Columbus Academy on LinkedIn: This behind-the-scenes look at our Fall Sports Media Days gives you just a… (2024)

“Real learning happens as a community endeavor,” stated Head of School Melissa Soderberg in her speech welcoming students to this morning’s Convocation. “Individually we may know things, but only together can we truly understand.”In addition to welcoming 132 students who are new to Columbus Academy this school year, Melissa reminded our 113 seniors – constituting the largest class in school history – that they will be sitting in the same location in 283 days when they graduate.Speaking on behalf of students, Student Council co-presidents Katie J. and Hansheng X. shared words of advice with our youngest Vikings, middle-schoolers and all the way up to their fellow seniors from our Class of 2025.“We have to appreciate that Columbus Academy has so much to offer,” said Hansheng. “Whether you’re starting out as a new student or you’ve been around campus for as long as you can remember, with this new year anything is possible.”Katie ended their speech with: “Each one of us sitting here today is a part of something bigger than ourselves. Look around you and take it in… there’s a lot of us. So don’t worry, don’t stress, because through ups and downs, tribulations and problems, our community will be right behind you waiting to hold you up.”Replay highlights from these speeches on our Instagram at https://lnkd.in/gMterGHf.More from Convocation, including this year’s Senior-Kindergarten Buddy pairings, coming soon!

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For many, a favorite tradition at Academy is the Senior-Kindergarten Buddy program. At the conclusion of tomorrow morning’s Convocation, our kindergartners will meet their senior buddies, walk out of the ceremony hand-in-hand with them and then proceed to the playground where they will begin building relationships that will deepen through monthly activities together throughout the school year. Those connections can last for many years beyond graduation.Of this year’s 113 seniors, 47 were here in kindergarten to receive senior buddies from the Class of 2013. A few of those former buddies recently sent messages to this year’s seniors, some of which are included in this collection. To see more images from the buddy pairings 12 years ago, visit columbusacademy.org/photos.

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AP Exams are designed to measure how well students have mastered college-level material, with scores of 3 or higher on a scale of 1-5 often qualifying for college credit. In the spring of 2024, 145 students earned AP Scholar recognition by receiving scores of 3 or higher on three or more AP exams! In addition, 76 garnered AP Scholar with Distinction designation by achieving an average of score of at least 3.5 on all AP exams taken and scores of 3 or higher on five or more of those exams, and 24 others were AP Scholars with Honor for having an average score of at least 3.25 on all AP exams taken and scores of 3 or higher on four or more of those exams. Overall, the average test score for our AP Scholars was 4.20, and our Class of 2024 had 68 AP Scholars out of 105 graduates (64.76%)!

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Over the course of four days this past summer, 10 Academy middle-schoolers competed in the Future Business Leaders of America, Inc. (FBLA) National Conference in Orlando, Florida. The group of Gabriela A., Joza A., Lilybeth A., Maryam C., Sofia D., Rhea K., Aashi M., Gabi M., Courtney M. and Jaya S. qualified for the national conference by placing fourth or better at the FBLA Ohio Conference back in February (see full results listed in our post from April 27th at https://lnkd.in/g3iT2WRW).At FBLA nationalsit was Aashi, Rhea and Sofia who earned a top-10 finish in the presentation category for Multimedia and Website Development and, as a result, were recognized on the final night of the conference.Congratulations to all of our Vikes who qualified and competed against fellow students from across the country!

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Our lower-schoolers arrived back on campus this morning for their first day of the 2024-25 school year! This year’s opening enrollment for Lower School accounts for 515 students (95 of which are new to Columbus Academy) in our Explorers Program through fifth grade.We look forward to sharing the complete photo gallery from the first days of school soon!

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Our student journalism class is adding a new Academy Life Broadcast to their coverage of school events this year. Check out this first video by anchors Melanie Q. & Seth L. and look for more upcoming stories at ca-life.org!Watch the first edition of Academy Life Broadcast at https://lnkd.in/gx4Ez48G

It was great to welcome back middle- and upper-schoolers to our campus today for the first day of the 2024-25 school year! This year’s students in grades 6-12 make up over 600 of our 1,162 students enrolled. Today our middle-schoolers will meet with their advisory and settle into the school routine, while upper-schoolers take part in Unity Day for freshmen, service activities for sophom*ores, a visit to ZipZone Outdoor Adventures for juniors and seniors wrap up an overnight trip to Deer Creek Lodge. Stay tuned for pictures from the day’s activities!

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Congratulations to Academy alumna Daniela de Aguiar '12 on winning this morning's Grandview Yard Half Marathon! With a time of 1:20:10, Daniela placed first among the 353 women who began the race and was 6th-fastest of all 749 participants!

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Our welcoming of new faculty members continues today with the recognition of two associate teachers in the lower school!Andrea Kirby will serve as a third grade associate teacher for the 2024-25 school year. She came to Academy after having worked as a literacy support specialist at Olentangy Liberty Middle School and an etiquette coach and susbstitute teacher with Columbus City Schools. Andrea also previously worked for over two years between time spent in circulation services as Old Worthington Library and Upper Arlington Public Library. She holds a B.F.A. in cinematic arts and film & video from Columbus College of Art and Design. Learn more about Andrea at https://lnkd.in/gPSQdiXJ.Anna Wolf will be an associate teacher for pre-kindergarten this school year. She has 26 years of experience working in education-related positions ranging from teaching English and language arts to early childhood education. Most recently, she was the curriculum director for Dublin Learning Academy. She holds a M.Ed. from John Carroll University. Learn more about Anna at https://lnkd.in/ggnpRS_9.

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