanding of the Academy's purpose and priorities, and praised the school for being a nurturing, joyful, energetic, passionate, dedicated, and caring community of educators who love what they do, where they do it, and how they teach and coach. In addition to noting the positive school culture, the Commission made special mention of the Academic Success Program and the Peer Mentor Program as evidence that the school pays close attention to students’ needs. The Commission’s recommendations for continued school improvement focused on succession planning, leadership, and staffing support, as well as facilities planning.

This planning for the future is already well underway with the launch of the search for the Academy’s next Head of School. A search committee composed of current and former trustees, parents, and alumni, led by co-chairs Kevin Burns P ’04 and Peter C. Smith ’08, are working with consultant Tracy Bennett from Educators Collaborative to find just the right candidate. The most recent communication from the co-chairs, including results of the community survey, can be found here.

This summer the Board of Trustees also kicked off the multi-year effort to develop CVA’s next Strategic Plan. First, and foundational in that effort, is a review of the school’s mission statement. A committee of trustees, teachers, coaches, and staff are doing a deep dive into what makes CVA - CVA, and will ensure our mission statement is an accurate reflection of the intent and purpose of our school. The group’s findings will be presented to the Board at the annual meeting in September. 

I hope everyone enjoys the last few weeks of summer. We look forward to seeing our campus bustling with students again soon and can’t wait to kick off the 2023-24 school year. 

Go Big Dogs!

Kate Webber Punderson ’89

CVA is pleased to welcome Derek Banat '14 to the team as a Strength and Conditioning Coach and Mental Performance Consultant. Derek, a graduate from the CVA class of 2014, is a passionate and hard-working professional with a background in psychology and exercise science.

Since alpine racing at CVA, he has excelled in coaching and research while demonstrating excellent communication skills. Derek was the student representative speaker for his CVA graduating class and a sports media broadcaster for his undergraduate school, St. Lawrence University. With certifications as a Functional Strength Coach and USA Weightlifting Coach, Derek is dedicated to helping athletes achieve their best performance.

As a member of the Association for Applied Sports Psychology (AASP), he is currently pursuing a master's in sport and exercise psychology from Springfield College.

CVA is excited to welcome Sofija Novoselic as an alpine ski coach for 2023-2024! Sofija will be the Head U16 Coach.

Sofija had extensive experience competing with the Croatian Ski Team from 2007-2015. She skied in two Winter Olympics (Vancouver and Sochi) and five World Championships. She attended Westminster College where she was a four year member of the ski team and graduated with a BS in Psychology. Her coaching experience includes one year at Ski Club Vail as a women’s FIS coach (2018-19) and most recently as Head 16 Women’s Coach at GMVS (2019-2023).

Sofija is a dedicated, personable and passionate coaching professional with extensive personal experience in our sport. She is excited to begin working with our athletes at our August ski camp in Chile.

CVA is pleased to announce that Jeni Conover is the new CVA Alpine Weekend Program Manager and Connor Dolan is the new Freestyle Weekend Program Manager.

Jeni has 25+ years of coaching experience in multiple aspects of youth development. A mother of 3, she is devoted to guiding children to achieve new skills on all levels and strives to build self-confidence in every athlete she works with.

Jeni will take over for longtime CVA Weekend Program Manager, Ron Bonnevie, who will continue to provide his 40+ years of coaching expertise to CVA as a U14 Alpine Coach.

“I will make every effort to carry on Ron's high standards and support Sugarloaf, CVA, and the community with a healthy and safe Alpine program,” Jeni said. “It takes a village to keep a youth sports program striving for excellence, and the Sugarloaf and CVA community is among the best.”

Connor is a lifelong Sugarloafer who participated in the CVA Weekend Program as a Mogul athlete and has been a program coach for the past seven seasons. He is a Level 100 Mogul and Level 200 Aerials certified coach.

Connor is also the son of former Weekend Program Manager and legendary Freestyle skier, Joan Dolan, who has been a member of the CVA family for more than 40 years and recently announced her retirement from coaching.

“Growing up at Sugarloaf, being a part of the CVA community, and having my mom as such a strong role model has instilled in me a love of skiing and coaching,” Connor said recently. “I am proud to take the reins from my mother, Joan Dolan.”

