Friday Night Lights

This ain't Texas ya'll, but high school football season is still big business here in Gahanna. This Friday, August 31 is the first Viking home game.  In honor of this momentous occasion, PACA Co-President and all around righteous dude, Kevin Dubenion, has put together a top 10 list of DO's and DON'Ts for CA football games:

An Open Invitation to LS Parents Night!

My lower school children and I go through a regular routine as we are exiting the pickup line.  I ask, "What did you do today?"  They always respond, "I don't know" or "I forget."  Nice.  It's not easy prying information out of your kids about what is happening at school, but I have found that the more specific questions that I ask — about certain teachers, subjects, etc.— the better intel I get back.  How do I learn enough to ask the right questions? First step is to attend Parents Night— which happens to be this Thursday, August 30.  

Read this unless you love late-night trips to Walmart...

Most of the time our children do a great job at staying on top of their assignments, but never fail, at some point this year a crisis will emerge that will leave you (the parent) looking all over your house for critical school supplies.  You will not find them.  Consequently, you (again, the parent) will end up making a less than desirable trek at a less than desirable time of night to procure something.  

Since most of us will probably have some sort of shopping trip ahead of us this weekend, PACA wanted to provide you with a short list of supplies to have on hand so you can avoid this nasty circumstance.

How you can help your teen thrive in Upper School

"The key to faking out the parents is the clammy hands. It's a good non-specific symptom; I'm a big believer in it. A lot of people will tell you that a good phony fever is a dead lock, but, uh... you get a nervous mother, you could wind up in a doctor's office. That's worse than school. You fake a stomach cramp, and when you're bent over, moaning and wailing, you lick your palms. It's a little childish and stupid, but then, so is high school."

-Ferris Bueller

Ah, high school.  Not an easy time for students or for parents, but critical for our children's development and preparation for college.  So what can we do to help our teens thrive in Upper School?  Mom and PACA volunteer Kelly Vaziri has offered a few tips:

Say "yes" to the dress code...

Last minute thoughts on the eve of the first day of school at CA.  We've had a few questions regarding dress code and thought that we would make sure that everyone was squared away on what is and isn't kosher for the kiddos to be sporting come tomorrow.  First off, you can find the official regulations regarding dress code here:

CA Dress Code Guidelines

Fuzz Busting

The wonderful Gahanna Police Department is well aware that Columbus Academy goes back in session on August 22.  Never fear, they will be ready to protect and serve, but they will also be ready to BUST us for our collective lead feet.   And honestly, who among us has not sped down Cherry Bottom or perhaps "rolled" a few of those stop signs on Beecher?  

What to expect at the LS Ice Cream Social

Lower School families have undoubtedly marked their calendars for the ever-anticipated Ice Cream Social, which will take place on Monday, August 20th at 5pm.  For new families, this can be a somewhat nerve-wracking event, both for kids and parents— so, in hopes of alleviating some of your concerns, the PACA bloggers wanted to give you an idea of what to expect:

The Ice Cream Social is located on the grassy area between the playground and the main administration building.  Parking is sure to be at a premium, so feel free to get creative and don't hesitate to grab the first space available.

The teachers will be arranged by grade— upon arrival, walk to the check-in table, make a name tag and ask to be directed to the appropriate area.  If you have a Pre-K student, you will be congregating on the Kindergarten playground, which is slightly off the beaten path, but gives the little ones a calmer environment to get acclimated.

Let the School Year Begin!!

Hello, world!  Isn't that how every blog is supposed to begin?  Welcome to the official blog for the Parents' Association of Columbus Academy, otherwise known by the spiffy acronym, PACA.  This blog will be composed by a variety of authors, representing different ages and stages in their CA experience.  It will hopefully be informative, occasionally irreverent and definitely reflective of real-life parent concerns and interests.

The PACA bloggers will do our best to keep our ears to the ground on Cherry Bottom Road, but we do hope that the parent community will join us as active participants in this forum.  We welcome your submissions, your questions, even your complaints; you can contact us,  comment through the blog or reach us at technology.paca@gmail.com. Requests for anonymity will be respected.

Our purpose here will not be to inform you about every athletic event or music concert at the school— we have the Viking Voice for that.  Instead, we hope to use this blog to feature specific events and activities, as well as voice our thoughts on issues that affect us as parents and members of the CA community.

Best of luck to everyone for a wonderful school year!  Let the homework commence!