Upper Division Notes

UD Notes Archive

List of 32 items.

April 20

Advanced Placement Testing
This year most Advanced Placement exams will be at least partially digital, using the Bluebook program. English Language, Latin, US Government, and US History will be 100% digital. Biology, Calculus, Chemistry, Physics C, and Statistics will be a hybrid of digital (for the multiple-choice questions) and paper (for the free response). Students taking these exams will need to bring a fully charged computer for testing. Review the device requirements here. Chrome books are not acceptable for these tests. Students should contact Ms. Infantino if they do not have an appropriate device.

Students taking the AP exams listed above should download Bluebook onto their testing computer now (if they have not already done so for an earlier College Board test) at bluebook.app.collegeboard.org and try test previews in any digital AP Exam subject. They will receive further details about AP testing later in the spring. Remember that students enrolled in AP courses are required to take the corresponding AP exam. They will not have a Casady final exam in those classes.

Collect for the Week of Easter
O God, who for our redemption gave your only-begotten Son to the death of the cross, and by his glorious resurrection delivered us from the power of our enemy: Grant us so to die daily to sin, that we may evermore live with him in the joy of his resurrection; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
April 13

Dear Upper Division,

Last week, I wrote about the “mentor” role of parenting and teaching as proposed in a recent book, "10 to 25: The Science of Motivating Young People." Author and developmental psychologist David Yeager identified through research and practice that young folk thrive best with high expectations and at the same time high support. This makes sense and is supported by research.

While I appreciate that we use data and research when looking at a child’s education, humans can also be messy, and despite our best efforts to measure and record our behaviors, people can defy these neat categorizations. In an Episcopal School, it’s appropriate to opine that there is something beyond, something past physics, that contributes to who we are and what we become.

As a counter to Yeager’s approach, I offer a rather controversial picture of parenting from 2011, Amy Chua’s "Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother." To begin with, Ms. Chua had no intention of writing a guide for parenting but rather to give her own story. She also openly admitted to her coercive style.

In one vignette, she forces, threatens, and cajoles her seven year old daughter to master Jacque Ibert’s piano piece, “The Little White Donkey.” Her husband disagrees with her authoritarian approach, yet late at night, after so much conflict, her daughter finally got it. Ms. Chua writes, “A moment later, she was beaming. ‘Mommy, look–it’s so easy!’...That night, she came to sleep in my bed, and we snuggled and hugged, cracking each other up.”

Ms. Chua concludes with this message:

“Western parents worry a lot about their children's self esteem. But as a parent, one of the worst things you can do for your child's self-esteem is to let them give up. On the flip side, there's nothing better for building confidence than learning you can do something you thought you couldn't.

There are all these new books out there portraying Asian mothers as scheming, callous, overdriven people indifferent to their kids true interests. For their part, many Chinese secretly believe that they care more about their children and are willing to sacrifice much more for them than Westerners, who seem perfectly content to let their children turn out badly. I think it's a misunderstanding on both sides. All decent parents want to do what's best for their children. The Chinese just have a totally different idea of how to do that.

Western parents try to respect their children's individuality, encouraging them to pursue their true passions, supporting their choices, and providing positive reinforcement and a nurturing environment. By contrast, the Chinese believe that the best way to protect their children is by preparing them for the future, letting them see what they're capable of, and arming them with skills, work habits and inner confidence that no one can ever take away.”

Unfortunately, Ms. Chua’s memoir is often portrayed as her trying to represent all Asian mothers. What I see is how unique and complicated parenting can be. Yes, there are roles that we try to play as best we can, but we also navigate our own identities, our relationships with our spouse, and our deep and abiding love for our children. All this can make the task of raising our children so, so complicated.

Marc Addington
Upper Division Director
addingtonm@casady.org

Advanced Placement Testing
This year most Advanced Placement exams will be at least partially digital, using the Bluebook program. English Language, Latin, US Government, and US History will be 100% digital. Biology, Calculus, Chemistry, Physics C, and Statistics will be a hybrid of digital (for the multiple-choice questions) and paper (for the free response). Students taking these exams will need to bring a fully charged computer for testing. Review the device requirements here. Chrome books are not acceptable for these tests. Students should contact Ms. Infantino if they do not have an appropriate device.

Students taking the AP exams listed above should download Bluebook onto their testing computer now (if they have not already done so for an earlier College Board test) at bluebook.app.collegeboard.org and try test previews in any digital AP Exam subject. They will receive further details about AP testing later in the spring. Remember that students enrolled in AP courses are required to take the corresponding AP exam. They will not have a Casady final exam in those classes.

Collect for Lent
Almighty God, whose blessed Son was led by the Spirit to be tempted by Satan: Come quickly to help us who are assaulted by many temptations; and, as you know the weaknesses of each of us, let each one find you mighty to save; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
April 6

Dear Upper Division,

Our curriculum director, Kendall White, recommended a new book to me that is making its rounds through schools and parenting circles: "10 to 25: The Science of Motivating Young People: A Groundbreaking Approach to Leading the Next Generation―And Making Your Own Life Easier" by David Yeager.

I am just digging into this book, but podcasts and reviews have given me an overview. What I see is useful for both parents and teachers. In short, as parents we tend to slip into a couple of roles. There is the “reinforcer” who holds very high expectations but low support. This can lead to feelings of inadequacy in kids as they grow up (or learn). Another role is the “protector” who has low expectations and high praise, hindering development and lowering potential.

The perfect mix is the “mentor” who would hold high expectations but also high support. This role is pulled off by a combination of skills including use of language which helps young people lead from decision making while respecting their need for status and respect. For example, the more authoritative “you need to start studying for this test right now” becomes “how are you feeling about tomorrow’s test? What’s your plan?”

I am intrigued to dive into this book. The implications for teaching are clear, high expectations with high support. It’s exactly what we want at a school like Casady.

Marc Addington
Upper Division Director
addingtonm@casady.org

Immersion Day
On April 11, Upper Division students will spend the morning in a variety of activities. Freshmen, sophomores, and faculty will travel to the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma. The group will assist with prepping the donations received. All volunteers must wear closed-toe shoes for the day, flip flops, sandals or any shoes where toes are exposed will not be acceptable. All volunteers under 18 years of age will need to have a Parent Permission Agreement signed. You can access the needed form with this link.

Casady has arranged to administer the SAT test to juniors who have registered. That test will be on campus, and your junior will receive details shortly.

Seniors will participate in a number of activities that are being offered by faculty members ranging from coffee tasting to bicycle repair, and those details are being shared with your students now.

There are no classes or student activities in the afternoon, faculty will be in professional development. Students should be released at noon.

Collect for the Fifth Week of Lent, April 6
Almighty God, you alone can bring into order the unruly wills and affections of sinners: Grant your people grace to love what you command and desire what you promise; that, among the swift and varied changes of the world, our hearts may surely there be fixed where true joys are to be found; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

College Board Digital Testing for SAT and AP
Students taking the SAT on April 11 or any AP exams except for Art and Design, Chinese, French, Spanish Language, or Spanish Literature should follow the steps on this document to download the testing program. Please do this as soon as possible so that there is time to fix any technical problems before test day.
March 30
Dear Upper Division,

The Announcement
Mr. Sheldon and I anxiously awaited for tomatoes to fly at the end of the Chapel announcement last week where students learned that Casady would be cell phone free in Upper Division beginning in the fall of 2025. I do feel that our hearts are in the right place. Moreover, the data demonstrates that cell phone use, especially the social media component, strongly correlates with mental health issues and learning loss. That is a compelling argument. In doing our own homework, we talked to so many schools that have made this change. Parents, teachers, and students widely regard it as a pure good, but…

It’s just hard for these kids, especially this generation, who were raised on these devices.

As Mr. Sheldon spoke about the reasons for the change, I thought about *my own* behaviors. Yes, I find myself picking up my phone as I walk between buildings and meetings. Where am I supposed to be? Can I delete and respond to a couple of emails? What time is it? And, yes, sometimes I fail to notice a student in the commons or to say hello to a colleague as I walk by. It’s a prickly reminder that we teachers and administrators need to follow our own advice. How are we going to change our habits to model the behaviors we want to instill? What changes should we carry out alongside our young charges?

As a child of the 80’s, I remember the notorious anti-drug campaign Public Service Announcement, where the dad finds his son doing drugs. When questioned, the son answers, “I learned it by watching you!" A grim voiceover closed the TV PSA with a rather forceful message, "Parents who use drugs have children who use drugs." Very on-brand for social change in the 80’s, but the irony is not lost on teenagers! We should model the behavior we expect from them.

In the coming weeks and months, we will be working with students, teachers, and administrators to flesh out policy. At Casady, we don’t step into big decisions rashly. Sometimes, we may justifiably earn a “tardy tortoise” or a “slowpoke Steve (or Pete)” sobriquet. Yet, this allows us to make conscientious decisions and deliver careful execution. We have several friends and neighbors, Pembroke School, Holland Hall, Albuquerque Academy, who have not only built policy but have lived and learned from a rollout, crafting procedures as they go. We will surely benefit from their wisdom and practice.

Marc Addington
Upper Division Director
addingtonm@casady.org

BLUE Week
March 31-April 4 is Casady BLUE Week. This is Upper Division's annual philanthropic week with Student Council leading the student body to raise awareness and funds for a local organization. This year the work will benefit The Care Center, Oklahoma County’s only child advocacy center committed to helping children find their voice and begin to heal after abuse as well as preventing child abuse through education.

Activities planned for the week include:
Sunday
1 Mile Fun Run
Lower and Middle Division
2:00 p.m.
5K
Upper Division
2:30 p.m.
Wednesday - Powder Puff Field Hockey
6:00 p.m.
Gorham Field
Thursday - Dodgeball
6:00 pm
Bennett Athletic Center
Parents should note that because of the activities scheduled during Activities Period and Lunch, there are no Off-Campus Lunches next week.

For more details, follow casadystuco on Instagram.

Immersion Day
On April 11, Upper Division students will spend the morning in a variety of activities. Freshmen, sophomores, and faculty will travel to the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma. The group will assist with prepping the donations received. All volunteers must wear closed-toe shoes for the day, flip flops, sandals or any shoes where toes are exposed will not be acceptable. All volunteers under 18 years of age will need to have a Parent Permission Agreement signed. You can access the needed form with this link.

Casady has arranged to administer the SAT test to juniors who have registered. That test will be on campus, and your junior will receive details shortly.

Seniors will participate in a number of activities that are being offered by faculty members ranging from coffee tasting to bicycle repair and those details are being shared with your students now.

There are no classes or student activities in the afternoon, faculty will be in professional development. Students should be released at noon.

Collect for the Fourth Week of Lent
Gracious Father, whose blessed Son Jesus Christ came down from heaven to be the true bread which gives life to the world: Evermore give us this bread, that he may live in us, and we in him; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

College Board Digital Testing for SAT and AP
Students taking these exams will need a fully charged computer for testing. Review the device requirements here. Chrome books are not acceptable for these tests. Students should contact Ms. Infantino if they do not have an appropriate device.

Students taking the SAT on April 11 or any AP exams except for Art and Design, Chinese, French, Spanish Language, or Spanish Literature should download Bluebook onto their testing computer now at bluebook.app.collegeboard.org. If Bluebook is already on their computer (from a previous College Board test) they should open it and update it to the latest version. They will need their College Board login ID and password. Bluebook has test previews for all digital exam subjects so that students can familiarize themselves with the program.
March 24
Dear Upper Division,

Immersion Day, April 11
Welcome back to School! We hope you had a wonderful break with family and friends. As we get going with the last part of the year, I wanted to share plans for our Immersion Day on April 11.

On that day we have planned several experiences for our Upper Division students. In our commitment to service learning, freshmen and sophomores will go to the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma. Juniors will work with the College Counseling Team to start on their Common Application or, starting this year, take the digital SAT on campus. Seniors will have a special experience! Over the past few months, our teachers worked to create a number of separate “immersions.” From this list seniors gave their top choices. Here is a summary of what they will be doing that morning:
Basic Vehicle Maintenance
BIKES! Basic Maintenance
Coffee, A Cultural History
iFly STEM lesson
Introduction to Disc Golf
Nature Walk
Poetry of Place: Read, Write, and Share
Unlocking Success: Cultivating a Resilient and Growth-Oriented Mindset
Our teachers have put an incredible amount of work into this endeavor, and we ask that family trips are not planned on this day. Below you will find specific information for each grade:

9th and 10th grade to the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma
Please complete this online consent form for your student
Drop off: 8:30 a.m. in front of Bennett Athletic Center
Attire: Spirit dress and closed-toe shoes
Return: Casady at 12:15 p.m.
11th Grade
For the Common App workshop
Start time: 9:00 a.m. in Hightower 3
Attire: Spirit Dress
Please bring a charged laptop
Students will be done at noon
For the SAT
Start time: 8:30 a.m. in assigned classrooms.
Attire: Spirit Dress
Please bring a charged laptop (with charger or plug) and calculator
Students will be done around 11:00 a.m.
12th Grade
General times: 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
Dress and location will vary depending on each immersion.
Specifics will be communicated to each student and their family by April 4 during the week of March 31

Marc Addington
Upper Division Director
addingtonm@casady.org

BLUE Week
March 31-April 4 is Casady BLUE Week. This is Upper Division's annual philanthropic week with Student Council leading the student body to raise awareness and funds for a local organization. This year the work will benefit The Care Center, Oklahoma County’s only child advocacy center committed to helping children find their voice and begin to heal after abuse as well as preventing child abuse through education.

Activities planned for the week include:
Sunday
1 Mile Fun Run
Lower and Middle Division
2:00 p.m.
5K
Upper Division
2:30 p.m.
Wednesday - Powder Puff Field Hockey
6:00 p.m.
Gorham Field
Thursday - Dodgeball
6:00 pm
Bennett Athletic Center
For more details, follow casadystuco on Instagram.

Collect for the Fourth Week of Lent
Gracious Father, whose blessed Son Jesus Christ came down from heaven to be the true bread which gives life to the world: Evermore give us this bread, that he may live in us, and we in him; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

College Board Digital Testing for SAT and AP
Students taking these exams will need a fully charged computer for testing. Review the device requirements here. Chrome books are not acceptable for these tests. Students should contact Ms. Infantino if they do not have an appropriate device.

Students taking the SAT on April 11 or any AP exams except for Art and Design, Chinese, French, Spanish Language, or Spanish Literature should download Bluebook onto their testing computer now at bluebook.app.collegeboard.org. If Bluebook is already on their computer (from a previous College Board test) they should open it and update it to the latest version. They will need their College Board login ID and password. Bluebook has test previews for all digital exam subjects so that students can familiarize themselves with the program.
March 9
Dear Upper Division,

Microsoft recently published an article on The Impact of Generative AI on Critical Thinking. One of the conclusions was startling: “while GenAI can improve worker efficiency, it can inhibit critical engagement with work and can potentially lead to long-term over-reliance on the tool and diminished skill for independent problem-solving.” It would stand to reason, like anything we do with our bodies or minds, desuetude would encourage atrophy, but several caveats must be considered before drawing conclusions about AI's impact. First of all, the “data” were the self-reported opinions of 319 knowledge workers. Secondly, there was a narrow scope: “When using GenAI tools, the effort invested in critical thinking shifts from information gathering to information verification; from problem-solving to AI response integration; and from task execution to task stewardship.”

