MCA - From the Headmaster

"Schools Attuned" - 2004

To recognize, understand, and manage students with learning differences, Millennium Charter Academy has joined a network of providers offering Schools Attuned. Focused training will give the faculty and other school personnel the knowledge and skills, as well a system of innovative tools, to meet the diverse needs of all students. Schools Attuned, in fact, positively impacts every child and the entire learning environment at MCA.

This program is based on over thirty years of work by Dr. Mel Levine, professor of pediatrics at the University of North Carolina Medical School. He is also Director for the school’s Center of Development and Learning and the founder and co-chair of All Kinds of Minds, a nonprofit institute that develops products and programs to help parents, teachers, clinicians, and children deal with learning differences.

Using the principles of this program, the Academy’s staff continues to take a positive view of a child’s development and to assist parents in their child’s education. Now, with more accuracy and clarity, the school is able to pin point a student’s difficulties. In meaningful collaboration, parents, teachers, other professionals, and the child, compose a comprehensive view of a child’s learning differences, strengths, and affinities. This is accomplished through an understanding of neurodevelopmental systems, which are broken down into language, memory, higher order cognition, social cognition, ordering systems, neuromotor function, and attention. These areas are sub-divided to provide specificity to a child’s profile through a well-defined process. Schools Attuned gives MCA the ability to describe learning phenomena to all those involved, including the student. This, in turn, helps to demystify the problem and to label the phenomenon, rather than the child.

MCA’s goal has always been to take a child where he or she is, acknowledge specific interests, strengths, and weaknesses and build upon them all. Schools Attuned is geared to provide just that.

For more information about Schools Attuned at Millennium Charter Academy, please call the school, email us, or visit more pages on our website.

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"The Nascar School" - August 2006
Kirby R. McCrary - August 2006

A NASCAR School!?

I love analogies. Both life and literature are full of them. They have the potential to reveal truth in a most understandable manner. For my story that follows, I am indebted to Mrs. LuAnn Browne, who related a sermon by Leonard Fletcher, a pastor from Mountain City, Tennessee, and to Mr. Ken Gwyn, MCA’s Board president who whimsically pointed out that should someone ask if we have a HEMI under this school, as they do in that popular truck commercial, the answer would be a resounding yes. Each one, independently of the other, provided the rudiments I conscripted to tell my own tale.
     Several years ago when my son, Patrick, was about ten years old, he and I built a Pinewood Derby car. Yes, “we!” I did place my hands on top of his when he cut it out on the band saw, but he came up with the idea, painted it, and added the extras. You should have seen it! It was the Batmobile, sleek black with a LEGO flame firing from the rear turbo exhaust. It easily won first for the best design. Boy was I - I mean - boy, was he proud. Nine years later, the car and ribbon still sit somewhere in his somewhat less than orderly room.
     The car looked great and rolled reasonably fast. It looked like a car. It moved like a car, but like all Pinewood Derby cars, it had no power. Some schools are like this. They look like a school. They act like a school, but they have no power within.
     You know, the Pinewood Derby car that Patrick and I built started with a kit and was rather inexpensive, too, maybe $15 tops. And it took only a couple of evenings to finish the project..… but then it only coasted down hill and eventually stopped on flat ground.
     Some schools are like this.  They might not start from a kit, but many are modeled the same.  You can see that, whether you are standing looking at the building from the yard or from the inside watching the days go by.  They are standardized for financial efficacy at the cost of focus, maneuverability, and responsiveness to customers and their environment.  They are streamlined, having jettisoned everything academic that does not lead directly to that narrow finish line down the hill…... those end-of-the-year test scores.  When they roll across the finish line, their victory celebration is somewhat shallow and short-lived. They often have a tough time negotiating potholes and bumps in the road.
        On the other hand, I imagine that a NASCAR car might take a little longer and might cost a million dollars more, but look at what you get, a vehicle that can travel up those 31º banked turns at Daytona or fly down that 3800 foot front stretch at speeds in excess of 200 mph for 500 miles or more, all under its on power.
      Millennium Charter Academy, I believe is more like NASCAR… with a HEMI. It has taken six years to grow the school to the seventh grade and untold hours from enumerable people, synergizing their thoughts, expertise, and labor. In addition to North Carolina’s per pupil allotment that, by the way, follows every public school student wherever he/she may attend, it has taken thousands of dollars from companies and generous private citizens to foot the bill for this high-powered education.
      There are lots of schools that look like a school and act like a school, but many just do not have any real power. MCA’s facility is obviously not your generic model. We are one of, if not the first, charter school to build with tilt wall construction and with such thoughtful design. The facility is an economic, state-of-the art design and construction. That would be your first clue that this is not your mid to low-end auto. Now look under the hood. You will find a rich curriculum, a wide variety of extra-curricular offerings, involved parents, a dedicated Board, systems that integrate all the moving parts, big dreams for the future, and the HEMI itself: a self-motivated, talented, hard-working, energetic staff.
      Of course, that big ol’ HEMI needs fuel. Since MCA is a hybrid model, the engine runs off a variety of fuels, from moral support to classroom assistance to financial contributions. Like any good racecar, well-planned pit stops with full gas tanks in hand, are the most effective. So, if you have not already, join the team and offer whatever you can, your time, your knowledge, your money, your resources. One thing I’ve found to be true about earthly things, whether it’s building a NASCAR racer, a personal relationship, or a school, you generally get more out, the more you put in.
     Last year, when Patrick and I put spacers on his Jeep, an actual vehicle, it took a week of long, very late evenings and a lot more than $15, but when we finished, his    vehicle set up higher just like a Jeep ought. The results are functional and lasting.   The time we spent on this project was memorable; in fact, it proved to be an important allegory for life itself.

