Reading mission statements from independent schools is interesting because almost all of them will contain the phrase, “the pursuit of academic excellence,” or words to that effect. Of course, how that phrase is defined, interpreted, and implemented may differ widely among schools, but often first impressions based on mission statements would lead many of us to conclude that most independent schools are remarkably similar.

Cape Cod Academy’s interpretation of “the pursuit of academic excellence” may not be unique, but it’s important for all of us to understand what it means to our institution and to our faculty and students. Upon reflection, many of us might wonder how such a phrase can apply evenly to five-year-olds, middle school students, and high school students. Actually, it’s not difficult to define our understanding of “academic excellence,” but it is a daily challenge to pursue it institutionally, a challenge we welcome and enjoy.

Here at CCA, several events take place this month which relate to college planning for grades ten through twelve.

GRADE 12: OCT. 10th is the date of the SAT I/II testing this month. If you did not register and would like to test as a "walk-in," please see Mrs. Bellamy or Mr. Brown.

OCT. 1st is the registration deadline for the NOV. 7 SAT test date. Late registration will be open through Oct. 15th.

OCT. 30TH is the registration deadline for the DEC. 5th test date.

Please take advantage of our professional days and holidays to schedule any remaining college tours and interviews. Many colleges will be open over the Columbus Day long weekend. Seniors are allowed to use OCT. 14TH to finish up college visits and interviews. Please call CCA if your child will be visiting colleges on that day.

Boys and Girls Cross Country lost close races by the same score (26-30) against the combined teams of Harwich and Cape Cod Tech in their season openers. The girls’ race was neck and neck as Julia Massard won the race with a time of 23:48 and first year runner Eliza McGowen earned a third place finish. In the boys’ race Nick Foley finished first overall and John Hegarty ran a smart race to finish in fourth place. The next week the teams ran against Carver with the boys earning a 27-28 victory and the girls falling to an experienced group of runners 18-37. In the boys’ meet Nick Foley set the pace with a time of 18:09 for 3 miles and Paul Presbrey and John Hegarty finished fourth and fifth respectively for the one point victory. In the girls’ race Julia Massard finished third overall with a time of 24:19 and Hannah Van Sciver and Rebecca Van Sciver placed seventh and eighth to close out the top three finishers for CCA.

The golf team has won three in row after falling to Mashpee in its season opener. The team earned a 33-22 win over Sturgis, in head to head match play they took a 5-4 victory on the road over Nantucket, and recently scored a 38-16 win over Upper Cape Tech. Chance Malkasian has been strong in the number one position as has Chris Doyle and newcomer Cameron White. Returning golfers Jack Hanesian, Brendan Taylor, Tanner Malkasian, and Ricky Surum have each contributed to the team’s first three wins.

Parents Association Meeting 

Wednesday
October 7, 2009 at 8:00 AM
Location: Science Center Lecture Hall
Guest Speaker: Mary Beth Bergh, CCA Parent and Technology Coordinator
 

All parents are welcome and encouraged to attend! 

Mary Beth will speak specifically about CCA’s website and how parents can best utilize all that the site has to offer. There will be laptops available for hands on demonstration. There will be ample time for questions, but many topics will also be covered to include:

• How to find information on the website
• How to navigate, how to print a directory
• How to find email addresses
• How to download necessary forms
• How to find your child’s schedule, grades and assignments
• How to find the Commons Monthly Newsletter
• How to find event information
• How to find sports information, when to pick up your child, who won?
• And so much more...

We need more! Yes, more!! We are accepting yard sale donations from you for our October 24th sale. These will help this event to be the best ever. Please bring your unwanted treasures to our storage trailers (near the 6th grade classrooms), Mondays through Friday, 8AM to 6PM. We want furniture, kitchenware, books, sporting goods, toys, jewelry, purses, holiday giftware, tools, artwork, Halloween costumes, children’s dress clothing, etc… We are not accepting old TVs, mattresses, old gas grills, old computer equipment, adult clothing or shoes.

We also need volunteers! If you can help us with pricing, set up and/or on sale day, email laurie_wyndham@capecodacademy.org. Set Up days are Wednesday through Friday, October 21 through 23. Sale day is from 8AM to 1PM on Saturday, October 24, 2009.

Risa Rountree, hospitality chair, provided the delicious goodies for our September PA meeting. Thank you, Risa! These goodies along with the delicious coffee provided by Fancy’s Market (Brian & Kathy Smith) help to get our meetings off to a really good start!

We also thank our guest speaker, Clark Daggett, for providing some insightful comments about the beginning of our school year and the optimistic outlook for the remainder of the year. A copy of the minutes of the full September PA meeting is available in the downloads channel, navigate to the  blue box at the top of this document. 

Thank you to Sandi and Mick Lahart, our Homecoming Picnic co-chairs, for this year’s very successful picnic! Even the weather cooperated! Attendees enjoyed varsity and junior varsity soccer games against Mashpee as well as a cross country meet, then had the chance to share barbequed hamburgers and hotdogs with our student guests and their families. Thank you to all of our volunteers who came to grill, help with set up, serve and then break down. We could not have done it without all of you helping!