So, what do we make of this for schools and education? Let me first say that teaching our kids about AI, its payoffs and pitfalls, is vitally important for Casady. I have personally used this tool for a number of tasks from web searches to generating curriculum. Many of our parents and my own kids use AI on a daily basis in the workplace. Yet, as adults we have completed our formal education and are working on output, finishing products. Moreover, as experts, we can let AI do its work but then critically assess its results for errors and “hallucinations.”

At the NAIS conference last year, I heard a presentation by Denise Pope at Challenge Success, a non-profit organization connected with Stanford's graduate school of education. Their presentation offered that the critical judgment for AI in the classroom should center around support of learning, and that it simply depends on what the teacher is trying to teach. That’s why partnership between teacher and student is critically important.

For example, if my English teacher asks me to write a paper, the learning goal is likely that she wants to see what I am thinking about the novel we are reading. At the same time, she may want to understand where I need help with conventions or grammar or word choice, all of which are on the rubric she handed out. If I use AI to answer a prompt about the novel or to edit my writing, I have disrupted the learning. Mistakes are important. They inform both teacher and student about what comes next; how effective the teaching has been; how preparation could have been better.

In a math class, our teacher wants us to submit a one-pager on how math is used in modern day business applications. Here, the teacher asks that students be responsible for research and interviewing background information but encourages using AI to write talking points. In this class, the learning is about the math, not the writing.

Our goal is to focus on the learning, and to use AI to supplement where we can but also to accelerate “the labor” involved in completing tasks when those tasks do not support learning goals.

Marc Addington
Upper Division Director
addingtonm@casady.org

Collect for the First Week of Lent
Almighty God, whose blessed Son was led by the Spirit to be tempted by Satan: Come quickly to help us who are assaulted by many temptations; and, as you know the weaknesses of each of us, let each one find you mighty to save; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

Christian Baptism and Confirmation at Casady
Casady is a church-based school, and we recognize that some of our families hold Casady as the source for their student's Christian spiritual formation. Because of this, an extracurricular class will be offered on Wednesday mornings at 8:00 a.m. during the season of Lent for any students in seventh-12th grades who are interested or inquiring about Christian baptism or confirmation. This will occur at the Saturday night Easter Vigil at the Episcopal Cathedral on April 19. These Lenten Season preparation classes are as follows:
March 12 - Who is Jesus to a Christian?
SPRING BREAK
March 26 - Meaning of Jesus' Death and Resurrection.
April 9 - What does being a “follower of Jesus” mean?
April 16 - Baptism and Confirmation Service - What to expect.
Classes will take place at 8:00 a.m. in Middle Division BibleLand. The first class was held on March 5. Contact Fr. Youmans at youmansts@casady.org.

Course Selection
Course requests for 2025-26 are due before Spring Break. This includes supplemental forms for placement appeals and MSON classes. Contact your student’s advisor or Ms. Infantino if you have any questions.

Advanced Placement Testing
This year many Advanced Placement exams will be at least partially digital, using the Bluebook program. English Language, Latin, US Government, and US History will be 100% digital. Biology, Calculus, Chemistry, Physics C, and Statistics will be a hybrid of digital (for the multiple-choice questions) and paper (for the free response). Students taking these exams will need to bring a fully charged computer for testing. Review the device requirements here. Chrome Books are not acceptable for these tests. Students should contact Ms. Infantino if they do not have an appropriate device.

Students taking the AP exams listed above can download Bluebook onto their testing computer now at bluebook.app.collegeboard.org. If Bluebook is already on their computer (from a previous College Board test) they should open it and update to the latest version. They will need their College Board login ID and password. Bluebook has test previews for all digital exam subjects so that students can familiarize themselves with the program. They will receive further details about AP testing later in the spring. Remember that students enrolled in AP courses are required to take the corresponding AP exam. They will not have a Casady final exam in those classes.
March 2
Dear Upper Division,

Last Thursday, we were pleased to host Heroes in Waiting, a local organization dedicated to promoting mental health and combating bullying. This organization has strong connections to Casady School, notably through a past American Design project. Last year, our one AmD team collaborated with Heroes in Waiting to refine their messaging and enhance its relevance for high school students.

For the presentation, we welcomed Les Thomas, the OSU hype man, as our guest speaker. Mr. Thomas connected meaningfully with our students, sharing his personal journey and emphasizing the importance of support systems. He stressed that no student is ever truly alone and that they always have access to supportive adults and friends. He also shared that, despite his own successes as an adult and the obstacles he had overcome, the most enduring challenges often stemmed from hurtful words spoken during his youth, highlighting the profound impact of our language and words.

To accommodate the event, we adjusted our schedule, completing all classes before lunch. The afternoon was then dedicated to a field day organized by our Student Council. We extend our sincere gratitude to Student Council for their efforts as well as to the teachers who ran the events. While there was some student grousing about the activities (seasonal mood changes are real), the beautiful weather and outdoor activities quickly transformed their attitudes. Laughter and smiles filled the afternoon, reminding us that even our near-adults retain a playful spirit.

Marc Addington
Upper Division Director
addingtonm@casady.org

Christian Baptism and Confirmation at Casady
Casady is a church-based school, and we recognize that some of our families hold Casady as the source for their student's Christian spiritual formation. Because of this, an extracurricular class will be offered on Wednesday mornings at 8:00 a.m. during the season of Lent for any students in seventh-12th grades who are interested or inquiring about Christian baptism or confirmation. This will occur at the Saturday night Easter Vigil at the Episcopal Cathedral on April 19. These Lenten Season preparation classes are as follows:
March 5 - What is Baptism and Confirmation?
March 12 - Who is Jesus to a Christian?
SPRING BREAK
March 26 - Meaning of Jesus' Death and Resurrection.
April 9 - What does being a “follower of Jesus” mean?
April 16 - Baptism and Confirmation Service - What to expect.
Classes begin March 5 at 8:00 a.m. in Middle Division BibleLand. Contact Fr. Youmans at youmansts@casady.org.

Ash Wednesday
All students will need to be in Formal Dress for Ash Wednesday on March 5.

Advanced Placement Testing
This year many Advanced Placement exams will be at least partially digital, using the Bluebook program. English Language, Latin, US Government, and US History will be 100% digital. Biology, Calculus, Chemistry, Physics C, and Statistics will be a hybrid of digital (for the multiple-choice questions) and paper (for the free response). Students taking these exams will need to bring a fully charged computer for testing. Review the device requirements here. Chrome Books are not acceptable for these tests. Students should contact Ms. Infantino if they do not have an appropriate device.

Students taking the AP exams listed above can download Bluebook onto their testing computer now at bluebook.app.collegeboard.org. If Bluebook is already on their computer (from a previous College Board test) they should open it and update to the latest version. They will need their College Board login ID and password. Bluebook has test previews for all digital exam subjects so that students can familiarize themselves with the program. They will receive further details about AP testing later in the spring. Remember that students enrolled in AP courses are required to take the corresponding AP exam. They will not have a Casady final exam in those classes.
February 21
Dear Upper Division,

We hope that you enjoyed the snow and wintry weather. Our students let me know that they very much appreciated the extension to the Winter Break! As a former Texas resident, we rarely got snow, and when we did, there were few who knew how to drive in it. Our houses didn’t do so well either. However, both my mastiffs, Agatha and Brodi, loved frolicking in the snow.

Returning to virtual school brought back a lot of memories of our times directly after the COVID lockdown. A reflection was that our youngest learners in Upper Division may or may not have had much memory of their online experience. We did our best! Some teachers sent out instructions for students to work on their own; some held office hours; some had robust classes including breakout sessions. Our students really did well to check teacher pages and follow through. We were very impressed with them.

Meanwhile, in other parts of the country where this winter system fell, colleges and universities went online, in a blink. This transition is eased by the high-level software and hardware infrastructure these institutions enjoy. Moreover, online classes are rather popular among college students. They can stay in their dorms or take asynchronous classes on their own timetable. Recent surveys (1,2) report that at least half of the students will take an online class in their undergraduate degree. It makes us think about whether we should be taking a day here or there to teach from home. Would that help our kids with the next step? I welcome your thoughts.

Marc Addington
Upper Division Director
addingtonm@casady.org

Winter Team Playoffs
We are excited about our basketball, swimming, and wrestling playoffs this weekend. With the weather changing schedules, please follow the school calendar for the latest and most reliable information. Our latest Casady Connection: Winter Sports Postseason has a handy list.

Collect for the Week
O Lord, you have taught us that without love, whatever we do is worth nothing: Send your Holy Spirit and pour into our hearts your greatest gift, which is love, the true bond of peace and of all virtue, without which whoever lives is accounted dead before you. Grant this for the sake of your only Son, Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Parent Conference Day, Feb. 28
Sign up for conferences is available through the portal, in “PTC Wizard.” Parents of seniors, we are still having conferences! Though we will certainly not be scheduling classes for next year, we do want to review the goals set at the beginning of the year. Most importantly, after having your students with us for so many years, we want a final session with you and your student to talk about their time at Casady.

Christian Baptism and Confirmation at Casady
Casady is a church-based school, and we recognize that some of our families hold Casady as the source for their student's Christian spiritual formation. Because of this, an extracurricular class will be offered on Wednesday mornings at 8:00 a.m. during the season of Lent for any students in seventh-12th grades who are interested or inquiring about Christian baptism or confirmation. This will occur at the Saturday night Easter Vigil at the Episcopal Cathedral on April 19. These Lenten Season preparation classes are as follows:
March 5 - What is Baptism and Confirmation?
March 12 - Who is Jesus to a Christian?
SPRING BREAK
March 26 - Meaning of Jesus' Death and Resurrection.
April 9 - What does being a “follower of Jesus” mean?
April 16 - Baptism and Confirmation Service - What to expect.
Classes begin March 5 at 8:00 a.m. in Middle Division BibleLand. Contact Fr. Youmans at youmansts@casady.org.

Heroes in Waiting, Feb. 27
On Thursday, Feb. 27, we are pleased to bring Heroes In Waiting back to Casady to present to the entire Upper Division. Led by Oklahoma State University game day emcee Les Thomas, these assemblies teach students the importance of being themselves, respecting others, speaking up for their friends, and creating a culture of support and acceptance.

Advanced Placement Testing
This year many Advanced Placement exams will be at least partially digital, using the Bluebook program. English Language, Latin, US Government, and US History will be 100% digital. Biology, Calculus, Chemistry, Physics C, and Statistics will be a hybrid of digital (for the multiple-choice questions) and paper (for the free response). Students taking these exams will need to bring a fully charged computer for testing. Review the device requirements here. Chrome books are not acceptable for these tests. Students should contact Ms. Infantino if they do not have an appropriate device.

Students taking the AP exams listed above can download Bluebook onto their testing computer now at bluebook.app.collegeboard.org. If Bluebook is already on their computer (from a previous College Board test) they should open it and update to the latest version. They will need their College Board login ID and password. Bluebook has test previews for all digital exam subjects so that students can familiarize themselves with the program. They will receive further details about AP testing later in the spring. Remember that students enrolled in AP courses are required to take the corresponding AP exam. They will not have a Casady final exam in those classes.

February 17

Dear Upper Division,

College Readiness

Last week, I introduced a new mechanism for us to give context to our commitments, both in and out of school, the time management worksheet. As we were setting this up, we realized that our seniors would need something different to help them start thinking about life at college. So, we came up with a different sheet, especially highlighting how much less time they spend doing school stuff and being in class. What would (or should) they do with all that time?

Unstructured Time

Playtime, downtime
Social calendar (dating, going out, revelry, concerts, movies)
Friends, social media, gaming
Cleaning the dorm (please do this)
Laundry (please also do this)
Shopping (food, toilet paper, detergent)
Eating meals (hour for each)
Commuting (living off campus)
Religious Observances
Traveling back home

It took me back to when my oldest was going off to college. Was he ready? We weren't sure. Yes, we gave our kids chores that pertained to running the house, but not a lot, not as much as we could have. My wife, Tracey, and I went back and forth on this. Like many of our Casady families, our kids were doing all the things: sports, clubs, tough courses, social calendar, trips to visit family, etc. There just wasn’t that much time left over, and we saw their main “job” as doing school.

So, when it was time to send our oldest off, he needed a lot of help. How do you operate the laundry machines at college? Remember to buy toilet paper from time to time! You don’t have a kitchen, so what can you do with a little microwave to make some food at 2:00 a.m.?

If you have any ideas on what to add, we’d love your thoughts!

Marc Addington

Upper Division Director
addingtonm@casady.org

Collect for the Week
O God, the strength of all who put their trust in you: Mercifully accept our prayers; and because in our weakness we can do nothing good without you, give us the help of your grace, that in keeping your commandments we may please you both in will and deed; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.

Christian Baptism and Confirmation at Casady
Casady is a church-based school, and we recognize that some of our families hold Casady as the source for their student's Christian spiritual formation. Because of this, an extracurricular class will be offered on Wednesday mornings at 8:00 a.m. during the season of Lent for any students in seventh-12th grades who are interested or inquiring about Christian baptism or confirmation. This will occur at the Saturday night Easter Vigil at the Episcopal Cathedral on April 19. These Lenten Season preparation classes are as follows:

March 5 - What is Baptism and Confirmation?
March 12 - Who is Jesus to a Christian?
SPRING BREAK
March 26 - Meaning of Jesus' Death and Resurrection.
April 9 - What does being a “follower of Jesus” mean?
April 16 - Baptism and Confirmation Service - What to expect.

Classes begin March 5 at 8:00 a.m. in Middle Division BibleLand. Contact Fr. Youmans at youmansts@casady.org.

Heroes in Waiting, Feb. 27
On Thursday, Feb. 27, we are pleased to bring Heroes In Waiting back to Casady to present to the entire Upper Division. Led by Oklahoma State University game day emcee Les Thomas, these assemblies teach students the importance of being themselves, respecting others, speaking up for their friends, and creating a culture of support and acceptance.

Parent Conference Day, Feb. 28
Sign up for conferences is available through the portal, in “PTC Wizard.” Parents of seniors, we are still having conferences! Though we will certainly not be scheduling classes for next year, we do want to review the goals set at the beginning of the year. Most importantly, after having your students with us for so many years, we want a final session with you and your student to talk about their time at Casady.

Advanced Placement Testing
This year many Advanced Placement exams will be at least partially digital, using the Bluebook program. English Language, Latin, US Government, and US History will be 100% digital. Biology, Calculus, Chemistry, Physics C, and Statistics will be a hybrid of digital (for the multiple-choice questions) and paper (for the free response). Students taking these exams will need to bring a fully charged computer for testing. Review the device requirements here. Chrome books are not acceptable for these tests. Students should contact Ms. Infantino if they do not have an appropriate device.

