Villa Academy is proud to celebrate the outstanding academic achievement of two special Villa alums, Christian Vanderwall (‘06) and John Osborn (‘06). This February, both students received notice that they will advance to Finalist standing for the coveted National Merit Scholarship Award.

The National Merit Scholarship Program is an academic competition that recognizes academically talented high school students based on their Preliminary SAT score.  Winners of Merit Scholarship awards are all selected from the Finalist pool based on their abilities, skills, and accomplishments and become eligible for a number of educational scholarships.

We wish these young men the best of luck throughout the rest of the competition and in their higher educational pursuits as they continue to prepare for college.

On March 26th the seventh grade will be going to the Museum of Flight to participate in a Challenger Mission to the Moon. Students will spend half of the day touring the Museum of Flight, and the other half on the Challenger Mission to the Moon.

Preparations will begin a week prior to mission day. Students will work on activities designed to prepare them for their moon exploration including the development of a “Mission Patch” that will be worn in space.

Villa’s budding astronauts will return to the Moon for the first time since 1972 to gather information relevant to the selection of a site for the new moon base.  This very realistic simulation will allow students to experience the actual tasks and activities of a real space expedition. Students work collaboratively in teams, from space and from the mission control center, to conduct experiments and successfully choose a location for the new base.

Occasionally, unpleasant aspects of our students’ social lives are brought to my attention. Recently, I have seen a string of missives among our students and their friends from a new social networking site called “Buzz” that works through Gmail. While it is not surprising to find inappropriate language and topics bandied about on these sites, every once in a while a topic is raised to which we should pay close attention.

One such topic appeared in the string I have seen recently. A young person—unknown to me and NOT a Villa student—mentioned suicide as a result of feeling very bad. The responses from our students and others were very heartfelt, positive, and supportive of the young person. That is good news. It seem our students know that suicide is a serious topic and are kind in response to those who mention it.

Nevertheless, a conversation with your child about the topic generally and how to respond to feelings of hopelessness and depression in themselves or others may be in order.  It may also help to discuss with your students who they can go to if someone they know expresses feelings of hopeless or depression.

Middle school is often the first time when deep feelings assert themselves in a student’s life; talking with your youngsters, before it is an issue, can help them and their friends manage their feelings better and potentially avert a serious situation.

Thank you very much for your attention and support.

Pat Preib

This spring Villa Academy’s fifth grade students will take their science studies outdoors on an environmental adventure to the Olympic Park Institute: Wednesday, April 21^st through Friday, Friday April 23^rd

The Olympic Park Institute is an overnight camp and field science facility outside of Port Angeles.  The field science education program encourages students to make a personal connection to the natural world and become good stewards of the environment. Activities are inquiry based and focused on the scientific process.

This three-day fieldtrip will coincide nicely with the fifth grade spring science curriculum.   Just prior to their trip, students will participate in a simulation, called “Environmental Detective,” that explores the mystery of why fish are dying in the “Gray Area.”  Then at camp, students will test the health of Barnes Creek and Lake Crescent.

Classroom activities coupled with the Olympic Park Institute field exploratory will help students understand how our actions positively and negatively affect the environment.

Click here for more information on 5^th grade’s trip to Environmental Camp

The Villa’s Youth Theater program is pleased to present Honk!, a musical adaptation of the Hans Christian Andersen story The Ugly Duckling. The story features Ugly, a duckling who discovers his inner beauty when he becomes a swan, his tearful mother Ida, a drake who “ducks” his fatherly responsibilities, a gaggle of comical geese, a sly, French tomcat who wants to befriend Ugly so he can eat him, a wisecracking bullfrog, and other barnyard creatures, together with a great many “fowl” puns.

Under the direction of Shea Salyer and Jean Johnson, students are hard at work preparing for another comical musical.  In addition to rehearsing their performance, this very young cast and crew have helped with set/prop design and backstage clean up.  Final rehearsals and preparation are now underway as the opening night quickly approaches!

Don’t miss out. “Honk!” is sure to be a hit!

March 11th & March 12
7:00pm in the Theatre
Tickets: $6 at the door

Lunch Details for Friday, March 5.

