ARCH Academy is located at 1106-C Greenville Ave. in Staunton. We are between the Sears and the Goodwill, close to the I-81 220 Exit and the Staunton Mall.
ARCH
Calendar
June 9-13 & 16-20 Summer Session 1: King Arthur
June 23 (Monday) Information Meeting at 7:00 p.m.
June 26 - 30 AERO Conference, Troy, NY
July 14 Information Meeting at 7:00 p.m.
August 2 (Saturday) Information Meetings at 10:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m.
August 5 (Tuesday) Information Meeting at 7:00 p.m.
August 4-8 & 11-15 Summer Session 2: Astronauts & Cosmonauts
September 6 (Sat.) Back to School Dinner 6:00 p.m.
September 8 (Monday) First Day
of School 2008-2009
Summer
Program Update
Our summer program
is off to a wonderful start with ten children enrolled for the first
session. We also have four of our teens working as assistants
this session. In the first week the children created giant castles,
personal coats of arms and banners, period clothing, medieval personae,
and a giant illuminated manuscript. They have also watched
movies about King Arthur and Robin Hood; heard and created stories;
played games and eaten foods authentic to the medieval period.
In the second week they will build small castles and catapults, create
tapestries or mosaics, and help prepare a feast. A special demonstration
of medieval fighting will be held on Wednesday, when the Dun Afton duchy
of the COMARR medieval re-creation group visits.
Please note
that the sessions which were originally scheduled for July have been
cancelled. The final session, from August 4 – 15, is filling
rapidly. If you are interested or know someone who might be, please
call, e-mail, or stop by the school to get additional information. Check
this out in the section for SUMMER!
AERO
Conference
This is an annual international
education conference held in Troy, NY for all those interested in alternative
education of any sort, from Democratic Schools to Montessori, Waldorf
to homeschooling and unschooling. Brenda has attended the past
two years and was a panel speaker last year at the School Starters workshop.
This year she will present a class on the first year experiences of
ARCH Academy. ARCH teachers Pat and Gary will also be attending
this year’s conference.
Relay for Life
On Friday, May 16 to Saturday,
May 17 ARCH Academy sponsored a team in the American Cancer Society’s
annual Relay for Life. Our team, the ARCH Angels, was led by captain
Joe Wills. Seven team members came out and walked at the event,
held at the Beverley Manor Middle School. We had a tent, tables,
and banners set out to show our spirit and who we are. Next year
we plan to do more fundraising and get more of our school family involved
in this worthwhile activity.
The
First Year Has Ended…
Friday, April 25 was our final
day of the regular school year. It’s hard to believe that this
time last year all we had was a dream and a vision. That dream
has begun to materialize. We are still growing and
learning, trying to fully create the wonderful, safe, and fun learning
place we envision. It has been a great start, with many of our
students sad to see the year end and already looking forward to the
fall. Several of them are also participating in our summer sessions,
either as students or as assistant leaders.
At the end of our first year
we have many successes to report. Our theme for the first year,
Planting and Growing, provided much fun and learning for everyone.
We divided that into six Units: Harvest, Preservation, Celebration,
Deprivation, Distribution, and Planting & Growing. We
had fieldtrips almost every Monday, with most of them directly related
to the Unit under study. Under the Activities section you will
find a list of the 2007-2008 fieldtrips and guest speakers. The
list for next year will be posted later in the summer.
During this year students read
books, gave talks, did research and wrote reports, planned presentations,
learned songs, played instruments, conducted experiments and surveys,
played games, created puzzles and artwork, did community service projects,
and watched movies and programs about the different Units (as well as
many other things!). “Subjects” (if we divided life that way)
included some work in each of these: reading, literature, grammar, spelling,
public speaking, arithmetic, consumer math, algebra, geometry, logic,
biology, chemistry, physics, other sciences, nature, Spanish, Latin,
French, German, Greek, physical education, home economics, cooking,
sewing, history, government, geography, art, drama, music, pet care,
and probably many more! Some people felt that not much learning
was happening, because the children didn’t do a stack of worksheets
every day. Instead, we played games and had fun, and lots of learning
happened anyway! One mom shared with me how much her daughter’s reading
has improved, as well as her self-confidence and social skills. This
happened without coercion, threats, grades, tests, or other usual school
curricula and methods.
Our enrollment remained steady during the first year at about 20 students,
with some students leaving and new students enrolling throughout the
year. Several new students have already enrolled for the coming school
year. Our current students range in age from 5 to 16.
We’re pleased with our location at 1106-C Greenville Ave. and plan
to remain there again next year. It’s located between the Sears and
the Goodwill, just down the road from the Staunton Mall off of I-81
Exit 220. Inside we have added more room dividers and new areas for
activities. We have "rooms" for different ages now, although
most of the space remains completely open for everyone. This summer
we’re adding more furniture and carpets with many more materials for
all ages. If you have not been by in a while, stop in and visit sometime.
We think you’ll be amazed at what has been accomplished!
Thanks to those of you who supported ARCH Academy the first year. We
could not have made the progress we have without your help.
If you would like more information about the school or would like to
volunteer in any way, please stop by the school or contact us:
ARCH Academy
P.O. Box 1858
Staunton, VA 24402-1858
(540) 849-7733
ARCH Academy – Where Learning is FUN!