Students taking the AP exams listed above can download Bluebook onto their testing computer now at bluebook.app.collegeboard.org. If Bluebook is already on their computer (from a previous College Board test) they should open it and update to the latest version. They will need their College Board login ID and password. Bluebook has test previews for all digital exam subjects so that students can familiarize themselves with the program. They will receive further details about AP testing later in the spring. Remember that students enrolled in AP courses are required to take the corresponding AP exam. They will not have a Casady final exam in those classes.

February 9

Dear Upper Division,

Next week, we will publish our curriculum guide and students will begin perusing classes for next year. First of all, many thanks to Mr. Brannan Crossno, English teacher and digital media manager, who has created a truly beautiful guide. As previously announced, we have added AP courses in our English and History departments for juniors and seniors. This allows our students to exercise more choice in those years by allowing them more subjects to excel in, but equally important, an option to take a more manageable load.

Surely, adding AP courses is a welcome addition, but there is also an underside to having another, higher level of courses to take; students can be overloaded and overwhelmed. Different institutions approach this process in their own ways, and I would like to describe our approach.

In Casady’s portrait of a graduate, the last description of a student is I THRIVE. I live a life of balance, purpose, and joy. When students choose classes for next year, this is a perfect opportunity to learn balance. Schools and parents today are acutely aware of stressed out students. Mental health problems abound in teenagers, both in our high schools and at college. There are quite a few schools who respond to this situation by limiting AP and honors courses. Some limits were enforced by a tight schedule; some restrict honors or AP classes by numbers: three a year, five over the junior and senior years, etc. But this methodology misses something critical.

First and foremost, by using limiters “balance” is achieved institutionally by adults, not by the student. Next, a one-size fits all approach is assumed. For those of you who have two or more children, you know each of your kids is different. What stresses out one child might have no effect on the other. Over the years, I have seen where one or no AP courses can present significant challenges to a student, especially those with outside commitments such as club sports. On the other hand, some students can be bored with a full complement of AP courses. Each one is different. But here is the sticking point. When we don’t allow our students to develop this skill while they are still with their families and a supportive school community, we delay that maturation until our students are away at college, on their own, and without a support group.

I return to the portrait of a graduate. “I live a life of balance, purpose, and joy.” The “I” is the student whom we want to learn how to make these decisions. To this end our advisory activities have included a “Time Management Worksheet.” This requires the student to learn what result their choices have on their overall life, especially those components that are vital to their wellbeing: sleep, family/friend time, down time. Last week, we started this project, looking just at the life of the student outside of Casady.

Of course, we are developing this skill, and our students are certainly not the independent adults we know they will grow into. That’s why we need your help and we invite you to have these conversations with your students ahead of our parent conferences later this month.

Warmly,

Marc Addington

Upper Division Director
addingtonm@casady.org

Collect for the Week
Almighty and everliving God, we humbly pray that, as your only-begotten Son was this day presented in the temple, so we may be presented to you with pure and clean hearts by Jesus Christ our Lord; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

Honor Roll for the First Semester
We were happy to recognize Honor Roll and High Honor Roll recipients last Wednesday. Here is the list of recipients. Congratulations to our students on the hard work. We missed changing the year on our certificates and will issue a corrected version next week.

Freshman Honor Roll	Sophomore Honor Roll	Junior Honor Roll	Senior Honor Roll
Caroline Blakewell Caroline Browne Chase Cashion Benjamin Chen Madeleine Fong Thomas Gillenwater Mia Halleran George Holt Firas Hussein Clifton Johnson Katherine Kendall Simrin Kumar London Le William Lewis Sophia Luong Noah Ly Barnett Makipour Suri McKinney Asher Reed-White Noah Rindler Sheryaar Rizvi Srinika Saravanamuthu Yvie Scherer Kaitlyn Shaver Scarlett Shdeed Hayden Shriner Zoë Temple Lily Warren Noor Youness	Emily Abraham Susannah Brown Allison Burkhart Samuel Carter Areeba Farhan Adeline Hanneman Alexander Hawkins Emory Hill Elizabeth James Chloe Kim Nathan Lee Ella Li Robert Lowe Mason McAllister Fahim Nazir Mishel Razaq Rishika Shah William Skarky John Skarky Elle Stabinski Edie Tucker Elizabeth Wallis	Annamika Agarwal Maggie Brown Olivia Chapman Nathan Currie Ellington Dorr Sofia Dyer Faith Erickson Charlotte Fares Joseph Farmer Sutton Fraley Pariza Hafeez Haydan Hansen Niva Hapani Grace Henry William Jacobs Lauren Kim Aanika Kumar Daisy Le Isaac Moore Arad Rezaei Anzabi Austin Rindler Luke Schwartz Anika Shrivastava Micah White	Umer Ahmad Caroline Anderson Claire Anderson Jia Baluja Seth Brumley Benjamin Couch Davis Currie Micah Dianda Grace Ferate Gabriel Freeland Joshua Goggins Ashton Hale Preston Hobson Ethan Hua Jaxon Hutton Daniel Johnson Breelyn Johnson Lilly Johnston Ayden Kerr Jack Lee Michelle Nguyen Jacob Owens-Fakhoury Kylie Phu Samuel Rhoades Lillian Ross Ava Sachdev Claire Samara Addison Starling Savannah Timmermeyer Julia Ungvari Cade Vesta Leela Walia
Freshman High Honor Roll	Sophomore High Honor Roll	Junior High Honor Roll	Senior High Honor Roll
Grace Elder Hudson Fong Lila Garabelli Dhiya Jeevanantham Katherine Johnson Maya Kumar Aayush Pitale Vishaak Rajaram Eshal Salman Aryan Singh	Moiz Ali Finn FitzSimons Evan Kirt Max McAllister Amelia Mullen Caroline Olszewski Kyra Sawheny Daisy Yelahanka Raghavendra	Christopher Bankhead Danzel Chen Hope Fahler Andrew Fitzpatrick Evan Halleran Raymond Jiang Jolie Jimenez Parker Johnstone Pippa Netreba Perrin Rackley	Jack Barber Quincy Cole-Stevens Isabella Cope Robert Evans Grey Guzzy Alaina Jawed Jyothika Kanagala Ishaa Mehta Campbell Metcalf Mason Northup Helen Olszewski Krish Patel Tess Rhoades Tully Roensch David Ruffin Humza Saif Eva Scheer Molly Shepherd James Sun Kelsey Vorel Kevin Wang

February 2

Dear Upper Division,

I ENGAGE

I participate in positive local and global communities and embrace the rights and responsibilities of citizenship.

Before the winter break, I had the distinct pleasure to meet with Casady senior Khrish Patel, and Deer Creek junior Lakshmi Birasan. Both students are currently working with local Oklahoma lawmakers, State Representative Arturo Alonso-Sandoval and State Senator Jack Stewart on a piece of legislation, and I wanted to know everything I could about how this all came about.

Lakshmi and Khrish had known each other for the past couple of years, first by volunteering at local hospitals and then through their engagement with our local Youth and Government program, but it was in the latter organization that they were able to develop an interest in how government works, how problems are addressed, and, most importantly, how a bill becomes law. Behind this was a deep curiosity and interest in how our government addresses real world problems.

At the same time, both students had become aware of a practice in medical billing whereby hospitals might overcharge their patrons by hiding fees in indecipherable codes or by simply not itemizing charges so that customers are unaware of what they are being billed for. For Khrish, this hit close to home when a friend has been saddled with significant medical debt. Lakshmi and Khrish then engaged in research. Khrish had the benefit of working with his Government and Politics teacher, Dr. Harp, who made several suggestions. They learned that not only was medical debt a significant problem for Oklahomans but that this was a national phenomenon.

Further research revealed that several other states such as Texas, Illinois, and Maine had already passed bipartisan legislation to require hospitals to itemize their billing. Better clarity not only led to a more competitive environment - consumers could now shop - but organizations were far more conscientious in their billing practices, charging for actual use rather than packaged services. Could they convince a local lawmaker to pursue a similar type of legislation for Oklahoma?

This was when they decided to reach out to State Representative, Arturo Alonso-Sandoval, who had spoken at a Youth and Government conference. He was receptive to the idea and there began a journey of how to create a law. The to-do list was long, and Khrish and Lakshmi soon learned that passing a law is incredibly complicated: how would disputes be handled? How would this law be enforced? What mechanisms did other states use? Would those mechanisms even apply to Oklahoma?

They were also sent to many other state legislators, who not only loved the idea, but also helped to refine the bill and provide valuable feedback. Through these meetings, they learned that passing a law is not just about having a great idea, it’s about developing the support and impetus to get the bill past committee and into a legislative agenda. Currently, the bill that they are working on has an official record, Senate Bill 1005, and they are working hard to get the bill on the agenda.

I asked them what they learned from this experience and what was different from learning about government in the classroom. The lessons were many. First, you can have an impact, even though you’re so young, but you have to put in the work. Knowledge is power, but you also have to be willing to put yourself out there, to take a risk. Lastly, these real-world problems are not neat, curated projects like we find in school. You can find yourself encountering roadblock after roadblock. It will take passion and discipline to bring it home.

In the time since we spoke in December, both students have added yet another bill to empower young people to have the same experience they are. This youth advocacy legislation also has a record, House Bill 1909.

Warmly,

Marc Addington

Upper Division Director
addingtonm@casady.org

Freshman Honor Roll	Sophomore Honor Roll	Junior Honor Roll	Senior Honor Roll
Caroline Blakewell Caroline Browne Chase Cashion Benjamin Chen Madeleine Fong Thomas Gillenwater Mia Halleran George Holt Firas Hussein Clifton Johnson Katherine Kendall Simrin Kumar London Le William Lewis Sophia Luong Noah Ly Barnett Makipour Suri McKinney Asher Reed-White Noah Rindler Sheryaar Rizvi Srinika Saravanamuthu Yvie Scherer Kaitlyn Shaver Scarlett Shdeed Hayden Shriner Zoë Temple Lily Warren Noor Youness	Emily Abraham Susannah Brown Allison Burkhart Samuel Carter Areeba Farhan Adeline Hanneman Alexander Hawkins Emory Hill Elizabeth James Chloe Kim Nathan Lee Ella Li Robert Lowe Mason McAllister Fahim Nazir Mishel Razaq Rishika Shah William Skarky John Skarky Elle Stabinski Edie Tucker Elizabeth Wallis	Annamika Agarwal Maggie Brown Olivia Chapman Nathan Currie Ellington Dorr Sofia Dyer Faith Erickson Charlotte Fares Joseph Farmer Sutton Fraley Pariza Hafeez Haydan Hansen Niva Hapani Grace Henry William Jacobs Lauren Kim Aanika Kumar Daisy Le Isaac Moore Arad Rezaei Anzabi Austin Rindler Luke Schwartz Anika Shrivastava Micah White	Umer Ahmad Caroline Anderson Claire Anderson Jia Baluja Seth Brumley Benjamin Couch Davis Currie Micah Dianda Grace Ferate Gabriel Freeland Joshua Goggins Ashton Hale Preston Hobson Ethan Hua Jaxon Hutton Daniel Johnson Breelyn Johnson Lilly Johnston Ayden Kerr Jack Lee Michelle Nguyen Jacob Owens-Fakhoury Kylie Phu Samuel Rhoades Lillian Ross Ava Sachdev Claire Samara Addison Starling Savannah Timmermeyer Julia Ungvari Cade Vesta Leela Walia
Freshman High Honor Roll	Sophomore High Honor Roll	Junior High Honor Roll	Senior High Honor Roll
Grace Elder Hudson Fong Lila Garabelli Dhiya Jeevanantham Katherine Johnson Maya Kumar Aayush Pitale Vishaak Rajaram Eshal Salman Aryan Singh	Moiz Ali Finn FitzSimons Evan Kirt Max McAllister Amelia Mullen Caroline Olszewski Kyra Sawheny Daisy Yelahanka Raghavendra	Christopher Bankhead Danzel Chen Hope Fahler Andrew Fitzpatrick Evan Halleran Raymond Jiang Jolie Jimenez Parker Johnstone Pippa Netreba Perrin Rackley	Jack Barber Quincy Cole-Stevens Isabella Cope Robert Evans Grey Guzzy Alaina Jawed Jyothika Kanagala Ishaa Mehta Campbell Metcalf Mason Northup Helen Olszewski Krish Patel Tess Rhoades Tully Roensch David Ruffin Humza Saif Eva Scheer Molly Shepherd James Sun Kelsey Vorel Kevin Wang

January 26
Dear Upper Division,

Deans Fly-In Program
I want to brag a little on our College Counseling team and the incredible difference-maker our Deans Fly-In Program has been. This year we were happy to bring in four deans, adhering to our semi-formal categories: one public in-state; one public out-of-state; a smaller, private college; and a more selective university:

Oklahoma State University - VP for Enrollment Management Karen Chen
Arizona State University - Associate VP for Admission Services April Crabtree
Earlham College - VP for Enrollment Management Scot Schaeffer
Georgetown University - Senior Associate Director of Admission Jaime Briseño

Before our guests presented last Thursday in the “Night with the Deans” program, there were several constituents in our School who were able to spend time in conversation and discussion. These meetings allow us to vet our programs. For instance, last year, their input led to a redesign of our College Profile. We also ask questions about ongoing changes in our curriculum. How do we describe shifts in our English and History pathways? How much interpretation is needed of our grading scale and GPA calculation? How can we best represent our students in the process? How long do your readers spend on an application and how can we maximize their time reading applications? What type of students thrive at your university and how can we help you identify those students at Casady?

These conversations have led to improvements in our transcripts and profile. They also let us know how changes in our curriculum and programming are viewed by those who don’t know Casady like we do. To be honest, this feedback has been invaluable and, in a college selection environment that is constantly changing, we can keep our practices nimble and responsive to our counterparts in university admissions.

At the “Night with the Deans”, juniors and their parents began the evening with a presentation from Mrs. Amy McQuade to hear about the latest updates to changes in the ACT and how that might affect their testing schedule. Mrs. Kisselle then introduced our deans and the evening’s programming. Each representative would hold an informational session on their own college along with topic-based sessions:

How to Distinguish Yourself
Holistic Review and Test-optional Admission
How to Make a Larger School Feel Smaller
How to Reduce Stress

To round the evening, Mr. Bottomly presented the panel with common questions students and parents have in the process. Here were some takeaways:

Students can still be competitive in the process and *not* take the highest level classes
Let your voice come through on your essays (beware of too many cooks in the kitchen)
Lastly, remember that the college process, while it’s sometimes work, should be fun and exciting!

Warmly,

Marc Addington
Upper Division Director
addingtonm@casady.org
January 20
Dear Upper Division,

FAQs for the Second Semester

What should my student do if they did not perform well on the exam?
Ask your student to meet with their teacher to review the exam in person. Sometimes, teachers will go over the exam in class, but that is an activity aimed at global issues. In a one-on-one meeting, they can review the individual mistakes they made, but equally as important is the road to the exam:

Habits during the semester (homework, office hours)
How long did they study for the exam?
What was their method?
What can be done next time to improve?

