Academy news & updates
2020-21 | Issue 4
United Against Racism
United Against Racism cover
In June, we came together as a community to unite our resolve against racism and amplify the voices of Black students, alumni, parents and staff at our “Standing Together Against Racism” event. That evening, we committed to taking action and creating meaningful change in our community. Our work began with dozens of conversations listening to our community members of their experiences and needs. For most of the summer and into this fall, we proceeded with a schoolwide, in-depth reflection on our practices and identified actions we can take to better support students of color, address racism and educate for racial competency. With the input and unanimous endorsement of our Board of Trustees, in addition to the comprehensive work of the Leadership Team with members of our faculty and staff, we share with you a new declaration of our continued commitment to our students, families, alumni and faculty/staff that pursuing the ideals of diversity, equity and inclusion is rooted in making us an excellent school.
Convocation 2020
“You have participated in one of the most well-resourced educations the world can offer,” said Head of School Melissa Soderberg to our Class of 2021 at Convocation, usually held during the opening week of school but delayed to mid-October this year because of the pandemic. “What responsibility do you have, if any, to people you meet in your life who have not had access to the same opportunity?” It was just one of several questions posed to our seniors, who were the only students invited to watch in person while socially distanced on the Quad. The rest of the Upper School watched via live-stream, and the ceremony only included the Head of School’s address and a speech by Student Council President Vaughn Armour.
Parent-Teacher Conferences
This fall's parent-teacher conferences will be held virtually via Zoom on November 4-6. Please note that classes will end and all students will be dismissed at noon on Thursday, November 5th, and that there will be no school on Friday, November 6th. If you still need to register, please contact the assistant in your child's division:

Travel Guidelines
In her recent Update on COVID Conditions, Melissa Soderberg clarified Academy's position on travel to areas that the Ohio Department of Health identifies as “states reporting positive testing rates of 15% or higher” in its COVID-19 Travel Advisory, which is updated every week. If any Academy students travel to those areas, or have family members visit from those areas during the holidays, the school wants students to quarantine for 14 days before returning to campus. We expect cooperation from our families on this important matter because our interest in having in-person school days and keeping our community healthy are paramount to making this a successful school year.
Charlie David Success
In early October, Academy families took to the Internet to support the school’s 800+ student-athletes. Despite being virtual for the first time in its 38-year history, Columbus Academy's annual Charlie David Dinner raised $64,000 from sponsorships and a silent auction that will help to fund our sports teams. “We were disappointed to not be able to gather this year due to COVID," said event chair Amy Huddleston in an Academy Life article, "but the athletic department still counts on funds raised from the dinner each year to fulfill athletic teams’ needs.”
School Picture Retakes
A photographer will be back on campus from 10:00 a.m. until noon on Tuesday, November 3rd, for retakes and anyone who still needs a school photo taken. If your children need to do this, please just let their teachers or advisors know to send them to the Rufus Curry Courtyard (off the Lazarus Courtyard next to the Middle School) during that time. For questions about ordering school photos, please email Erin Foster at erinfoster@irisheyesphotography.net.
Visit Chipotle on Nov. 18th
On Wednesday, November 18th, don't worry about cooking! Support our Parents' Association (PACA) by picking up dinner from the Chipotle in Gahanna that night when a percentage of the proceeds will go directly to PACA's funds for faculty/staff resources, programming for students and parents, athletics and more. Please click here for the special code and important details. Spread the word!
Celebrating the Academy Experience
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CA Named Best Private School
Thank you to everyone who voted for Columbus Academy as the top private school in this year’s Best of Business poll! We were announced yesterday as one of the winners among 84 different categories. View all of the Best of Business 2020 results at https://www.columbusceo.com/business/20201026/announcing-columbus-ceos-best-of-business-winners-for-2020.
Virtual Choir Project
To uplift and connect people in our community after several weeks of quarantine in the spring, our music and choir teachers Amy McLaughlin and Amy Brooks sent out a request for Academy families, staff, alumni and friends to individually record themselves singing the same song and submit those videos to the school. An editor then pieced them together over the summer into this beautiful and heartwarming compilation!
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AP Scholars Announced
Congratulations to our 99 AP Scholars for 2020! Of those students who took AP Exams in the spring, 21 received an average score of at least 4 on all AP Exams taken with scores of 4 or higher on eight or more of those exams to earn National AP Scholar recognition: Panya Bhinder, Andrew Cahall, Mark Carroll, Nischal Chennuru, Ashton Cofer, David Cooperman, Alexandria Graham, Grant Hillmann, Lucas Huang, Jacob Liu, Aniv Ray, Kathan Reddy, Charlie Sabgir, Medha Sinha, Leah Valdman, Alex Wang, Howard Wang, Felicia Xiao, Hanrui Xu, Carolyn Zhang and Michelle Zong. In addition to those 21, we had 20 more AP Scholars of Distinction, 29 AP Scholars with Honor and 29 AP Scholars. View the complete list.
