This year we are partnering with two other local schools to present a concert starring Billy Jonas. The event, which has several other performers, is scheduled for December 21st and has been billed as the "Warren Hayes Christmas Jam" for kids. Our participation supports our belief that it is important to support other private schools in our community. In addition, each school is partnering with another non-profit group in town to extend a hand of help to those in need. For more information about this exciting event, please go to our website

A recent AP news story reports the American Academy of Pediatrics is recommending children take twice the previously recommended amount of vitamin D supplements. Nowhere in the article, or any of the others that I have read, do they suggest that children simply spend more time outdoors. What has happened to our society that even school age children do not get enough sunshine? Schools reduce recess time in order to try to meet tougher academic standards, and kids spend all afternoon at scheduled activities or at home in front of the computer. At The New Classical Academy kids and teachers alike spend a full hour outside everyday, and many of the kids also choose to play outside from 1 to 3 p.m. as well. Schools are the one place in our society where children spend many hours a day together in a safely supervised location with lots of outdoor space. If schools increased the amount of time children spent playing outdoors, I'm willing to bet that not only would their vitamin D deficiencies disappear, but somehow, miraculously, test scores would go up as well.

Mica was raised in the lovely valley of Cullowhee, NC, and attended Western Carolina University for 2 years before taking a sabbatical to wander around the states for what was intended to be a short break. During that time, fate intervened and she met and married her husband Chappell. Mica went back to school when her oldest daughter was 3, and in 1999 graduated with a B. A. in Literature. Since that time Mica has alternated between being home full time with three amazing kids and working in early childhood education programs. Mica's daughter Chloe is a charter student of The New Classical Academy, and both knew from the start that the school would have a special place in their lives. Mica is a certified Reading Reflex instructor and a classroom assistant at The New Classical Academy. Mica and all three of her kids are delighted to become full-fledged members of The New Classical Academy family.