Why don’t we release exams so students can take them home?
It takes a long time to write a good exam, especially one that presents a new problem for which the student has the requisite knowledge and skills. In some cases, our teachers write several variations. Moreover, giving a similar exam from year to year helps us track how different classes fare and see how our curriculum is holding up. In any case, you and your student are always welcome to meet with the teacher to review their exam in person.

We can see the report card. What is actually sent to colleges?
For all colleges, the primary document required is the transcript, a compilation of academic performance beginning in ninth grade. Junior and senior parents can view an unofficial version of this document in Scoir, our college counseling platform. The transcript is the primary record for grades and is rather stripped down. This means that exam scores and attendance records, for example, are not included.

If my student does better in the second semester, does that help them?
It sure does. For our seniors, colleges and universities will make their decisions based largely on their grades through the junior year; some institutions ask for a midyear report. The grades at the end of the year happen after the college process is over. However, for our current ninth, 10th, and 11th graders, their transcript will contain a single grade for the year. This means that a student who receives a C+ for the first semester could earn a B in the second semester and a B- for the year. Since the transcript only posts a single grade, only the B- would be sent to colleges (and not the C+). This mechanism keeps the transcript clean but also affords our students the ability to capitalize on improved performance in the second part of the year.

Warmly,

Marc Addington
Upper Division Director
addingtonm@casady.org

Drop / Add Deadline
The deadline to drop or add a spring semester course is Tuesday, Jan. 21. Students should contact Ms. Infantino if they have any questions about their schedule.

Weekly Collect
Almighty God, whose Son our Savior Jesus Christ is the light of the world: Grant that your people, illumined by your Word and Sacraments, may shine with the radiance of Christ's glory, that he may be known, worshipped, and obeyed to the ends of the earth; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, now and forever. Amen.

College Counseling Night with the Deans for 11th Grade Families
Thursday, Jan. 23
7:00 p.m.
Records Lobby

Casady College Counseling is excited to host admission leaders from Earlham College, Arizona State University, Oklahoma State University, and Georgetown University at our annual Night with the Deans program. Each of our guests will share information about their institutions and present on topics relevant to the college search process.

This program is designed for students and parents, so please plan to attend as a family.
January 12

Dear Upper Division,

On Monday, we release report cards with semester exams and final grades. One of the joys of teaching and parenting is marking the pride and elation when they do well and see themselves capable of great things. One of the trials is watching them let disappointment or failure be equally as defining. Over the next two weeks we will review the S.M.A.R.T. goals students set for themselves and that we discussed in our student-led advisory conferences earlier this year. How are these goals going? What are their next steps? What if there was a setback or failure?

In thinking about failure, I was reminded the other day of a set of awards created for the worst performances in showbiz, the Golden Raspberry Awards. These dubious prizes are similar to the Oscars or Golden Globes in that they have nominations, an awards ceremony, and a winner selected. Most nominees and award recipients do not attend the ceremony for obvious reasons. However, there have been notable exceptions. In 2004 the actor, Halle Berry, who won the worst actress award for Catwoman, was in attendance to receive her award. At the ceremony she held up both her Oscar and her Razzie:

"I never in my life thought that I would be up here, winning a Razzie! It's not like I ever aspired to be here, but thank you. When I was a kid, my mother told me that if you could not be a good loser, then there's no way you could be a good winner."

Another was the actor, Sandra Bullock, who won and accepted the award for worst actress for All About Steve in 2009. The next evening, she won an Academy Award for The Blind Side.

Both these professionals were able to boldly claim ownership of both success and failure. Sandra Bullock, in her acceptance speech, said that she was doing her best with what she had. Sometimes you just can’t control all of these circumstances, but that doesn’t mean you give up; in fact, it may mean you work harder. How can we help our students have that same perspective? As Kipling wrote, “[how to] meet with Triumph and Disaster, and treat those two impostors just the same.”
Warmly,

Marc Addington
Upper Division Director
addingtonm@casady.org

Report Card Release Information
Fall term report cards, including exam and semester final grades, will be available on MyCasady by Monday, Jan. 13. College Counselors will automatically send updated transcripts to the colleges where seniors are applying.

Spring Schedule Information
The deadline to drop or add a spring semester course is Tuesday, Jan. 21. Students should contact Ms. Infantino if they have any questions about their schedule.

Advisory Goals for Spring 2025
When we return in January, our Advisories will review their individual SMART goals that were set during the Fall Conferences. This will be a good time to review progress and reassess the goals. SMART goals are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time Bound. As we prepare for the Spring Conferences, the students and Advisors will return to these goals to Evaluate and Reevaluate to move toward making these goals SMARTER. Progress towards these goals, along with discussion of next year’s course registration, will be shared with parents during Spring Conferences Friday, Feb. 28. Information and scheduling details will be available in late January.

Random Drug Testing
After our Universal Testing at the start of the year, random testing begins in January 2025 and ends in May. Students will be selected randomly each month for testing and will be pulled during their study hall, PA+, or before/after school to avoid conflicts with their academics. If a student is randomly selected, then they will receive an email from Samantha Kobs, Director of Student Support Services, about where and when their test will be held. If a student is absent or sick on the day of their test, they will be tested on the day that they return to School. For additional information or questions about the upcoming random testing process, please review the Universal/Random Drug Testing resource board in MyCasady and/or contact Samantha Kobs.
January 5

Dear Upper Division,

I hope you and your family had a wonderful break and time away. We are glad to welcome you back to campus.

On the Wednesday morning before the break, I slipped in behind several sophomore boys shivering on their way to Hightower building. Now in my second year at Casady and no longer a stranger, I was able to be safely ignored as they pursued their conversation.

“I am solid on the X,Y,Z affair, but the Missouri Compromise I’m unsure about.”

In swooped another quivering teen, “easy.” “The Missouri Compromise was about…” And on they prattled about U.S. History.

There are some in education who deplore exams. We should do projects or presentations instead. We should give alternative assessments and not this old hat. For me, there is something special about what I heard from those students. They had worked hard to meet a deadline and to rise to a level of expectation. There is stress involved, yes, but there is also performance and pride of accomplishment.

I am very proud of our students and all they gave to these exams, some going late in the second hour to put every last thought down and to double check their work.

Please see below for the release of grades and our plans to review our students’ successes and challenges from the first semester.

Warmly,

Marc Addington
Upper Division Director
addingtonm@casady.org

Report Card Release Information
Fall term report cards, including exam and semester final grades, will be available on MyCasady by Monday, Jan. 13. College Counselors will automatically send updated transcripts to the colleges where seniors are applying.

Spring Schedule Information
The spring term begins on Tuesday, Jan. 7, which is an A day. Students should check their schedules on MyCasady because semester courses and study halls will change. The deadline to drop or add a spring semester course is Tuesday, Jan. 21. Students should contact Ms. Infantino if they have any questions about their schedule.

Advisory Goals for Spring 2025
When we return in January, our Advisories will review their individual SMART goals that were set during the Fall Conferences. This will be a good time to review progress and reassess the goals. SMART goals are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time Bound. As we prepare for the Spring Conferences, the students and Advisors will return to these goals to Evaluate and Reevaluate to move toward making these goals SMARTER. Progress towards these goals, along with discussion of next year’s course registration, will be shared with parents during Spring Conferences Friday, Feb. 28. Information and scheduling details will be available in late January.

Random Drug Testing
After our Universal Testing at the start of the year, random testing begins in January 2025 and ends in May. Students will be selected randomly each month for testing and will be pulled during their study hall, PA+, or before/after school to avoid conflicts with their academics. If a student is randomly selected, then they will receive an email from Samantha Kobs, Director of Student Support Services, about where and when their test will be held. If a student is absent or sick on the day of their test, they will be tested on the day that they return to School. For additional information or questions about the upcoming random testing process, please review the Universal/Random Drug Testing resource board in MyCasady and/or contact Samantha Kobs.
December 15

Dear Upper Division,

Fragments in Winter
(P. Oxy. 1231, Wikimedia Commons)

The above fragment comes from trash heaps outside the 4th century BC Egyptian town of the Hook-Nosed Fish (Oxyrhynchus) wherein lay piles of scattered papyrus, the ancient form of paper. Sometimes papyrus was treated like we use newspapers, as trash wrappers, papier-mâché, or even as burial wrappings. The local peoples would then deposit their trash in great heaps outside the town, and there these bits of papyrus would remain, preserved in the dry Egyptian climate, for more than two thousand years, until they were discovered by archaeologists in the late 19th century. All of a sudden, on these throwaway scraps were found everything from mundane shopping lists to famous authors, now brought to light after millenia.

The above papyrus contains fragments of the poet Sappho (fl. 6th cent. BC). It is the labor of papyrologists to painstakingly find some sort of sense from these bits and pieces. Below is a typical notation. Where brackets open, these are the ‘lacunae’ or gaps. When letters or words appear outside those gaps, these are the clever inventions of papyrologists giving their best guess to what the author wrote.

]βλα.[
]εργον, . . λ᾿ α . . [
]ν ῤέθος δοκιμ̣[
4. ]ησθαι
]ν αὐάδην χ . [
αἰ δ]ὲ μή, χειμων[
].οισαναλγεα . [
8. ]δε
.]. ε .[ …. ] . [ … κ]δέομαι σ᾿ ἀ̣[είδην
Γο]γγύλαν̣ [Ἄβ]α̣νθι λαβοισαν ἀ . [
πᾶ]κτιν, ἆς̣ σε δηὖτε πόθος τ̣ . [
12. Ἀμφιπόταται
τὰν κάλαν· ἀ γὰρ κατάγωγις αὔτ̣α[ς σ᾿
ἐπτόαισ᾿ ἴδοισαν, ἐγὼ δὲ χαίρω·
καὶ γαρ αὔτ̣α δήπο[τ᾿] ἐμέμφ[ετ᾿ ἄγνα
16. Κ]υπρογέν[ηα
ὠ̣ς ἄραμα̣[ι
τοῦτο τὦ[πος
β]όλλομα̣[ι

Text: Campbell, David A. 1982.
Source: P. Oxy. 1231 frr. 12, 15

Translators sometimes have been heavy-handed in filling in those open spaces, imposing their own readings onto these lost works. Recently, Anne Carson took the bold move to embrace the lacunae and leave those spaces open for interpretation. Here is her translation of the fragment above:

             ]
                ]work
                ]face
                ]
                ]
                if not, winter
                ]no pain
                ]
]I bid you sing
of Gongyla, Abanthis, taking up
your lyre as (now again) longing
                floats around you,

you beauty. For her dress when you saw it
stirred you. And I rejoice.
In fact she herself once blamed me
                Kyprogeneia

because I prayed
this word:
I want

Anne Carson, If Not, Winter (Alfred A. Knopf, 2022)

The floating words “if not, winter” inspired the title of her translation of Sappho’s poems. This poem came into my mind as we wind down this final part of the semester. “Work” and “winter” strongly resonated. Surely by this point in the year, something has been denied, “if not.” But there has been no real consequence, “no pain.” Or maybe there is an understanding that without pain, something is denied. We simply don’t know as the text is lost. Now, as we all head into the holiday season, maybe we can “tak[e] up [the] lyre” and give ourselves to what we find beautiful, stirring, and joyous.

Our students, these wonderful young people, are in some ways like this fragmentary work. We are beginning to see pieces of the persons they are becoming. It will be their work to fill in the gaps and our work to find beauty in their poems. In the meantime, we wish you and your family a wonderful holiday season.

Warmly,

Marc Addington
Upper Division Director
addingtonm@casady.org

Collect for Second Week of Advent, Dec. 15
Above all, we thank you for your Son Jesus Christ; for the truth of his Word and the example of his life; for his steadfast obedience, by which he overcame temptation; for his dying, through which he overcame death; and for his rising to life again, in which we are raised to the life of your kingdom

Random Drug Testing
After our Universal Testing at the start of the year, random testing begins in January 2025 and ends in May. Students will be selected randomly each month for testing and will be pulled during their study hall, PA+, or before/after school to avoid conflicts with their academics. If a student is randomly selected, then they will receive an email from Samantha Kobs, Director of Student Support Services, about where and when their test will be held. If a student is absent or sick on the day of their test, they will be tested on the day that they return to School. For additional information or questions about the upcoming random testing process, please review the Universal/Random Drug Testing resource board in MyCasady and/or contact Samantha Kobs.

Food Delivery to Campus
Upper Division does not allow food deliveries to our campus via Door-Dash, Uber Eats, PostMates, etc. Students may always eat in Calvert Dining Hall if they don't want to leave campus. On those few occasions when Calvert is closed, Upper Division provides a meal, usually pizza, for any student staying on campus. This has been our practice since Covid and continues because of our diligence to insure the Security of our students and campus. Drivers for these delivery servers may not have had the background or security checks required for campus visitors. Please help us by reminding your students that they need to make plans other than food delivery.

Semester Exams
Fall Semester exams will be given December 17-19. December 16 is reading day. There are no classes, and teachers are available for help and review. December 20 is reserved for make-up exams. Students can see their exam schedules on MyCasady. Please plan your holiday travel accordingly.
December 8

Dear Upper Division,

Both my wife and I tried with each of our three kids to encourage them to study abroad while they were in school. I had done a couple of smaller trips in the summer, one to Bonn, Germany, the capital of Germany at the time, and another to Aix-en-Provence in France. My wife has spent a year at Trinity College in Dublin. They were transformative experiences.

This past August, our youngest child (or adult), headed to Italy as a member of The University of Oklahoma's Italian Study Center. I won’t lie. Despite the fact that we had been pushing this move, we were equal parts excited and fearful. More than 5,000 miles away for several months was a big step for her (and for us).

Sure, we had been doing all the things as parents of a student off at school, letting her steer the ship at college. We did not ask for proxy access to grades, though we asked to see at the end of the semester. We of course checked in on what courses she was signing up for, but there were no calls or emails to Academic advising. This had been her show at college.

Once in Italy, there might have been a frantic FaceTime here and there at the beginning. Of course, there was the inevitable homesickness, but after a few weeks, she found her place and began to travel all around Europe with her friends. We were proud of the fact that she had worked and saved for several years to make the most of the experience.

This past Thanksgiving, we had the distinct privilege to visit her in Italy. She was so proud of showing us how to get around. When we arrived at Arezzo, we were clearly in her backyard. We went to her favorite sandwich shop, where they knew her name. She took us up and down these cobblestone streets without “mapping it,” as if she had grown up in Tuscany. She had found another home all on her own.

As we were traveling from Arezzo to Padua, we disembarked from the train where we had to undergo that experience of finding the ticket machine, fumbling through the menus, and selecting the right trip. Up to that point, it had been a special journey for me and my wife, both of us who have no Italian whatsoever. As I have done on every family trip (and school trip), I constantly look back and front to do a head count. Lucy was gone. I told my wife, and we began to search. As we rounded the platform and headed to the ticketing machines, she was walking toward us with three tickets for the next trip. Our daughter had taken care of us.