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Outdoor Learning on a Rainy Day
The recent rainy weather may have kept you inside, but for our lower-schoolers it meant a chance to play in puddles, conduct soil experiments, make a canoe for friends, discuss if a fire to stay warm could be created with such wet wood, and finding creatures such as worms, slugs, stick bugs and even a praying mantis! Also, check out these other classroom activities:
Glass Menagerie poster
Upper School Fall Play
On November 19-21, Columbus Academy Student Theatre will present "The Glass Menagerie" as our upper school fall play! To ensure social distancing, only 106 general admission seats will be sold for each of the three performances and should be ordered in advance by completing and submitting this ticket form to US art teacher David Block. To view the cast list, click here. "This is a classic Tennessee Williams show that everyone should really enjoy," states director Scott Dillon. "It's a small cast, split into two groups, which allows us to rehearse and perform safely while coping with this pandemic, and I think the themes will resonate with the audience."
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Boys Golf Wins 4th-Straight State Title
Our boys golf program made history by winning its 4th-straight state championship, becoming the first 4-peat team for Academy! Also, their opening-round score of 300 was the lowest ever for a Division II squad on OSU’s Scarlet course and their total score of 615 tied the Division II state tournament record. Individually, sophomore Stephen Ma followed up his even-par 71 with a final-round 73 to become just the fourth Viking to claim individual medalist honors. His 144 was three strokes better than the runner-up, and he was followed by teammates Russell Ahmed (155) in 11th, Aditya Reddy (156) in a tie for 12th, Jake Stouffer (162) in a tie for 18th and Arvind Rajagoplan (170) in a tie for 37th in the 72-player field.
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Host an Academy Intern
Interested in hosting a Columbus Academy intern at your organization? Now recruiting organization partners with in-person and/or virtual opportunities! Please submit an Employer Commitment Form or contact Director of Internships Jennifer Conti at ContiJ@columbusacademy.org or 614-509-2230. For more details, click here.
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OJCL Fall Forum Accolades
In mid-October, a group of our Latin students participated in the Ohio Junior Classical League Virtual Fall Forum, with four upper-schoolers claiming awards! In the Academic Testing category, Lainie Massick (1st place) and Janet Li (4th place) competed in Level 3, while Alex Nanda (2nd place) participated in Level 2. Also in Certamen, a game of fast recall of facts about classical civilizations and its peoples, languages and cultures, Cecelia Reitter was the Round 1 Winner in Level 2.
Alumni Career Advice promo
Alumni Career Advice Library
Our Alumni Office invites you to check out the Alumni Career Advice video library. This playlist is complete with the most recent Alumni Career Week and Networking Panels, as well as the debut of the Continuing the Quest series from this past summer. These videos will give current students and alumni seeking insightful information directly from experts in fields such as business, education, government, health care, the legal field and more. Check out the webpage at columbusacademy.org/alumni-career-advice.
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Spotlight on Service and Wellness
Carrying on a Service Board tradition, our upper-schoolers went trick-or-treating Thursday in neighborhoods around campus asking for donations to our food drive that will be added to all of the items brought in by our students and faculty/staff. Also, under the direction of fifth grade teacher and bicycling enthusiast Robby Simpson, students recently repaired donated bikes that will be given to children at the Childhood League Center! In addition to a photo gallery of these activities, please also check out the latest Student Support Services Newsletter recently released by our dedicated team of school counselors, nurses, health & wellness faculty, and academic support specialists.
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State Runner-Up Honors in Girls Tennis
Our girls tennis squad beat Ottawa Hills 3-0 in the OTCA state semifinals to advance to their seventh team state championship match, where they started with 6-0 6-0 wins at both 1st and 2nd singles but ultimately fell 3-2 to Hathaway Brown. It marked the sixth state runner-up trophy for our program matching the 2017, 2014, 2012, 2007 & 1996 seasons (our lone team state title was in 2008). On the previous day, defending state champion Sydni Ratliff concluded her outstanding OHSAA career with her third runner-up performance in singles. Click on the links below for more sports news:
Highlighting our Faculty/Staff
Part of our annual Convocation usually includes longtime faculty and staff members who have worked at Academy for 20, 30 and 40 years receiving a special gift from Head of School Melissa Soderberg. Given the challenges the COVID-19 pandemic has created, Melissa and Student Council President Vaughn Armour opted to personally deliver this year's gifts to those faculty and staff members who have deservedly earned recognition for their service to Academy. Also, click on the following links for more news about Academy's outstanding educators: