March 3, 2021

Dear Upper School Families,

With February in the rearview mirror and this week full of sunny skies, it’s been a pleasure to turn the calendar to March. Upper-schoolers even took the opportunity to eat outdoors!

Much is underway in the weeks leading up to spring break including parent-teacher conferences, the beginning conversations around course selection for next year, sophomores attending a college-planning presentation from our college counseling office, and seniors receiving an early gift from the alumni office highlighting that they have fewer than 100 days left in high school!

To help with your planning, here are some important items for the coming weeks:

Parent-Teacher Conferences
Thursday, March 4th: half day of school, students dismissed at noon (for bus-riders, please note that only the Bexley, Upper Arlington and Olentangy buses will be coming to campus for the noon pickup), conferences from 1:00 to 8:00 p.m.
Friday, March 5th: no classes, conferences from 8:00 a.m. until 3:00 p.m.

Zoom links for conferences can be found within the conference reminder emails sent from PickATime. The password for conference Zoom links (if required) is VIKES. This password is case sensitive, so please use all caps.

Course Planning & Selection
The process of course selection in Upper School entails several layers and happens over many weeks. In its earliest stages, students get to hear from a panel of students in the grade above them about various classes available to them in addition to being able to ask them questions. The week of March 15th, parents will have the opportunity to weigh in on the first draft of your children’s course selections (stay tuned for more detailed instructions).

Last week students were also introduced to Global Online Academy (GOA) and the Malone School Online Network (MSON), which offer additional course opportunities to students in grades 10-12. Spaces are limited, and all classes are done remotely – some asynchronously, some synchronously. Some may occur on weekends or in the evenings if teachers are from international schools.

  • As a member school of Global Online Academy, students at CA may apply through a brief, in-house application to take either a semester course or a year-long course taught by independent school teachers from around the globe. Course offerings usually include classes not typically offered in most high schools such as Medical Problem Solving, Cybersecurity or Filmmaking. Grades from these classes are included in a student’s GPA.

  • In a new offering this year, Academy students in grades 11-12 may apply through a brief, in-house application to take a course through Malone Schools Online Network. Taught by independent school teachers from across the country, these classes may happen synchronously during or after the school day, depending on the course. These, too, are courses outside of CA’s typical course offerings, and final grades are included in a student’s GPA.

  • Applications, made available to students via email last week, should be submitted by the end of this week for consideration. Questions may be directed to Mr. Dow at dowc@columbusacademy.org.

College Counseling
At 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday, March 10th, the College Counseling office will offer a Grade 10 Parent Program via Zoom (just click on this link at that time, no need to pre-register). Students on campus attended the student version of the program on March 3rd, while online students may join their families on March 10th.

Upcoming Parent Program
At 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday, March 16th, the Center for Family Safety and Healing will present an information night via Zoom (just click on this link at that time, no need to pre-register) for Academy families on the topic of social media and tech safety. Learn about what the current trends are with different apps, what current research is telling us about safe media use, and how to employ measures to help your children make good choices.

Should you have any questions, please feel free to contact the upper school office at 614-509-2281 or by email at langej@columbusacademy.org.

Have a good rest of your week!

Head of Upper School