The New Classical Academy has leased an acre of land on Stoney Knob Road and will open this fall in a brand new modular school house. Our building has 2400 square feet with three large classrooms, an assembly area, bathrooms and an office. All the classrooms have direct access to the outdoors, which is a flat grassy space with big hardwood trees and a fenced area for soccer. Drive by and take a look the next time you are in Weaverville: the space is behind the mulch yard across the street from Stoney Knob Restaurant.

Our next open house will be May 2 from 5 to 8 pm at Christ United Methodist Church in Weaverville. Please come hear more about our new school building, the staff we have hired for fall, and the exciting plans we have for our first year of study at The New Classical Academy.

As expected, with the news of our newfound space getting out, applications have been streaming in. We still have a number of spaces available in our traditional and distance learning programs. We have also had a number of our home school students move up into our distance learning program, so there are now at least four spaces available in our home school program—especially for older kids. We anticipate these spots going quickly, so if you are interested in them send in your application soon!

Many parents feel concern as their children reach middle school age. The familiar friends and intimate feel of elementary school are left behind for a school which often feels overwhelmingly large and unwelcoming. The New Classical Academy offers an alternative where students can continue to focus on what counts during their all important early adolescent years: learning and self-awareness. Our junior high class will be small, with twelve students and one teacher. The focus will be on learning and sharing what you know with others. The junior high students will be role models for the younger students, many of whom will be their siblings. They will run the school store, help direct the plays, plant the garden and set the tone for all the other students with their maturity and kindness. We are so lucky to have a wonderful group of middle school students already enrolled, and we look forward to watching them grow all the way through high school at The New Classical Academy. Wouldn't you like your child to be a part of this group?

In addition to starting The New Classical Academy, Kate and Kelly have started a private school consortium in the greater Asheville area, and the first meeting was a great success. Representatives from the Swannanoa Valley Montessori School and Maccabi Academy joined us for a lively conversation over Marco's pizza about the ways small independent private schools in the area can support each other. It was such a pleasure to sit down with like minded people and discuss educational options in our town. Be on the lookout for a local private school directory and website, a tabletop school information night, and collaboration between students in different schools.

The Friday class finished their last unit of American History with a rousing game of Jeopardy which lasted over an hour! Everyone was a winner as they posed questions (Jeopardy style) to such answers as: Gavrillo Princip, the Central Powers of World War I and the Spirit of St. Louis. In Science the students finished their unit on monerans and protists by looking at the samples they cultured. They were most impressed with the amount of bacteria on the classroom doorknob and the legendary fungus from Garrett's foot.

Kate Hyde grew up in Washington, D. C. and Kingsport, Tennessee. She not only attended Montessori schools but assisted in her mother's Montessori school when she was in middle school. She has always been passionate about education and knew that it was her life work. After high school Kate attended Harvard where she studied math and teacher education. Since college she has lived in Asheville—17 years now!—and been a community educator. Kate has spent her time organizing after school classes, home school classes, and summer programs for local children. She now lives near Mars Hill with her three children and their father as well as an amazing menagerie of cats, dogs, chickens, ducks, goats and frogs.