Warmly,

Marc Addington
Upper Division Director
addingtonm@casady.org

Collect for Second Week of Advent, Dec. 8
Merciful God, who sent your messengers the prophets to preach repentance and prepare the way for our salvation: Give us grace to heed their warnings and forsake our sins, that we may greet with joy the coming of Jesus Christ our Redeemer; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

Random Drug Testing
After our Universal Testing at the start of the year, random testing begins in January 2025 and ends in May. Students will be selected randomly each month for testing and will be pulled during their study hall, PA+, or before/after school to avoid conflicts with their academics. If a student is randomly selected, then they will receive an email from Samantha Kobs, Director of Student Support Services, about where and when their test will be held. If a student is absent or sick on the day of their test, they will be tested on the day that they return to School. For additional information or questions about the upcoming random testing process, please review the Universal/Random Drug Testing resource board in MyCasady and/or contact Samantha Kobs.

Food Delivery to Campus
Upper Division does not allow food deliveries to our campus via Door-Dash, Uber Eats, PostMates, etc. Students may always stay on campus and eat in Calvert Dining Hall if they don't want to leave campus. On those few occasions when Calvert is closed, Upper Division provides a meal, usually pizza, for any student staying on campus. This has been our practice since Covid and continues because of our diligence to insure the Security of our students and campus. Drivers for these delivery servers may not have had the background or security checks required for campus visitors. Please help us by reminding your students that they need to make plans other than food delivery.

Semester Exams - Week of December 16
Fall Semester exams will be given December 17-19. December 16 is reading day. There are no classes, and teachers are available for help and review. December 20 is reserved for make-up exams. Students can see their exam schedules on MyCasady. Please plan your holiday travel accordingly.
December 1

Dear Upper Division,

With exams two weeks away, here are some tips on how to best navigate the end of the semester and looming exams:

Missing Assignments / Revisions
Go through MyCasady to make sure that all missing assignments have been turned in. Maybe a teacher has offered that you revise a writing or visit with them concerning a recent assessment. Follow up on those requests. Use these last couple of weeks to meet with the teacher and review past work.

Gather Your Tools
At the end of this week, all teachers will have delivered exam reviews. Naturally, from teacher to teacher these products may differ widely. Take time to read over them and ask questions. Use these materials to make sure you have all the information and resources you need to study over the next couple of weeks. Weekends are such critical times.

Plan your time
Content-heavy exams need layering and recursive processing. Layering means that you start with fundamental knowledge and build on that foundation, layer by layer. Recursive refers to going back to material to be memorized. For example, if I need to memorize vocabulary for a language exam, I’ll tackle 10 words a day, for 10 minutes at a time, cycling through the list several times before the exam. Start early and set a calendar for when you will prepare for each exam.

Remember that with our exam schedule, you might have a different schedule than your friends. For those of you wanting to study the same class, you should plan a time that works for you.

Good luck!

Warmly,

Marc Addington
Upper Division Director
addingtonm@casady.org
November 17

Dear Upper Division,

As we did last year, in our advisory program we ask our students to write letters to loved ones and friends. As I went through advisories, seeing how this was going, I would ask them if they write letters or if they have ever written one. Few had. In fact, one huge mistake we made last year was assuming that students knew how to address an envelope, or even more unsettling, find an address!

In several classrooms, I let them know that their parents would love a note from them when they are away at college. “But, Mr. Addington, why don’t I just text?”, because it’s so much more meaningful to take time out of your day.

We hope that you enjoy these letters when they arrive and that your families have a wonderful Thanksgiving.

Warmly,

Marc Addington
Upper Division Director
addingtonm@casady.org

Semester Exams - Week of December 16
Fall Semester exams will be given December 17-19. December 16 is reading day. There are no classes, and teachers are available for help and review. December 20 is reserved for make-up exams. Students can see their exam schedules on MyCasady. Please plan your holiday travel accordingly.

Summer Planning Workshop
What are your student’s plans for next summer? Not sure yet? Now is the time to weigh your options!

Casady College Counseling Summer Planning Webinar
Ninth-11th Grade Families
Tuesday, Nov. 19
7:00 p.m.

Summer is an excellent time for students to show colleges and universities how they choose to spend their free time. They can highlight their passions and interests by volunteering for a cause they believe in, shadowing a career they are interested in, participating in a summer program, applying to join research, or even getting a job to demonstrate responsibility and trustworthiness.

Join Casady College Counseling for a webinar on Tuesday, Nov. 19, at 7:00 p.m. exploring how to approach summer planning, important questions to ask, and where to begin with research. A link to access this meeting will be shared in the College Counseling Connection and via email with ninth grade families on Monday.

We hope you can join us!

Class Rings
A representative from Josten’s will be in the Johnston building lobby on Tuesday, Nov. 19, to answer questions and take orders for Casady class rings. Information packets are also available in the Upper Division office.
November 10

Dear Upper Division,

As we entered this election season, our School made the principled decision to lean into the election cycle (some schools avoided the topic altogether). To this end, our Election and Government classes, working in conjunction with Youth and Government Club, put together a rather detailed experience for our students complete with ballot initiatives, voter registration, and rules of discourse. There were presentations, posters, and even videos demonstrating how to both follow our passions and values but at the same time have meaningful conversations with one another.

I ENGAGE.
I participate in positive local and global communities and embrace the rights and responsibilities of citizenship.

Throughout, our students learned so much about being citizens, especially in how they handled themselves in the weeks before the election and in the days following. I am proud of them and most importantly, I have hope that these young people will be our next leaders.

Warmly,

Marc Addington
Upper Division Director
addingtonm@casady.org

Semester Exams
Fall Semester exams will be given Dec. 17-19. Dec. 16 is reading day. There are no classes, and teachers are available for help and review. Dec. 20 is reserved for make-up exams. Students can see their exam schedules on MyCasady. Please plan your holiday travel accordingly.
November 3

Dear Upper Division,

More than a month ago, Mr. Peregrin asked me if I would teach on the Punic Wars for his Senior History Seminar on ancient history. “Yes, I’d love to!” I replied. I have been in the classroom for all but a few years of my career, and I felt comfortable in the subject matter. It would be great to get back in the classroom, interact with students, and to partner with a teacher.

The planning started. I was rustier than I thought and began the background reading, searching through archaeological reports, and finding quotes from ancient sources. Then it dawned on me that all the clever techniques I had been encouraging teachers to use, well, I should probably employ one or two of those bright ideas. Fine, I can do that.

Then I started building the presentation and that was a chore. We had been asking teachers to use AI, so I tried to use AI. That was a disaster. I spent hours producing nothing but gobbledygook. Okay. Here are some good images from Wikimedia commons and Britannica. Something also from North Carolina’s ancient world mapping project. The day before, I panicked. Gah. I don’t even know if my iPad will work, because I never use it to project to our TVs. It didn’t. So I ran down to our Tech Director’s office and interrupted his day to fix my WiFi connection. Back to the classroom to check. Yep. We’re good.

When it came time for the show, the seniors were great, kind, attentive, and worked with me. I was able to find my stride, but since I had spent most of my recent career teaching for a longer period of time, the end of class came before I even knew. I hadn’t gotten through the end of my material and was unable to revisit the questions I posed at the beginning of the class. So much for framing the lesson!

The truth of the matter is that being back in the classroom was a humbling experience. I am so grateful to have been invited to teach and so glad I did so, but it taught me how much those of us who aren’t in classrooms, don’t remember or simply don’t know how hard it is to teach. Beyond that, there are teachers who carry out this work everyday and at the same time manage to keep an inventory of behaviors for each of their students. Constantly watching; constantly noticing; they find that kid that’s a little off and they let someone know. These are true professionals, and I am so grateful to work alongside them.

Warmly,

Marc Addington
Upper Division Director
addingtonm@casady.org

Collect for the Coming Week in Chapel
Almighty and merciful God, it is only by your gift that your faithful people offer you true and laudable service: Grant that we may run without stumbling to obtain your heavenly promises; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

Semester Exams
Fall Semester exams will be given Dec. 17-19. Dec. 16 is reading day. There are no classes and teachers are available for help and review. Dec. 20 is reserved for make-up exams. Students can see their exam schedules on MyCasady. Please plan your holiday travel accordingly.

Community and Belonging Survey
As part of our ongoing commitment to supporting your student at School, Upper Division students will soon participate in a Community and Belonging Survey on Nov. 6 through Advisory.

This survey is designed to gain valuable insights into students' experiences at School, particularly regarding their sense of connection and overall well-being within our School community.

The purpose of this survey is to help us better understand how students perceive their relationships with peers, teachers, and the broader school environment. Feeling a strong sense of community and belonging is essential to their emotional well-being, academic success, and personal growth. The survey will allow us to identify strengths as well as areas where we can improve, ensuring that every student feels valued and supported at school. Because this survey will be conducted at more than 90 Independent Schools across the country, we will be able to compare our data to an Independent School standard. Additionally, because we have conducted this same survey in the past, we will be able to compare our students today to those of a few years ago.

Responses will remain anonymous. We encourage students to take part, as their honest feedback will help us create a more supportive school culture for all. The survey results will guide us in planning initiatives and programs that foster a positive school climate, encourage empathy and understanding, and enhance student engagement.

We appreciate your support in encouraging your student to complete the survey with thoughtfulness and sincerity. Should you have any questions or concerns about the survey, please do not hesitate to reach out to Samantha Kobs, Director of Student Support Services.

Parent Connection Night - Prevention Solutions recording
If you missed our recent Parent Connection Night featuring Prevention Solutions, the video recording is now available! This session covers vital information on identifying risk factors, talking with teens, and other available resources. Watching this can help us all work together to keep our students safe and healthy.

Please take some time to view it at your convenience by clicking here.
October 27

Dear Upper Division,

I was sad to read that a few months ago, Lewis Lapham, former editor of Harper’s Magazine and founder of Lapham’s Quarterly, passed away. A man of considered erudition, his editorial pieces and essays were a tour de force of history, literature, and culture. He took no prisoners, delighting in distributing his scorn and humor on either side of the political aisle.

Since his passing, there have been a number of obituaries and articles recalling not only his contributions but his mentorship and the sheer joy with which he lived his life. In a recent piece in LitHub, the editor and essayist Elias Altman recalls Lapham’s appreciation of the Dutch historian Huizinga’s seminal work on the role of play in culture. Play was something that infused how he saw the world, his work, and his relationships. One of the most quoted lines from Huizinga’s work is below:

Play is a voluntary activity or occupation executed within certain fixed limits of time and place, according to rules freely accepted but absolutely binding, having its aim in itself and accompanied by a feeling of tension, joy, and the consciousness that is ‘different’ from ‘ordinary life.’

Huizinga, Homo Ludens: A Study of the Play-Element in Culture. tr. Hull (1949), p.28.

In schools, play is so important. In Lower and Middle Division, we know what happens when it’s raining outside and there’s no recess. What about all the lessons that team sports teach us? In our beliefs we speak strongly about the importance of athletics:

We believe competitive athletics and physical education are central to the development of leadership and teamwork as well as self-confidence and respect for others. Our students are participants rather than simply spectators. Casady provides healthy and competitive opportunities that are critical to developing an appreciation for wellness and fitness in each student.

For Huizinga, there was a crucial difference between play and life. Play is separated from ‘ordinary life’ by rules and regulations that create a sense of fairness. When that fairness is disrupted by a breach, that is when the edifice falls apart and the joy of the game evanesces. One of Mr. Lapham’s gifts was his ability to disregard that rule and to maintain a sense of freedom and joy that we often reserve from the very defined and safeguarded environment of games.

When we look for our students to develop leadership and teamwork, I think this frame is what we need to transfer our experience on the field or court to the dynamic, unpredictable, and at times unfair bounds of our lives.

Warmly,

Marc Addington
Upper Division Director
addingtonm@casady.org

Collect for the Coming Week in Chapel
Almighty and everlasting God, increase in us the gifts of faith, hope, and charity; and, that we may obtain what you promise, make us love what you command; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.

Semester Exams
Fall Semester exams will be given Dec. 17-19. Dec. 16 is reading day. There are no classes and teachers are available for help and review. Dec. 20 is reserved for make-up exams. Students can see their exam schedules on MyCasady. Please plan your holiday travel accordingly.

Community and Belonging Survey
As part of our ongoing commitment to supporting your student at School, Upper Division students will soon participate in a Community and Belonging Survey on Nov. 6 through Advisory.

This survey is designed to gain valuable insights into students' experiences at School, particularly regarding their sense of connection and overall well-being within our School community.

The purpose of this survey is to help us better understand how students perceive their relationships with peers, teachers, and the broader school environment. Feeling a strong sense of community and belonging is essential to their emotional well-being, academic success, and personal growth. The survey will allow us to identify strengths as well as areas where we can improve, ensuring that every student feels valued and supported at school. Because this survey will be conducted at more than 90 Independent Schools across the country, we will be able to compare our data to an Independent School standard. Additionally, because we have conducted this same survey in the past, we will be able to compare our students today to those of a few years ago.

Responses will remain anonymous. We encourage students to take part, as their honest feedback will help us create a more supportive school culture for all. The survey results will guide us in planning initiatives and programs that foster a positive school climate, encourage empathy and understanding, and enhance student engagement.

We appreciate your support in encouraging your student to complete the survey with thoughtfulness and sincerity. Should you have any questions or concerns about the survey, please do not hesitate to reach out to Samantha Kobs, Director of Student Support Services.

October 20

Dear Upper Division,

One of the toughest things to teach in a school is a disposition: character, humility, leadership, entrepreneurship. For character and humility, we do our best to recognize these traits and promote them in our Chapel, our advisories, classrooms, and hallways. How does one teach entrepreneurship? How do you teach leadership?

Some schools answer these questions with discrete programming. They build classes that study these traits. At the far end, they may even create a series of classes and even job shadowing within their communities.

Another way is to allow students the opportunity to grow these dispositions organically. At Casady we do this through our clubs and activities. While Student Council is institutional, the remaining clubs are student proposed, led, and operated. Of course, this means that some will meet infrequently, but there are also many with significant membership and regular attendance well beyond 30 students. What an important way for our students to learn how to develop interests into passions and ideas into actuality! Below you will see a list of our current clubs. It might be a fun dinner conversation to ask your student what they have been up to lately.

Anime
Art
Aviation
Book Club
Chess
Chinese Club
Crier
Environmental
Fashion
FCA

French
Gales
Gaming
Inklings
Junior Classical League
Logos
Math
Players
Pre-Med
Psychology/Neuroscience

Red Cross
Rock Band
Rubik's Cube
Science Olympiad
Sew Softies
Student Council
Spanish
YAC
Youth and Government
E-sports

Warmly,

Marc Addington

Upper Division Director
addingtonm@casady.org

Collect for the Coming Week in Chapel
Almighty and everlasting God, in Christ you have revealed your glory among the nations: Preserve the works of your mercy, that your Church throughout the world may persevere with steadfast faith in the confession of your Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Universal Screeners

Casady School will participate in universal social-emotional and behavioral (SEB) screenings as part of a larger effort to enhance the health and wellness of Casady students. Universal screening is a process for identifying strengths, needs, and useful information so that students can be better supported in interventions that prevent or reduce challenges and promote resiliency. Screenings in the school setting are not used for diagnostic purposes but will help us understand and monitor the social and emotional functioning of our students. Screenings will be completed on Oct. 15 and 17 for Middle Division and Oct. 22 for Upper Division.