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"The MCA Middle School is Here!"
Kirby R. McCrary - March 2006

For the past four years, the two most repeated, hope-filled questions addressed to me have been: Do you have plans for a sixth grade? Are we going to have a middle school? Because of your involvement with MCA, the answer is a most apparent and resounding, “Yes!” Thanks for your moral and financial support to get us where we are now. Thanks for asking these questions.
In our grades 6-8, we are developing a hybrid of the junior high (curriculum-centered) and the middle school (student-centered) models. I am excited to say that we have the best of both worlds. From the junior high model, we are extracting a focus on academic subjects, the mastery of concepts, the emphasis on cognitive development, a structured extra-curricular program, and the acknowledgement of administration, teachers, and staff as benevolent authority. From the latter model, MCA will profit from student-centeredness, the collaboration of interdisciplinary teaching teams, space arranged by composition of those teams, stress of critical thinking for all students, and delivery of the curriculum through various strategies.
Classes: As we move into our new facility, students will have their long-awaited lockers and their own wing. They will begin switching classrooms, too. Additionally, the students will have a laptop computer lab, a science lab, an instructional art gallery, an art room, a much larger library, and their own lunchroom. We currently have one rising seventh grade class and, judging from parental responses, we anticipate two rising sixth grade classes.

Until all classes are filled, we are accepting applications for both grades. If you know of someone you would like to see here, please invite them to call and we’ll set up a tour and a comprehensive introduction to our great school.

Clubs: Based on students’ desires and staffs’ expertise, clubs are also a part of middle school life. This provides a change of pace, a productive “downtime,” midst the rigors of the curriculum. By choice, the present sixth grade has a newspaper club. After observing the production of the local newspaper and several weeks of writing, layout, editing, and photography, the students are nearly ready to produce their first edition, which the Mt. Airy News will print. Afterward, some students may continue publishing, while others may participate in an athletic club or other club.

Government: The Students’ Presidential Council, comprised of an elected president (Will Pfitzner) and a representative council (Yancey Simmons, Sara Parries, Tori Culler, and Paulina Kriska), meets weekly in the conference room over lunch. This student group has organized and has run a very successful middle school dance.

Technology: As Jim Collins wrote in Good to Great, “When used right, technology becomes an accelerator of momentum, not a creator of it.” Technology is neither the goal nor the focal point, but rather one important tool that helps to propel MCA toward its stated mission. All MCA middle schoolers have access to a computer through our 1:1 laptop initiative. With our expansion, the entire facility will have wireless connection to the Internet. As technology changes, so will the world and so will this Academy. And here, those advancements will be used to further develop students that are life-long learners, as well as faculty, staff, parents, and community members that continue to thrive on education.

Athletics: We have already begun establishing our athletic program. Philosophically, we have three goals for our young athletes: 1) to enjoy themselves, 2) to grow in skill and character (morally, socially, mentally), and 3) to compete fiercely with a first-class attitude. Our campus will have two ball fields, one for baseball and one rectangular field for soccer, lacrosse, field hockey, etc. Unlike traditional public schools, we have secured the latitude to compete beginning at the sixth grade level. To get us started, we are inaugurating a middle school soccer team. Dr. Jan Kriska and Mr. Shane Casstevens are coaching this co-ed team, which will begin play this spring. Our PE department, under Susan Gunter, has hosted clinics in field hockey and baseball. By May, we expect to offer a special field hockey clinic, led by some of the ladies from the four-time national champion Wake Forest team. Plans are in the works for a lacrosse clinic, too. As you may know, we also have two summer sports camps, one for basketball and another for wrestling. Other sports being discussed are listed in the adjoining table. We will add other competitive sports as we secure coaches of both competent skills and laudable character.