Thank you to Holly Crissan, Student Store chair, for organizing the student store tables at the homecoming picnic. It’s always fun to see the new CCA logo items for sale and show school spirit by wearing them proudly!

Thank you to Janet Connolly, Parent Night Hospitality chair, for helping to coordinate the delicious food provided on both MS/US and LS parents nights. Thank you to every parent volunteer who brought goodies to share.  And a special thanks to Trustee Lucy Burton '84, parent of James '08, who volunteered her time to greet parents and serve refreshments. This is often a highlight of a parents busy evening when they arrive for parents night.

Thank you to Mary Beth Bergh, CCA parent and Technology Instructor, for offering the 2 half-hour parent website training sessions preceding both parents nights. The sessions were instrumental in helping parents to understand the diversity of information available on our CCA website. Mary Beth will be presenting more information to parents at our October Parents Association meeting as our guest speaker as well!

Laurie Wyndham
Associate Director of Development

Chelsea Murphy, Grade 12, participated in a violin master class at Cape Cod Conservatory on September 25th.  The class was taught by Lindsey Deutsch, who was the featured soloist with the Cape Cod Symphony Orchestra at their first concert of the season.

A master class is like a music lesson in front of an audience, in which each participant has a one on one session with the teacher.  After playing their piece for the audience, the student is given specific suggestions and examples to follow.  The class included four violinists from Cape Schools.

Chelsea performed an excerpt from a violin concerto by Julius Conus (1869-1942), a Russian composer.  

Congratulations to Julia Massard, Grade 11, for her great accomplishment of completing the LAST Gasp Bike Ride and raising $515 for Hospice and Palliative Care of Cape Cod.  Julia was also awarded for being the youngest female rider out of 400.  Great job, Julia!

CCA Pink Ribbon Club

On August 15, 2009 a few members of the CCA Pink Ribbon Club joined in on the effort to raise money for the Massachusetts Breast Cancer Coalition (MBCC), by participating in the three mile walk portion of the Against The Tide one-mile swim, two-mile kayak, and three-mile walk.  The walk was located in Brewster, Massachusetts at DCR's Nickerson State Park.  The following team raised just over $2,000:  Julene Augusta, Emily Condos, Conor Holland, Irene Santos and Samantha Metell. 

Drama Club Performances

This year's Drama Club stage performance is an adaption of Victor Hugo's Les Miserables, script by Tim Kelly, produced by arrangement with Dramatic Publishing.  This classic tale of injustice, devotion, and obsession is set in France during the early 1800's a time of legal corruption and social unrest.  The cast includes a wide variety of characters and ample opportunities for Drama Club members to exercise their acting range.  The evening performances will be Thursday, January 28, Friday, January 29 and Saturday, January 30th at 7:30 pm in the Lower School Gym.  In addition to our stage play, we will present a short film, written and directed by Richard Bellamy.  This year's film is Sunrise, a Western inspired by Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet.  Set in the fictional town of Sunrise in 1890, a young man and a young woman find themselves torn from each other by bitter factional rivalry, violence, and deceit.  This film will be shown only twice-preceding the eveing stage performances-starting at 7:30 pm on Thursday, January 29 and Friday, January 30th.     

Lower School Parents Night (Grs. K-5)
Thursday, October 1, 2009
7:00 pm
Lower School Gym

October PA Meeting
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
8:00 am
Science Lecture Hall



Monday, October 12, 2009
Columbus Day
No School-School office closed

Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Lower, Middle & Upper School Professional Day
No School for students-School office open

Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Classes resume

Phonathon
Monday, October 19, 2009
Wednesday, October   21, 2009
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
6:00 pm

CCA's Gigantic Yard Sale
Saturday, October 24, 2009
8:00 am
Founders's Hall

Lower School Halloween Parade
Friday, October 30, 2009
1:00 pm
Lower School Gym

Middle School Halloween Dance
Friday, October 30, 2009
7:00 pm-10:00 pm
Davis Commons 

Access the Cape Cod Academy Calendar for a complete listing of the 2009-2010 school year.

Perhaps you saw a commentary in the Cape Cod Times a few weeks ago titled, “Guessing At The Best Teachers,” where two recent studies have found that “the single most important factor in a student’s achievement is the quality of his or her teacher.” No where is this more important than at the lower school level where contained classrooms are the model. What really caught my eye when reading this article was that the authors made two suggestions for improving teacher effectiveness: the adoption of an evaluation system that promotes an environment of achievement among teachers and multiple opportunities for professional development. CCA has been doing both for many years. We take the promotion of quality teaching very seriously. Look for future articles here highlighting some of the many things Lower School teachers are doing to provide your children with an excellent educational experience.

Joe Remillard

Lower School Head

Cape Cod Academy admits students of any race, color, religion, national or ethnic origin. It does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, national or ethnic origin in the administration of its educational policies, admissions policies, financial aid policies, employment practices, and athletic and other school administered programs.

                                       Editor, Design & Layout: Carrie Christopher

                                               Cape Cod Academy is an EOE

                                         Tel: 508-428-5400; Fax: 508-428-0701

                                                 cca@capecodacademy.org