The BASC-3 Behavioral and Emotional Screening System (BESS) will be used for Middle and Upper Divisions.
Upper and Middle Division screenings will be completed by the students and will take place during advisory.
You will be notified by a member of our Student Support Services team if the results indicate that your student could benefit from school-based interventions or parental consultation. If this is the case, our department will share the overall results with you and discuss ways you can get support for your child. You will not be contacted if your student is found not to need additional support.
Please complete this Casady SEB opt-out form if you do not want your student to be screened.

Reach out to Samantha Kobs with any questions.

Senior orders
The Class of 2025 received information about graduation announcements and other senior merchandise from our Josten’s representative last week. The rep will return to campus on Monday, Oct. 21 from 1:30-2:00 p.m. in the Records Lobby to pick up orders and answer questions. Items can also be ordered using this link. Note that families should not order caps and gowns from Josten’s themselves. Seniors received a Google form for this and Casady will take care of the ordering and the payment.

AP Exam Ordering

Casady students enrolled in Advanced Placement classes are required to take the corresponding AP Exam. Students need to sign on to their AP Classroom site with their teacher if they have not already done so. The School will then take care of ordering the tests. The cost is $99 per exam, which will be bookbilled in May.

Several exams are available without taking the “official” AP course: Sophomores - United States History; Juniors - English Language and Composition; Seniors - English Literature and Composition. Students interested in these exams need to see Ms. Infantino as soon as possible to sign up.

Students who register after Nov. 15 will be assessed a $40 per exam late fee. In addition, a $40 per exam cancellation fee will be assessed for any exam order canceled after Nov. 15. All test fees will be bookbilled in May.

It is important that all families be aware of these policies. Please keep in mind that they are mandated by the College Board and were not created by Casady School.

Additional details regarding the Advanced Placement program are available here. You can also contact Ms. Infantino or Ms. Kisselle if you have any questions about Advanced Placement testing at Casady.

Author of “The Price You Pay for College” to speak at Casady on Monday night
As a reminder, Ron Lieber, author of “The Price You Pay for College” will speak on Monday at 7:00 p.m. in Fee Theater.

Mr. Lieber’s deeply reported book offers families the clarity they need to make a huge financial decision - how much to pay for college. During his presentation, he will address why college costs what it does, pull back the curtain on merit aid and explain how to determine value. His talk is appropriate for parents and guardians of all students in all divisions at Casady. If you have questions about the program, please contact Director of College Counseling Ms. Amanda Kisselle.

"The Price You Pay for College" will be for sale in the lobby of Fee Theater before and after Mr. Lieber's presentation. He will offer personalized autographs afterward. The price of the book is $18.99 and only credit or debit card payment will be accepted.

Semester Exams
Fall-semester exams will be given on Dec. 17-19. Dec. 16 is reading day. There are no classes and teachers are available for help and review. Dec. 20 is reserved for make-up exams. Please plan your holiday travel accordingly.

October 14
Dear Upper Division,

This Wednesday, students in the ninth and 11th grade will take the PSAT. For our freshmen, this is their first look at the College Board’s instrument for describing a student’s acumen in math and reading comprehension, the SAT (PSAT = Pre-Scholastic Aptitude Test). The difference for juniors is that their test scores are normed across the nation, and students who score at superlative levels earn honors such as National Merit. Sophomores take the other test which predominates in the college selection process, the ACT. Casady College Counseling will use these scores to develop a plan with juniors as to which test may be most beneficial in the college process (their guide to testing is here). As a reminder, testing is only one part of a much larger process!

Lastly, seniors who are in the thick of the college application process have optional college application support from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. off-campus at the second floor of Uptown Grocery.

What can I do to help my student do well on these assessments? Right now, not too much. Feed them and ensure they get good rest Tuesday night. For those taking the PSAT, make sure they plug in their devices so they have plenty of battery power. Ms. Infantino has done a great job with freshmen and juniors to make sure they have downloaded the PSAT testing app, Bluebook.

In the long term, I have three recommendations for success on these tests. The first is to read voluminously and broadly. Reading comprehension is fundamentally a vocabulary test, and the more our students read, the more they practice this skill; the more vocabulary they learn in context. The second is to work hard in our math classes. Essentially, the math tested is Algebra and Geometry with some trig. Students should strive for accuracy and a keen mastery of the basics. Meeting with your teacher to review mistakes and check homework is key.

The last recommendation is test prep. From what I have read and learned, there are two elements. Test prep will on the surface level give students a view of what the testing environment looks and feels like. Being familiar with the test means less of a burden with instructions and finding their pace; there is also less anxiety. Test taking strategies will also help students recognize patterns, develop a methodology to attack problems, increase efficiency, and how to identify distractors. It is most effective when taken within the months before testing. Most importantly, test prep only sharpens and hones what the student can already do; it is a weak tool to learn math and to grow vocabulary. That is the work of years, reading in the summer, and applying ourselves in the math classroom.

More comprehensive details for testing are below.

Warmly,

Marc Addington
Upper Division Director
addingtonm@casady.org

Collect for the Coming Week in Chapel
Lord, we pray that your grace may always precede and follow us, that we may continually be given to good works; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Oct. 16 Testing
All freshmen and juniors will take the PSAT on Wednesday, Oct. 16. Sophomores will take a practice ACT and Seniors are invited to an application workshop with the college counselors. Tests will begin at 9:00 a.m. More information is provided here. After testing or workshop, students are dismissed.

Universal Screeners
Casady School will participate in universal social-emotional and behavioral (SEB) screenings as part of a larger effort to enhance the health and wellness of Casady students. Universal screening is a process for identifying strengths, needs, and useful information so that students can be better supported in interventions that prevent or reduce challenges and promote resiliency. Screenings in the school setting are not used for diagnostic purposes but will help us understand and monitor the social and emotional functioning of our students. Screenings will be completed on Oct. 15 and 17 for Middle Division and Oct. 22 for Upper Division.
The BASC-3 Behavioral and Emotional Screening System (BESS) will be used for Middle and Upper Divisions.
Upper and Middle Division screenings will be completed by the students and will take place during advisory.
You will be notified by a member of our Student Support Services team if the results indicate that your student could benefit from school-based interventions or parental consultation. If this is the case, our department will share the overall results with you and discuss ways you can get support for your child. You will not be contacted if your student is found not to need additional support.
Please complete this Casady SEB opt-out form if you do not want your student to be screened.
Reach out to Samantha Kobs with any questions.

Senior orders
The Class of 2025 received information about graduation announcements and other senior merchandise from our Josten’s representative last week. The rep will return to campus on Monday, Oct. 21 from 1:30-2:00 p.m. in the Records Lobby to pick up orders and answer questions. Items can also be ordered using this link. Note that families should not order caps and gowns from Josten’s themselves. Seniors received a Google form for this and Casady will take care of the ordering and the payment.

AP Exam Ordering
Casady students enrolled in Advanced Placement classes are required to take the corresponding AP Exam. Students need to sign on to their AP Classroom site with their teacher if they have not already done so. The School will then take care of ordering the tests. The cost is $99 per exam, which will be bookbilled in May.

Several exams are available without taking the “official” AP course: Sophomores - United States History; Juniors - English Language and Composition; Seniors - English Literature and Composition. Students interested in these exams need to see Ms. Infantino as soon as possible to sign up.

Students who register after Nov. 15 will be assessed a $40 per exam late fee. In addition, a $40 per exam cancellation fee will be assessed for any exam order canceled after Nov. 15. All test fees will be bookbilled in May.

It is important that all families be aware of these policies. Please keep in mind that they are mandated by the College Board and were not created by Casady School.

Additional details regarding the Advanced Placement program are available here. You can also contact Ms. Infantino or Ms. Kisselle if you have any questions about Advanced Placement testing at Casady.
October 6
Dear Upper Division,

A few years back, one of my English teachers attended a summer training program. It was a well-regarded program that focused chiefly on junior English. As it turned out, the program promised that skills could be taught using any media. They were rather agnostic about content, and for some, novels were no longer relevant in the pursuit of standards. Some teachers had already taken that step and were teaching English classes devoid of literature except for the occasional short story or poem.

It makes sense, doesn’t it? Kids no longer read; they watch YouTube channels or flick through TikTok videos, shorts, and the like. In fact, no one reads anymore, do they? Sit in an airport and watch the folk. Airports used to have bookstores all over the place. In fact, a lot of the TVs have disappeared, because everyone keeps a TV in their pocket or purse. Each person inhabits their own world as we wait for the passengers to deplane and our turn to file in. We have arrived at a time when our society abhors boredom, and we are afraid of the silent, open spaces in a day where we used to daydream and read. This culture has taken a toll on our student’s education. In a recent article in the Atlantic, elite colleges and universities reported that students arrive never having read a full novel.

Sadly, educational philosophy and practice has trended in this direction as well. Why struggle against the herd to compel our students to read novels? Education philosophy complied. In the 80’s and 90’s, the content wars enveloped discussion about what we should be reading. Universities and colleges challenged the old canon, and the center began to topple. If the canon was useless, what did it matter what we read? Instead of redefining the canon, we turned our back on the question entirely. The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 placed a premium on common core standards and testing. We should focus on standards - any content would do so long as the teacher focused on skills.

In contravention of this trend, Psychologist Daniel Willingham has made a career in the last 20 years analyzing the data, tests, and research about how we learn to read. One of his conclusions is that reading is not just a set of skills, content matters so very much. But how would we know who was right? Sadly, when the No Child Left Behind legislation mandated testing, legislators made sure that there was no single, standardized testing metric for the country. Each state would make (and remake) their own tests. Every year the test changed, meaning that it was rather difficult to track changes.

The trend of moving away from content to skills and standards did not just happen in the U.S., other countries followed the fashion as well. France notably made the shift, but unlike our system, they created a standardized test, which remained the same for all provinces in the country and stayed the same from the beginning of the shift to standards and skills prioritized curriculum. National testing began in 1987 and detailed reports of testing are made every ten years. The result has been a consistent decline in skills. Content matters. Reading matters.

The best schools are ones that look hard at trends in education. They make sure to read the fine print and adopt those practices that best educate our students. At times, this means being careful of pendulum swings in education. At other times, this means being counter-cultural. At Casady School, we value teaching skills and regarding standards; we also value reading deeply and widely. Skills and standards matter but content gives us a reason to engage and care about what we’re doing because they give us something to actually infuse our care and soul. The slow burn from reading a novel can't be measured tidily; the difference is seen in depth of thought, deeper engagement, and passionate reaction. Reading imaginative fiction moves the student beyond a dutiful obedience to homework and carries the reader to a different place, challenging notions about the world, relationships, and quality of life. In the safe, well-lit classroom with a teacher ready to guide, students gain experience with a complicated world. We think that there is something vital in reading novels, which is not just about developing workplace skills, but nourishing our souls and our creative spirits.

One of the most enduring life skills we can offer our students is to rely on books, to gather information whenever they are in doubt, and to learn how to take the time to gather different viewpoints, experiences, and beliefs to inform their own choices. Perhaps, then, reading is a way to resist a culture that is impatient with the time needed to gather impressions and see each other more clearly, more deeply.

Thank you English Department Chair Mrs. Crossno for help in writing and thinking on this topic.

Warmly,

Marc Addington
Upper Division Director
addingtonm@casady.org

Universal Screeners
Casady School will participate in universal social-emotional and behavioral (SEB) screenings as part of a larger effort to enhance the health and wellness of Casady students. Universal screening is a process for identifying strengths, needs, and useful information so that students can be better supported in interventions that prevent or reduce challenges and promote resiliency. Screenings in the school setting are not used for diagnostic purposes but will help us understand and monitor the social and emotional functioning of our students. Screenings will be completed on Oct. 15 and 17 for Middle Division and Oct. 22 for Upper Division.
The BASC-3 Behavioral and Emotional Screening System (BESS) will be used for Middle and Upper Divisions.
Upper and Middle Division screenings will be completed by the students and will take place during advisory.
You will be notified by a member of our Student Support Services team if the results indicate that your student could benefit from school-based interventions or parental consultation. If this is the case, our department will share the overall results with you and discuss ways you can get support for your child. You will not be contacted if your student is found not to need additional support.
Please complete this Casady SEB opt-out form if you do not want your student to be screened.
Reach out to Samantha Kobs with any questions.

Collect for the Coming Week in Chapel
Almighty and everlasting God, you are always more ready to hear than we to pray, and to give more than we either desire or deserve: Pour upon us the abundance of your mercy, forgiving us those things of which our conscience is afraid, and giving us those good things for which we are not worthy to ask, except through the merits and mediation of Jesus Christ our Savior; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.

Financial Aid Webinar
Tuesday, Oct. 8, at 7:00 p.m.

Here is the link to join this Webinar

Casady College Counseling is partnering with Texas Christian University Dean of Admission Mandy Castro to host a Financial Aid Webinar. While this session is targeted toward 12th Grade families, all Upper Division families are invited to learn more about the financial aid and scholarship process during this one hour webinar. We will cover the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), the CSS Profile, and scholarships to allow you to explore your options to help pay for college.

Prevention Solutions
Upper Division students will meet with the Prevention Solutions team on Thursday, Oct. 10.

Prevention Solutions team works with schools and students to identify and address substance misuse and abuse.

PSAT setup
Freshmen and juniors will meet with the IT department in Chapel on Wednesday, Oct. 9, in order to run a readiness test on their testing computer. After creating a College Board account, students must make sure that the BlueBook program is installed on their computer and should open it before Wednesday to make sure it has been updated to the latest version. Contact Ms. Infantino or Mr. King in IT if you have any questions or need help.

PSAT Technology Setup
All freshmen and juniors will take the PSAT on Wednesday, Oct. 16. Sophomores will take a practice ACT and Seniors are invited to an application workshop with the college counselors. Tests will begin at 9:00 a.m. More information is provided here. After testing or workshop, students are dismissed.

AP Exam Ordering
Casady students enrolled in Advanced Placement classes are required to take the corresponding AP Exam. Students need to sign on to their AP Classroom site with their teacher if they have not already done so; the School will then take care of ordering the tests. The cost is $99 per exam, which will be bookbilled in May.

Several exams are available without taking the “official” AP course: Sophomores - United States History; Juniors - English Language and Composition; Seniors - English Literature and Composition. Students interested in these exams need to see Ms. Infantino as soon as possible to sign up.

Students who register after Nov. 15 will be assessed a $40 per exam late fee. In addition, a $40 per exam cancellation fee will be assessed for any exam order canceled after Nov. 15. All test fees will be bookbilled in May.

It is important that all families be aware of these policies. Please keep in mind that they are mandated by the College Board and were not created by Casady School.