Arts: We intend to offer a strong arts program to our students and to this region. For several years we have offered art and music history in all grades. This fall, we expanded our arts program by creating a position for applied music, which is now offered in fifth and sixth grades. Next year, that program will also include fourth and seventh. The Arts Team is working to obtain musical instruments for our middle schoolers and, as soon as this is realized, every student will have the opportunity to try the clarinet, the trumpet, and the violin/fiddle. These will form the basis for band and orchestra. This summer, we are proud to offer for the first time Expressions, A Fine Arts Camp, with classes in music, dance, visual arts, and drama. Watch for more information coming soon.

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"Discipline and Habits"
by Kirby R. McCrary - August 2002

One of the primary mandates of Millennium Charter Academy's Mission Statement is to "challenge each child to… develop the highest moral character." The leadership and the staff take this charge seriously. Consequently, we are setting high expectations for every child that is educated through this institution.

MCA is focusing on certain attributes that we would like to see automatic in our students. We are calling these "habits," behaviors that are so engrained in a child's response system that they are almost inevitable. The moral and social habits include: obedience (cheerful, prompt), courtesy (respect, politeness), truthfulness, and responsibility. The mental and intellectual habits are: attention, thinking, diligence, and excellence. At one level, the changes from last year's report card are semantic. On another level the ideas have been expanded to a deeper level, consolidated, and categorized by social and intellectual behaviors. Expectations have been elevated, as well. This is a never-ending process that requires a cooperative effort between parents, staff, and leadership.

Sometimes instruction is didactic. The school, or a teacher for her class, chooses a trait on which to focus and the teacher engages students in conversation and activities geared toward instilling that characteristic in them. We will also strive to instruct at those teachable moments, those times when one of the habits is, or maybe is not, manifested by a child. During this process of developing certain automatic responses, a student may forget. So what does one do? Pleasantly call his/her name, but avoid, if possible, reminding him/her of what has been forgotten.

Let's imagine that you want your daughter to speak to adults when she enters a room. You might say, "Emily, when you come into a room, I want you to try hard to remember to look at each adult and to say 'hello.'"

"Why do you want me to do that?" Emily asks.

"Because it is impolite to the people in the room not to acknowledge their presence."

"What if I forget?" she responds.

"Then I will try to remind you."

So off she goes. For two or three times Emily remembers, but then she forgets. You whisper, "Emily, don't forget." She knows what you are talking about and speaks to those in the room. She does this many times without a forgetful moment. Now comes a critical point. Emily comes into a room to see you and forgets about the other adults in the room. Emily may momentarily realize what she has forgotten, but not to such a degree as to speak up. If we, as adults, are tired or choose to disregard the incident, Emily may begin to waffle in her commitment to be polite. The adult must kindly require her to be mannerly.

Since habits of wrongdoing are much more difficult to alter, we must recognize the habits our children are developing. Have you ever seen adults who "turn the other way" when a child behaves poorly? On occasion, children have worn me out to a point that it seemed easier not to deal with the breach of acceptable behavior. In the long run, however, I realize that this only enables the very ones I love to develop a wrong way of thinking and behaving.

Attitudes that underlie habits are important, too. Have you ever seen parents who laugh at the cuteness of their little children when they are disrespectful or selfish?   At best, this fosters an attitude in the child that says, "As long as I am cute, I can get away with anything." At worst, it instills an attitude of manipulation and disrespect for authority. We should be careful not to lower our standards or become lackadaisical in our approach. This is, in itself, a demonstration of the habit of diligence in us.

Can this be tiring? On certain days, you know it is. However, as parents and as a staff to whom you have delegated your authority for the school hours, we must keep in mind the payoff. Children that have been loved well and taught discipline become happier and healthier; they become better friends, better coworkers, and better citizens. Observable habits are an indication of progress.

How do we know if the child has developed a habit? Obedience to your directions, coupled with a good attitude, is essential, but you will know that a habit is truly formed when the child executes it quickly when no one is watching. Even though a child may not continually live up to this high expectation, it is nonetheless a worthwhile and admirable goal.

Throughout the coming months, please join with us as we work toward developing the characteristics mentioned above. "Education is a discipline - that is, the discipline of good habits in which the child is trained… [Schoolwork] should afford opportunity for discipline of many good habits," wrote Charlotte Mason, a British educator around the turn of the 20th century. Every day and every hour, we are either passively or actively forming habits in our children.   As parents and as a school community, we must strive to help our children develop within themselves character traits that become almost automatic.
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