Because CVA is a competitive ski and snowboarding academy, our student-athletes travel a lot during the winter months. To accommodate this rigorous travel schedule, CVA developed academic programming, offered during the summer months, to allow student-athletes to get ahead in next year's studies with the benefit of in-class instruction and hands-on learning!

Over the summer, CVA offered summer school courses for select sophomores, juniors, and seniors looking to lighten their academic load during the months of January, February, and March of the upcoming school year. Courses offered in-person this year included Physics, Chemistry, and Algebra II. Additional summer school courses offered online included Western Civilization, US History, and Government. In these courses, students work independently over the summer to complete assignments provided online.

Many students took advantage of the CVA summer school offerings to get ahead for next year. Twenty-five students in grades 10-12 participated in the independent online classes, and twenty students participated in the in-person courses on campus.

CVA student-athletes and coaches have been traveling the world this summer to maintain fitness and progress in skills for the upcoming competition season. On-snow training locations included Mt. Hood, Whistler, and Corralco, Chile. Dry land training included water ramps and air bag training in Quebec and New York.

Off-season training gives CVA athletes opportunities to improve their strength, power, agility, endurance, balance, skills, and overall athleticism - the keys to long-term sporting success.

Congratulations to CVA Alpine student-athlete Charlie Koenig '24 on receiving the 2023 Berlack/Astle Memorial Award from World Cup Supply.

In submitting her nomination, Roger Kimball, Eastern Regional Coach, commented that this award "...will enable one of our region's best to participate in a GS-focused project with other top regional athletes, some older than her, some younger. That means she'll have some rabbits to chase while at the same time being a leader for the younger participants, and what a great role model she'll be. She's committed to developing her skills across both tech and speed. She's a great student and has a terrific attitude to contribute to the culture of the group."

Introducing the newly-elected CVA Student Council officers for the 2023-24 school year!

President - Chase Littlefield '24

Vice President - Caleb Stefanakos '24

Representative -

Amy Latendresse '24

Representative -

Boden Gerry '24

Representative -

Maggie Swain '24

This summer, the Koenig family competed in the Maine Summer Adventure Race. In this 24-hour continuous race, teams find hidden checkpoints via mountain biking, kayaking, and trekking using only a map and compass for navigation.

Scrambled Legs and Aching, the Koenig family team, finished the race in 16^th place (out of about 40), in just over 23 hours. The team competed against some of the best Adventure Racing teams in the US with two of the youngest competitors in the event on their team, Noah '22 and Charlie '24.

The Koenigs are a Big Dog family through and through. Dave is the Dean of Students, IT Director, and a Math Teacher at CVA. Shelley is the Student Planning Director and a Science Teacher. Noah is an alum from the class of 2022, and Charlie will graduate this spring.

Throughout the year, this Big Dog family embodies the CVA mission, balancing mental and physical strength with love of their community and surroundings.

SYNC Performance, provider of technical apparel, protective ski race equipment, and travel bags based in Vail, recently announced the SYNC NCAA Team for the 2023/24 season. The 23/24 SYNC NCAA Team features a talented group of student athletes representing schools across the RMISA and EISA circuits, and include two Big Dogs this year, Ella Spear and Luke Kearing!

Ella is a member of the Colby College ski team.

"I'm 22 years old from Boothbay, Maine and I ski for Colby College. My goals for this season are to be an All American and place top-10 overall in the NorAm circuit. I have always loved the SYNC brand. Seeing such a high level and elite group of athletes on SYNC from a young age inspired and motivated me. I have used SYNC products for many years and am stoked to promote and work with a brand that I have had the opportunity to test and compete in countless times!"

Luke is a member of the Harvard University ski team.

"I am 21 years old and Ski for Harvard University. I am beyond excited to be representing Team Sync for the upcoming 2023–24 season! Some of my goals for this upcoming season are to qualify and compete at NCAA championships representing my college, along with continuing to train and compete at a high level in Downhill and Super-G."

Avoid the peak-season rush and order your team jacket and CVA-logo gear now. The SYNC Performance - CVA store is now open!

Fall Scholarship Program

The Sugarloaf Ski Club is now accepting applications for their Fall Scholarship Program for local kids to participate in on-mountain ski & snowboard programs. This includes programs at CVA (Weekend Program and Academy). Applications must be mailed and postmarked before September 16th.