Additional details regarding the Advanced Placement program are available here. You can also contact Ms. Infantino or Ms. Kisselle if you have any questions about Advanced Placement testing at Casady.
September 29
Dear Upper Division,

It was lovely having you on campus last week for our student-led conferences. If you were unable to attend, please reach out to your student’s advisor to schedule. We hope that the goals your student set will serve as a guide and an inspiration for them this school year. With such an early Spirit Week and Homecoming, we find ourselves in a rather smooth part of the year until we arrive at Thanksgiving. This will allow our students to find their pace and rhythm.

One of our goals in Upper Division is to prepare students for independent life at college. We want our students to advocate for themselves and learn how to deal with setbacks and stress.

To this end, now that your student has set academic goals for the year, whose responsibility is it for those goals to be achieved? Ideally, the student. For our older students, some have made this adjustment. For our younger charges and those still preparing to launch, let me suggest a way to develop independence by reframing how we review grades. The online grading system, accessible 24/7, has been at the same time a great help and a potential stumbling block. On the one hand, we don’t have to wait to receive a report card in the mail to have the great reveal on the semester’s performance. On the other hand, it has opened the door for parental oversight which can at times stymie student independence. But how do we thread the needle of making sure that our kids are doing their best and at the same time giving them space to grow?

My suggestion is to use the student-led conference as a model. Here’s how to do it. Choose a day. We liked Thursday after dinner. Instead of asking our kids what their grades were, they presented to us from their own computer how classes were going. Our kids knew that this was coming and they could plan. Now, to begin with, we never had expectations for straight A’s or the like; however, we did want our kids to give their best. If they flubbed a quiz on Monday, they knew that on Thursday, we would want to know not only what happened but what was the corrective action. By not addressing the grade at the moment it arrived in the grade book, we gave our kids the opportunity to see the grade, grieve if necessary, but most importantly, to develop a plan independently.

Warmly,

Marc Addington
Upper Division Director
addingtonm@casady.org

Collect for the Coming Week in Chapel
O God, you declare your almighty power chiefly in showing mercy and pity: Grant us the fullness of your grace, that we, running to obtain your promises, may become partakers of your heavenly treasure; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

PSAT Technology Setup
All freshmen and juniors will take the PSAT on Wednesday, Oct. 16. This test is completely digital, so students will need a computer. All students will need a College Board account in order to test. Ms. Infantino and Mrs. Russell will help the freshmen with this process next week. You will receive more details soon about this and about the practice ACT for sophomores.

Ninth and 10th Grade Parent College Night
Tuesday, Oct. 1
7:00 p.m.
Fee Theater

During this event for parents and guardians of ninth and 10th grade students, Casady College Counseling will provide an overview of the Upper Division journey through college counseling and the services we offer. We will also discuss our philosophy, the national landscape, recent changes to the process, and what your students can be doing now to prepare.

Navigating Online Risks
Upper Division students heard a special presentation from the FBI about how to engage in digital communication responsibly and safely. To continue these conversations at home, here are a few talking points:
“I heard that there was a presentation from FBI agents the other day. What did you think? I heard that you learned about strangers on the internet who try to pressure kids to send photos or videos. That’s pretty scary stuff. Have you heard anything like that before?”
For those who couldn’t attend, here are a few main points that were shared during our Parent Connection Night last Wednesday.

AP Exam Ordering
Casady students enrolled in Advanced Placement classes are required to take the corresponding AP Exam. Students need to sign on to their AP Classroom site with their teacher if they have not already done so; the School will then take care of ordering the tests. The cost is $99 per exam, which will be bookbilled in May.

Several exams are available without taking the “official” AP course: Sophomores - United States History; Juniors - English Language and Composition; Seniors - English Literature and Composition. Students interested in these exams need to see Ms. Infantino as soon as possible to sign up.

Students who register after Nov. 15 will be assessed a $40 per exam late fee. In addition, a $40 per exam cancellation fee will be assessed for any exam order canceled after Nov. 15. All test fees will be bookbilled in May.

It is important that all families be aware of these policies. Please keep in mind that they are mandated by the College Board and were not created by Casady School.

Additional details regarding the Advanced Placement program are available here. You can also contact Ms. Infantino or Ms. Kisselle if you have any questions about Advanced Placement testing at Casady.
September 22

Dear Upper Division,

We received an uncommon gift this week with a special visit to our Chapel from Casady alums, who were receiving alumni awards:

Distinguished Graduate Award: Eric S. Fisher Sr. '84
Alumni Achievement Award: Dr. Michael Denham '74
Alumni Achievement Award: Dr. Hillary Glenn '89
Young Alumni Achievement Award: Thomas Fleming '15

Each alum introduced themselves, described their professional lives after graduation and answered a unique question posed to them by our chaplain, Fr. Youmans. Out of respect for the contemporaneous nature of their remarks and caution for the writer’s trammelled memory, here are some of the lessons they imparted.

Each alum was able to recall fond memories from their time at Casady. For those of you who have problems rousting your teenagers out of bed, once upon a time Calvert produced these delicious oatmeal raisin cookies. Made in abundance, the leftovers were packaged and loaded into vending machines after school. Students knew that they had to get to School early, because those machines would be emptied by 7:30 a.m.

Not all paths to professional distinction and success come from a perfect performance in high school. One erstwhile young man would frequently win Mr. Gorham’s biweekly contest of “dummy score.” This was a tally of idiotic notions and egregious mistakes. At the end of every two weeks, the numbers would be summed and each student's name read aloud to the class with his or her number of intellectual frailties. Parents and students should be aware that these teaching methods have fallen into abeyance.

One alum was able to sidestep athletic requirements by announcing games. There an interest and a curiosity was later developed into a passion and a profession. For another alum, on the last day of school, a graduating senior gave the glass door to the parking lot an accustomed kick. On this occasion, not only did the kick shatter the glass, but there was the Upper Division director right on the other side! Yet, mercy prevailed.

For all of our esteemed guests last week, their journeys were different. Their abilities ranged from the bottom to the top of the class. Each followed their own interests and had unique talents. Yet, all developed a foundational experience at our School where they were seen, loved, and grown.

Warmly,

Marc Addington
Upper Division Director
addingtonm@casady.org

Collect for the Coming Week in Chapel
Grant us, Lord, not to be anxious about earthly things, but to love things heavenly; and even now, while we are placed among things that are passing away, to hold fast to those that shall endure; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.

Parent-Advisor Conferences
Students and parents will meet with Advisors on Friday, Sept. 27. The conference will be student-led conferences and are expected to last approximately 25 minutes, 20 minutes + 5 minutes for passing. Your student’s advisor will be reaching out to you with a sign up schedule. Conference registration is now open.

PSAT Technology Setup
All freshmen and juniors will take the PSAT on Wednesday, Oct. 16. This test is completely digital, so students will need a computer. All students will need a College Board account in order to test. Ms. Infantino and Mrs. Russell will help the freshmen with this process next week. You will receive more details soon about this and about the practice ACT for sophomores.

Ninth and 10th Grade Parent College Night
Tuesday, Oct. 1
7:00 p.m.
Fee Theater

During this event for parents and guardians of ninth and 10th grade students, Casady College Counseling will provide an overview of the Upper Division journey through college counseling and the services we offer. We will also discuss our philosophy, the national landscape, recent changes to the process, and what your students can be doing now to prepare.

Summer Trip for French and Latin Students
The World Languages Department is offering an educational travel experience to Italy and France in June, 2025. Any student who is currently or has been recently enrolled in an Upper Division French or Latin class or one of the Greco-Roman senior history seminars is eligible to sign up for this trip. There will be a Parent Information Meeting on Monday, Sept. 23, at 6:15 p.m. in the lobby of Records Science and Arts. For more information, please contact Mary Ann Cockrum or Andrew Buchheim.
September 15

Dear Upper Division,

Last year we made a change to the way we do conferences. In the past, we reserved the first conference for just adults. It was an incredibly useful opportunity for parents and advisors to exchange experiences about our students: who they are at home; who they are at school. But there was just one thing missing, perhaps the most important, our students. So, we not only added our students into the mix, we put them in the driver’s seat to lead the conference. That said, I do encourage you, at any point, to pick up the phone or schedule an appointment with your advisor to have that conversation between adults. It doesn’t always have to be at a programmed or critical moment. We relish the chance to know more about our charges.

For those of you who did not attend conferences last year, our conferences are student-led. We started working last week in advisory on setting goals for the year. One goal would be academic; another would focus on non-academic interests: hobbies, athletics, personal, or social. We used the S.M.A.R.T. framework to help students create goals that were realistic and viable. The acronym stands for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-bound.

The risk with asking students to set goals is manifest. Either the goal itself or the follow through may be underwhelming. But there’s something else. In my experience, when a student and their adults (parents, teachers, and advisors) get together, most of the time the adults speak for the student. We need to turn that paradigm around. It won’t be very long before they are on their own.

I would add this. We know that in our own lives work can be mundane. Sometimes, shudder to say even at Casady, school can be mundane! By turning this parent-teacher conference into a student-led conference, we may start to elicit the independent adult. In doing so, if we are really lucky, a goal may grow into purpose, and there’s nothing mundane about that.

Warmly,

Marc Addington
Upper Division Director
addingtonm@casady.org

Collect for the Coming Week in Chapel
O God, because without you we are not able to please you, mercifully grant that your Holy Spirit may in all things direct and rule our hearts; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

Homecoming Activities
Calvert Hall will be closed on Thursday, Sept. 19, in preparation for the Celebration of Alumni Banquet. All grades will have off-campus lunch privileges. Pizza will be served in the Student Center for those students who choose to remain on campus; they need to sign up at Ms. Millgan’s desk by the end of the day on Tuesday.

Parent-Advisor Conferences
Students and parents will meet with Advisors on Friday, Sept. 27. The conference will be student-led conferences and are expected to last approximately 25 minutes, 20 minutes + 5 minutes for passing. Your student’s advisor will be reaching out to you with a sign up schedule. Conference registration is now open.

PSAT Technology Setup
All freshmen and juniors will take the PSAT on Wednesday, Oct. 16. This test is completely digital, so students will need a computer. All students will need a College Board account in order to test. Ms. Infantino and Ms. Russell will help the freshmen with this process next week. You will receive more details about this and about the practice ACT for sophomores soon.
September 8
Dear Upper Division,

Over the past few years, we have received requests from students and families to have junior and senior prom at an earlier time and at an off-campus venue to make the occasion feel a little more special. Re-examining traditions and the way we do things at our School inevitably brings us to decisions made long ago. Why do we celebrate prom on campus, and why do we time our prom with senior events at the end of the year?

Many years ago, the decision was made by School administration to hold our prom on campus. At that time, Casady School was rather progressive in having an inclusive student body, a heritage which we are proud of. When School administration reached out to local venues, they discovered that not all students were welcome. It became a point of pride, then, to include all students by holding prom on campus.

The timing of junior/senior prom at the end of the year, during senior week, comes from another tradition to hold all end-of-year culminating events together in a single week, almost uninterrupted. Yet, our students in recent years have wanted to dress up and experience the panache of a prom when school is still in full swing, as if to catch some of the energy of the school year. So, this year we are experimenting with both holding prom earlier and off campus.

Junior and senior prom will be held on Saturday evening, April 26, at Will Rogers Theatre. We chose this date to avoid OSSAA playoffs and to give plenty of room for our families to enjoy the Easter holiday. Also, an unencumbered senior week before graduation may give our senior families more time to spend with each other.

It is our hope that students will enjoy this new experience of Casady’s junior/senior prom and possibly set forth a new Casady tradition.

Warmly,

Marc Addington
Upper Division Director
addingtonm@casady.org

Collect for the Coming Week in Chapel
Grant us, O Lord, to trust in you with all our hearts; for, as you always resist the proud who confide in their own strength, so you never forsake those who make their boast of your mercy; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

Parent-Advisor Conferences
Students and parents will meet with Advisors on Friday, Sept. 27. The conference will be student-led conferences and are expected to last approximately 25 minutes, 20 minutes + 5 minutes for passing. Your student’s advisor will be reaching out to you with a sign up schedule. Conference registration opens to parents on Sept. 13.

11th Grade Parent College Night
Sept. 12, 7:00 p.m.
Records Building

Casady College Counseling invites parents and guardians of 11th grade students to attend Parent College Night. This presentation will focus on:
The college application, search, and selection process.
The changing landscape of higher education, including what colleges and universities tell us they value.
Standardized testing expectations.
Significant changes to the ACT beginning in the spring of 2025.
If you have any questions, please contact Associate Director of College Counseling and Registrar Amy McQuade at (405) 749-3177.

For Casady College Counseling news and other updates, please follow our team on Instagram.

Eligibility Update
As your student lives their class schedule for the first few weeks, please be aware of the following policy. A student who drops a class after the first three weeks without replacing it with another class in the same department will be ineligible for athletics and activities for a period of three weeks. Your student should reach out to their advisor if they are considering a schedule change. Sept. 11 is the deadline to drop or add classes for full year courses.
September 2

Dear Upper Division,

I remember when my dad decided to quit his job as a traveling salesman and manage a company that sold a new technology, cellular devices. These phones were absolutely monstrous. There was a box the size of a carry-on luggage bag that was bolted in the trunk of your car. Wires ran to an antenna affixed to the roof, as well as to another rather large receiver set that was likewise bolted to the center console of your car between the two front seats.

These sets were expensive to maintain and reception was spotty all over the place. However, since these worked with line-of-sight, you could drive to higher ground, and you might find a connection. Years later and still working in the cellular industry, my dad would bring his handheld phone into restaurants, nettling my socially anxious mother when it rang in public.

This early technology was not yet the great disruptor we know as cell phones today. If you could afford it, you could call family and friends from the road or even a park. It was also the beginning of work encroaching on our lives well beyond leaving the business park. Today this encroachment seems almost total; moreover, cellular devices and the online world appear to shape the minds and hearts of our young folk, especially in these younger years.

This past Monday, I delivered a Chapel talk on “What to do with cell phones?” A couple of nervous students approached before I started wondering what the implications might be. Were we going to remove cell phones altogether? How would they communicate with their families? How would they navigate to their games? I addressed their concerns saying that while I wanted us to strictly enforce our current rules of no cell phones in Chapel, class, or at lunch, this talk was just informative.

Students were introduced to Jonathan Haidt’s work as well as our concerns that phones clearly and frequently are the focus of their attention in the very spaces and times that we want them visiting with one another. Moreover, recent data has demonstrated a correlation, if not a causal relationship, between cell phone use, internet and social media included, and mental health concerns.

My advice was to take back their life by finding small times during the day to reorient their relationship with the world. The pathways and sidewalks that line our campus should be a place for them to enjoy the beauty of our campus; the commons were for visiting with one another or for simply unplugging; and when they come home, the first thing they should do is to plug the phone into a charger far away from them so that they can visit with their family and take an unfettered moment. Bit by bit, they could learn to master this technology instead of being mastered themselves.

