St.

Augustine Academy
130 South Wells Road Ventura California 93004 805-672-0411 Fax 805-672-2365 e-mail StAugAcad@juno.com www.SaintAugustineAcademy.com

September 13, 2013

Board of Governors President Thomas Q. Ellis Secretary Robert R. Orellana, Esq. Treasurer Michael C. Collins Members Abel Montiel Jeff Schuberg Michael F. McLean, Ph.D. Louise Warnert

St. John Chrysostom

Education news is swirling! This, from the LA Times: Don't worry, L.A. Unified officials keep telling us. The $1-billion program to give iPads to more than 600,000 K-12 students is going to work out fine. Maybe. But so far, nobody at district headquarters gets any gold stars for the rollout. Last week, students at Roosevelt High were almost instantly able to breach the wall intended to keep them from using the iPads as toys rather than tools. They simply deleted the personal profiles on their tablets and presto! A free pass to YouTube and Facebook. [260 students had broken through the protective firewall] Then an additional 80 students at two other high schools made monkeys of the L.A. Unified geniuses who approved the setup. As one Roosevelt student explained, they had to do something. The problem with the iPads, as issued? "You can't do nothing with them. You just carry them around." Where do I begin? Is that a case of lousy students, bad teaching, uninspired software or a failure to fully appreciate the challenge of convincing students the tablets are for education rather than recreation? NPR Reported that this crossover between mediums of entertainment with tools of education, edutainment, was first tried in the 1930s with radio learning in the classroom failed. Then Television learning in the 1970s and 1980s failed. Will iPads really be different? And, more daily reports arrive about concerns with Common Core and its shifting learning from literature to technical reading (and they dont really mean studying Plato, Aristotle and Euclid more like government reports and repair manuals hmmm, just wondering if there is a repair manual for government.) Well, good news also is found in the swirling mix of education news. Books like How Children Succeed and The Smartest Kids in the World; and How They Got That Way.. are full of great elucidations of common sense in education. e.g., smart teachers make good teachers, hard working students succeed! And then there was an article on CNN Online, Classical schools put Plato over iPad. This article discusses a recent blossoming in adoption of classical ideas and curriculum materials in schools hoping to clear the way to a renewed learning that means something. People want to step off of the education lab experiments and have their students really learn what really matters. [Several of these schools have worked with Dr. Seeley and Mr. Van Hecke as consultants for their programs.] Here are a few excerpts: The students attend some of several hundred classical schools around the country institutions designed to reflect the scholarship from the past three millennia of Western civilization, rather than the latest classroom trends. Classical schools are less concerned about whether students can handle iPads than if they grasp Plato. They generally aim to cultivate wisdom and virtue through teaching students Latin, exposing them to great books of Western civilization and focusing on appreciation of "truth, goodness and beauty." Students are typically held to strict behavioral standards in terms of conduct and politeness, and given examples of characters from history to copy, ranging from the Roman nobleman Cincinnatus to St. Augustine of Hippo. Although the majority of classical schools are Christian and conservative, the ideas transfer to

Headmaster Michael J. Van Hecke, M.Ed. Vice President of Development J. Peter Slaga Board of Advisors Hon. Jeremiah Denton Former U.S. Senator Mr. Nicholas J. Healy, Jr. President Ave Maria University Dr. Ronald P. McArthur Co-founder Thomas Aquinas College Mr. Roy S. Rohter, S.F.O. Co-founder St. Augustine Academy Fr. Michael Scanlan, T.O.R. Chancellor Franciscan University Mr. James Stenson Educator and Author

[Article continues and school announcements follow on reverse side] -OVER -

schools of all political leanings, said Jonathan Beeson, a Yale Divinity School graduate and former Protestant

minister who converted to Catholicism, (now) principal of St. Theresa Catholic School in Sugar Land, Texas. Theres nothing in classical education inherently conservative or liberal, he said. And were not scared of memorization. Kids need content in their brains and theyre wired to absorb it. You cant reflect on something if its not in your brain in the first place. "A comment I constantly hear is 'I want my child to learn to think' and that is what we specialize in. Our children memorize reams of grammar, Scripture, history facts and chants; things people don't bother to do any more," said Seth Drown, dean of academic affairs for Augustine School in Tennessee, where enrollment has increased every year for the past decade. "What education needs to have is knowledge, skill and understanding. Most people think education is about the first one on that list. But knowledge is just the platform for the other two. "Deep down, don't we all want meaning in life? It's when you step back and look at the big picture, that is when meaning gets attached to learning. And that is what we all desperately want." FAMILY DANCE!!! Tomorrow Night 7:30 10:30 PM. Come dance the night away to fun swing, polka and folk. Special treat added: We will also have some dancing with a live band playing toe-tapping Irish/folk/bluegrassy tunes. CALENDAR EVENTS Oct 5th Family Dance at SAA 7:30 10:30 PM. Sponsored by the Student Council. th Oct 12 Life Centers Luncheon Oct 14th NO SCHOOL Columbus Day th Oct 15 Picture Re-Take Day LUNCHEON - Register now by Oct 16th PSAT for grades 10 and 11. calling (805) 486-2721 Senior Breakfast and Rosary. th Oct. 27 Family Oktoberfest and Dance at SAA. 5:00-9:00 PM CONFIRMATION SIGN-UP Mrs. Orellana is back in town, so contact her ASAP if your want to be in this years class. You can still sign up. Just call Mary Orellana and leave a message that you want to still sign up your child for year one or year two. Leave your name and phone number clearly. You will need a copy of baptismal certificate and 1st Communion certificate. Fee $100. Questions? Call Mary Orellana at 525-4551. GIRLS Leadership Program Beginning See Flyer for STEPPING UP! [Grades 8-11] FOOTBALL Monday, October 14th @ HOME v. Assumption FOOTBALL Wednesday, October 16th @ HOME v. Sacred Heart VOLLEYBALL Thursday, October 10th @ Sacred Heart PRAYERS We continue to keep all our friends and family in our prayers. For Mario Antignani, grandfather of the Warnert boys, who had heart surgery this week. For the repose of the soul of Mr. Ivan Modrovich and Rosie Grimm. Please continue to pray for Phillip Vargas and for a relative of the Grimms, Adrienne. For Mark Meltzer, and his mother, Rose, a good friend of the school. For Sr. Mary Gemma, TOR. We continue to pray for Mr. Curry and for a very special intention. We pray for all our school families, their needs and those of their friends and relatives. We pray for our Pope, our Archbishop, all of our priests and religious, and, for each other.