Due to Villa Gala Auction Set Up this Friday, March 5, there will be no hot lunch served. We are recommending you pack a lunch for your child on Friday. If you want a Villa Box Lunch prepared for your child, Chef Don Bear needs your pre-order by Thursday, March 4 at 3:00pm. There are three meat-free choices for the day: Tuna Salad, Egg Salad or Sunbutter and Jelly sandwich. A drink, chips, fresh fruit, fresh vegetable and cookie are included in each box lunch.
Email: dbear@thevilla.org

Dear Villa Academy Families,

We are in the thick of the academic year finding ourselves fast at work on many levels.

• The “here and now” finds the students engaged in many varied learning endeavors as we wind our way to the conclusion of the second trimester on March 12.
• Our admission process is at its crescendo as we are in the midst of the re-enrollment process soon to move full throttle into the process of new student enrollment.
• The Auction efforts are moving forward with fantastic energy and our “Palm Beach Getaway” promises to be very well attended – already moving quickly to being “sold out.”  If you have not yet registered, please do so quickly!
• The eighth graders have already received admission decisions from the Catholic high schools and their success rate is most impressive, as you will learn as you read on.
• Planning has begun in earnest for the upcoming school year.  Please look for the 2010-2011 Calendar Highlights below.
• The Liturgical Year has moved into the season of Lent and Villa Academy’s teachers and students are focused on “growing” during the 6.5 weeks leading up to Easter.  The students are “growing” a more Christ-like habit, quality or behavior that will bring them closer to God.

Calendar Highlights: In determining the 2010-2011 school year calendar, we undertook some research with other schools in both the PNAIS and Archdiocese in light of the following:

• Another very late Labor Day holiday.  As is our practice, we will be opening school the day after Labor Day, on Tuesday, September 7, 2010.
• A very late Easter holiday on the last Sunday in April 2011.
• We decided to go with an 8-day Christmas vacation, beginning at noon on Tuesday, December 21-December 31, 2010 to provide flexibility in adding a couple of days of break in March 2011.
• We will be having two days of break on Thursday and Friday, March 17 & 18, 2011, because the Easter break is so late – the week of April 25-29, 2011.

Click HERE for the Calendar Highlights.

Congratulations to the Villa Academy Graduating Class of 2010 (Part 1)

We are exceedingly proud of our eighth graders who have recently heard from the Catholic high schools regarding their admission status.  The news is fantastic and our students have distinguished themselves admirably.  Way to go!

The Pacific Northwest Association of Independent Schools (PNAIS) will be releasing their high school admission decisions on March 18, 2010.  I will update you once we have those results.

God Bless,

Polly Skinner

Head of School

Villa Academy is pleased to be able to offer to our parents online optional spring conference registration. The following instructions should help get you through the system.

Logging in
Conference sign-up will open on February 15th and end on March 12th.
Using your web browser (ie: Firefox, Internet Explorer, Safari) go to the address:

http://www.teeso.com/villa/

Enter the username and password that will be sent to you separately by the school and click “Log me in”. If you have forgotten your password you can have it sent to the email address on record. If your email address has changed, please contact the school with an updated address.

Selecting time slots
Once you are logged in, click “Villa Conferences” in the left hand navigation space to access the scheduling page. This page shows you your current conference schedule and the teachers and times for this conference series.

Click the name of a teacher to view his or her available time slots. If you have more than one student, change students with the drop down menu and that student’s teachers will appear.

To schedule a time, click the word “Available” next to the desired time. To unschedule a time, click the Parent name next to the time and you will have the option to release the time slot.

As you add times, your schedule will update at the top of the screen.

For a printer friendly version of your conference schedule, click on “View/Print your family Schedule” link at the top of the screen.

That’s it! You’re scheduled!

If you have any problems, please contact us at help@thevilla.org

Thank you to everyone who showed up to support the 7th grade boys championship basketball game!

Click here to see highlights of the championship game

Your child is certain to find fun, education, and inspiration during the 2010 Villa Ventures summer camp from July 6th-30th, 9:00am-4:00pm
Carefully designed for children ages 4-14, Villa Ventures offers weeklong morning and afternoon classes with an emphasis on enriching the whole child. As a summer camp, we recognize that fun is paramount, but also that the most memorable childhood experiences involve exploration of new frontiers of learning. We offer a variety of classes, including visual and performing arts, sports, science and technology, and academic enrichment, as well as special interest topics such as chess and cooking.

Villa Ventures Registration Open Now!

Watch a Villa Venture video clip