Warmly,

Marc Addington
Upper Division Director
addingtonm@casady.org

12th Grade Parent College Night
Sept. 3, 7:00 p.m.
Records Building

Casady College Counseling will walk 12th grade parents through what to expect this year in regard to the college application process and beyond. Even if you may have guided an older child to college already, the admission process continues to change beneath our feet. This began as universities attempted to navigate COVID-19 by changing attitudes towards standardized testing. Yet, even those measures have been revisited. This September, two members of our team will travel to Los Angeles for the National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC) conference where they will visit college campuses, network with colleagues from high schools and college admission offices, and learn more about the most recent research and trends. You are in great hands with this team!

11th Grade Parent College Night
Sept. 12, 7:00 p.m.
Records Building

Casady College Counseling invites parents and guardians of 11th grade students to attend Parent College Night. This one-hour presentation will focus on the college application, search, and selection process.

If you have any questions, please contact Associate Director of College Counseling and Registrar Amy McQuade at (405) 749-3177.

For Casady College Counseling news and other updates, please follow our team on Instagram.

Eligibility Update
As your student lives their class schedule for the first few weeks, please be aware of the following policy. A student who drops a class after the first three weeks without replacing it with another class in the same department will be ineligible for athletics and activities for a period of three weeks. Your student should reach out to their advisor if they are considering a schedule change.

Dietary Restrictions
If your student has any dietary restrictions or needs a vegetarian or vegan meal, please have them contact Ms. Infantino, who will share the information with the Sage Dining staff. You can also indicate food allergies on your medical forms.

Collect for the Coming Week in Chapel
Lord of all power and might, the author and giver of all good things: Graft in our hearts the love of your Name; increase in us true religion; nourish us with all goodness; and bring forth in us the fruit of good works; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever.

Amen.
August 18
Dear Upper Division,

This past Friday, we welcomed our freshmen to Upper Division. Though we do our best to be warm, to create fun games for them, and to lay out all the details of what to wear and where to go, we know they still have all those jitters. This is of course natural. Just know that we have planned a series of events to ease their way. This week, we will have full orientation for all students on Monday and our first day of classes on Wednesday.

In our first session in Fee Theater, I asked our newest students if any had watched the Olympics and quite a few had. In the stories we heard about the athletes, there were several attributes, which helped them to earn their ticket to Paris. Of course, these young men and women were talented; to which they applied a high level of commitment. They did not flag or retire, even and especially when they encountered difficulties. In fact, some athletes were able to leverage the “tough” in their life into excellence. In those times, these athletes were often not alone. They had families and communities that supported them.

What I thought was especially interesting were the athletes who came late to a sport or who changed or even those who took a break. The door was still open. I wanted our freshmen to know that their stories are still unwritten and, while we may not develop Olympians, we are in the business of helping these young folk find out who they are, sometimes by opening new doors.

If you have any questions as the school year approaches, please don’t hesitate to contact any one of us. See you soon!

Warmly,

Marc Addington
Upper Division Director
addingtonm@casady.org

UD Orientation and Registration - Aug. 19
9:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m.
Start in Advisors’ Rooms

Students will meet their Advisors in their rooms to turn in Student Registration Forms and to pick up car decals.

Sophomores should arrive at 9:00 a.m., juniors at 9:30 a.m., and seniors at 10:00 a.m. Freshmen come to Fee Theater at 10:30 a.m. to join the upperclassmen to meet the new faculty and staff and hear about plans and changes for the 2024-25 school year. Immediately following, all students are invited to join us for the Back-to-School Cookout in the Upper Division Quad hosted by Student Council.

At 1:30 p.m., Seniors will meet with the English faculty for a conversation with Mitch Albom, author of the summer read, "The Little Liar."

All students are welcome to move into their lockers on Monday afternoon or Tuesday to be ready for the first day of classes on Wednesday, Aug. 21.

Schedules - Aug. 18
Students will be able to view their schedules in MyCasady on Sunday, Aug. 18. Ms. Infantino will be available on Orientation day to answer questions and process requests for changes.

UD Classes Begin - Aug. 21
8:25 a.m.

The first day of class in Upper Division will be Wednesday, Aug. 21. Students will have all of their classes on that day. We will use a special schedule, starting at 8:25 a.m. Class meeting times will be available on MyCasady. After this first day, we will resume our regular Wednesdays with 8:55 a.m. starts. More information on Wednesday schedule can be found below.

Freshmen meet advisors at 8:00 a.m. on Aug. 21 in Bennett Athletic Center for donuts and fellowship. Advisors and administration will walk with freshmen to their first classes as a group.

A Letter from the Browne Family
The Browne family would like to share some information about their freshman daughter, Caroline.

Fall Theatre Auditions
Casady Theatre will present Arthur Miller’s "The Crucible." Miller's drama is a searing portrait of a community engulfed by hysteria during the Salem witch trials that took place in the Massachusetts Bay Colony during 1692–93. Miller wrote the play as an allegory for McCarthyism, when the United States government persecuted people accused of being communists.

Auditions will be Monday, Aug. 26, 6:00-8:00 p.m. in Fee Black Box Theater with callbacks on Tuesday, Aug. 27, 6:00-8:00 p.m.

Performances will be Nov. 15-16 at 7:00 p.m. and Nov. 17 at 2:00 p.m.

Text “@casadyfee” to 81010 for more information!

Universal Drug Testing
This year is the first of our Universal/Random Drug Testing program. As a reminder, Casady has made the decision to implement universal and random testing of students for illegal drug use from a deep concern for their health and welfare and a strong desire to protect them from potentially self‐destructive behavior. To make sure that we are able to start school with the least amount of shifts to student schedules, we will test students on Aug. 26-27 during their study halls and free periods. No preparation or special care needs to be taken that day. There should be minimal disruption to class time. Additional information about this program, including a FAQ page, can be found on our resources page of MyCasady.

Wednesdays
On each Wednesday this year, other than the first day of School, UD classes will begin at 8:55 a.m. rather than 8:25 a.m. Students will then follow their regular schedule for that Wednesday’s letter day. The end of the academic day will not change on Wednesdays. Athletics will also be unchanged on Wednesdays. Ninth and 10th grade students arriving before 8:45 a.m. will report to the Student Center, and 11th and 12th grade students will go to Cochran Library.

Club Fair - Aug. 30
11:00 a.m.

Upper Division Parent Information Night - Aug. 29
6:30-8:30 p.m.
Start in Fee Theater

The evening is designed so that parents can spend time with each teacher their student will have. Casady has designed a world-class curriculum and drawn teachers from around the nation. We would love for you to hear what your students will learn and get to know the men and women who will be spending time with your students. Parents can expect to understand how the course works, what are the challenges, how they can support their student, as well as ask questions. Please join us for Upper Division Parent Information Night.

12th Grade Parent College Night - Sept. 3
7:00 p.m.
Records Building

Our College Counseling team will walk 12th grade parents through what to expect this year in regards to the college application process and beyond. Even if you may have guided an older child to college already, the admission process continues to change beneath our feet. This began as universities attempted to navigate COVID-19 by changing attitudes towards standardized testing. Yet, even those measures have been revisited. This September, two members of our team will travel to Los Angeles for the National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC) conference where they will visit college campuses, network with colleagues from high schools and college admission offices, and learn more about the most recent research and trends. You are in great hands with this team!

Eligibility Update
As your student lives their class schedule for the first few weeks, please be aware of the following policy. A student who drops a class after the first three weeks without replacing it with another class in the same department will be ineligible for athletics and activities for a period of three weeks. Your student should reach out to their advisor if they are considering a schedule change.

Dietary Restrictions
If your student has any dietary restrictions or needs a vegetarian or vegan meal, please have them contact Ms. Infantino, who will share the information with the Sage Dining staff. You can also indicate food allergies on your medical forms.

Upcoming Important Dates

August
Aug. 21 - Senior Sunrise
6:45 a.m.
Aug. 29 - UD Parent Information Night
6:30-8:30 p.m.
Fee Theater
September
Sept. 2 - Labor Day, No School
Sept. 3 - 12th Grade Parent College Night
7:00 p.m.
Records Building
Sept. 11-12th - School Pictures
Sept. 12 - 11th Grade Parent College Night
7:00 p.m.
Records Building
October
Oct. 1 - Ninth and 10th Grade Parent College Night
Fee Theater
Oct. 2 - Honor Code Signing
Formal Dress for students
August 4
Dear Upper Division,

There is nothing like the Olympic games. When they come around every couple of years, winter or summer, our TVs constantly run on the weekends. During the week we are glued to the Primetime summary of the day’s event at 7:00 p.m. Our children, now adults, will even put their cell phones down and join the fun. My wife and I dangerously careen past our 9:00 p.m. bedtimes to soak up every event, but there is nothing like the drama and agony of competition from these young folk, who set aside so much of their lives in the pursuit of excellence.

The Greeks well understood the centrality and importance of competition and bequeathed several of the words we have for sport. Most tellingly, the root of agony (ἀγών) simply meant ‘playing area.’ Athletics comes from the goal of competition, athlon (ἆθλον), which meant prize. The Italians say in soccer that you must suffer for a win. Putting this together, we know that behind these sports and games are years of sustained discipline, and when the best compete, it’s about suffering through pain for the win.

We of course love seeing the USA grab another medal and watch the tally grow day by day. On top of this, our networks do such a great job of telling the story about our athletes: how they make sacrifices; how they overcome obstacles; their families, parents, and schools who support them. It’s not just individuals that compete, but communities. When these young heroes win gold, it all seems to come together so beautifully, almost as a just reward for a life of faith’s perfection.

But what of the losses? What about doing your best, all your young life, and coming in fourth? For me, this is where we see the most beautiful gift of all, character, and it is so humbling to see young people display not only physical prowess but compassion and respect for their fellow competitors in defeat. I will never grow tired of seeing young people teach this lesson so effectively.

In the months ahead, we are excited to have your students back on our campus and to see what the future holds for them. We enter our second year of competition in OSSAA for artists and student-athletes. Our teachers are ready to open classroom doors, and our staff have curated the most beautiful grounds in the city. Let the games begin.

Warmly,

Marc Addington
Upper Division Director
addingtonm@casady.org

First Day of Classes
The first day of class in Upper Division will be Wednesday, Aug. 21. Students will have all of their classes on that day. We will use a special schedule, starting at 8:25 a.m. Class meeting times will be available on MyCasady. After this first day, we will resume our regular Wednesdays with 8:55 a.m. starts. More information on Wednesday schedule can be found below.

Freshman Walk
Freshmen meet advisors at 8:00 a.m. on Aug. 21 in Bennett Athletic Center for donuts and fellowship. Advisors and administration will walk with freshmen to their first classes as a group.

Course Lists and Books
You should have received a list of your student’s courses by email via Official Notes. This list provides enough information for you to order your student’s textbooks via eCampus.

If you have not received a list of your student’s courses, or if you have any questions or change requests, please contact Ms. Infantino as soon as possible. Changes can be difficult to accommodate on Orientation day.

Registration Forms are Due Monday, Aug. 19, for All UD Students
Completed Registration forms can be submitted to your Advisor during Orientation on Monday, Aug. 19. This form will be available after Aug. 8 on the UD Resource Page in myCasady.org.

The form requires students to provide their cell phone number and email address. Students who drive themselves to School will be asked to provide the color, make (e.g. Ford, Jeep, Toyota), model (Focus, Renegade, RAV4), and tag number of their car.

Please review the Student Responsible Use Policy. This policy covers all areas of technology use on our campus including hardware, software, and online platforms. Students will be asked to digitally sign an acknowledgment when school is back in session.

Orientation
Freshman Orientation
Friday, Aug. 16
12:30-4:00 p.m.

Students will check in at the Records Building, meet their Advisors, get their locker assignments, and meet many of the Student Council Officers. Freshmen will spend the afternoon learning about many of Upper Division’s procedures and having opportunities to ask questions about Honor Code, Dress Guidelines, Privileges, and resources available to Upper Division students. Please rsvp to crossnok@casady.org if you will not be able to attend.

UD Orientation
Monday, Aug. 19
9:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m.

Students will meet their Advisors in their rooms to turn in Vehicle Registration Forms, Permission Slips (off-campus, field trip, photo release), and locker assignment cards, and to pick up car decals.
Sophomores should arrive at 9:00 a.m., Juniors at 9:30 a.m., and Seniors at 10:00 a.m. Freshmen come to Fee Theater at 10:30 a.m. to join the upperclassmen to meet the new faculty and staff and hear about plans and changes for the 2024-25 school year.

Immediately following, all students are invited to join us for the Back-to-School Cookout in the Upper Division Quad hosted by the Student Council.

At 1:30 p.m., Seniors will meet with the English faculty for a conversation with Mitch Albom, author of the summer read, "The Little Liar."

All students are welcome to move into their lockers on Monday afternoon or Tuesday to be ready for the first day of classes on Wednesday, Aug. 21.

Schedules
Students will be able to view their schedules in MyCasady on Sunday, Aug. 18. Ms. Infantino will be available on Orientation day to answer questions and process requests for changes.

Fall Theatre Auditions
Casady Theatre will present Arthur Miller’s "The Crucible." Miller's drama is a searing portrait of a community engulfed by hysteria during the Salem witch trials that took place in the Massachusetts Bay Colony during 1692–93. Miller wrote the play as an allegory for McCarthyism, when the United States government persecuted people accused of being communists.

Auditions will be Monday Aug. 26, 6:00-8:00 p.m. in Fee Black Box Theater with callbacks on Tuesday, Aug. 27, 6:00-8:00 p.m.

Performances will be Nov. 15 and 16 at 7:00 p.m. and Nov. 17 at 2:00 p.m..

Text “@casadyfee” to 81010 for more information!

Universal Drug Testing
This year is the first of our Universal/Random Drug Testing program. As a reminder, Casady has made the decision to implement universal and random testing of students for illegal drug use from a deep concern for their health and welfare and a strong desire to protect our students from potentially self‐destructive behavior. To make sure that we are able to start school with the least amount of shift to student schedules, we will test students on Aug. 26 and 27 during their study halls and free periods. No preparation or special care needs to be taken that day and there should be minimal disruption to class time. Additional information about this program, including a FAQ page, can be found on our Resources page of MyCasady.

Wednesdays
Beginning Wednesday, Aug. 28 and all following Wednesdays this year (not the first day of School), UD classes will begin at 8:55 a.m. rather than 8:25 a.m. Students will then follow their regular schedule for that Wednesday’s letter day. The end of the academic day will not change on Wednesdays. Athletics will also be unchanged on Wednesdays. Ninth and 10th grades students arriving before 8:45 a.m. will report to Gaylord Student Center, and 11th and 12th graders will go to Cochran Library.

Marc Addington Upper Division Director addingtonm@casady.org	Joanne Infantino Academic Dean infantinoj@casady.org	Kevin Crossno Dean of Student Experience crossnok@casady.org
Angie Milligan Upper Division Administrative Assistant milligana@casady.org		Valerie Russell Associate Dean of Students russellv@casady.org

Upper Division Notes

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