Meet the Teacher Night and Ice Cream Social

As always, summer has flown by, and the new school year is quickly approaching.  We invite parents and students enrolled for the Fall to join us for our:

Meet the Teacher Night on August 13th at 6:30 pm

Please come with your enrolled student as well as their school supplies for the coming year. This evening will be a general orientation to PCA school life, an opportunity for your child's teacher to set expectations, and a chance to meet other families at PCA.  We are unable to offer childcare for non-enrolled siblings at this meeting, but it is our hope that both parents will attend with their student.

Also be sure to stick around after the meeting, as a special appearance by the ice cream truck is planned to round out the activities.

Spell to Write and Read Seminar

Are you interested in learning more about the Spell to Write and Read curriculum used by classical Christian schools and many homeschoolers? Pinnacle Classical Academy is pleased to host a seminar led by two trained instructors in the Spell to Write and Read methods. This seminar will be held at the school on August 6th and 7th, from 8:30am – 5:30pm each day. The cost is $135 per person.   All of Pinnacle Classical Academy's teachers will be taking part in the seminar, and we invite you to join us as well. Please RSVP by contacting the school at 501-240-9080 or by e-mailing headmaster Bill Izard at pinnacleclassical@gmail.com. We hope to see you there!

Faculty for 2011-12

If you have been waiting for an update on the faculty for the 2011-12 school year, wait no longer. PCA is excited about all the Fall holds with our new staff. More details here.

Teachers for 2011-12

Pinnacle Classical Academy has completed the interview and hiring phase for the coming school year, and we are excited to announce our new faculty. Look for an update next week that will have all of the details.

Updated Tuition for 2011-12

Pinnacle Classical Academy has determined its tuition and fee schedule for the 2011-12 school year.  Please click here for more information about Admissions and the updated tuition information.

Fall Open House Opportunities

PCA invites you to our Fall Open House! You will have an opportunity to visit with our Headmaster, enjoy refreshments, visit classrooms, and hear what our students are learning. If you are curious about classical Christian education, this will be a great time for you to learn more.

We have two Open House opportunities:
Tuesday, October 12th from 9:30am - 10:30am
Wednesday, November 3rd from 9:30am - 10:30am

If you would like to attend, please RSVP to pinnacleclassical@gmail.com or just click here to give us your information. We look forward to seeing you this fall!

PCA Hosts Easy Grammar Curriculum Seminar - August 13

PCA is pleased to host the author of Easy Grammar Systems, Dr. Wanda C. Phillips. Dr. Phillips will be offering a two hour seminar which will focus on training individuals to teach the Easy Grammar curriculum. The seminar will be Friday, August 13th, from 9:00am-11:30am at Rose Hill Church of the Nazarene. The seminar is open to the public. Easy Grammar Systems is the curriculum PCA has chosen for 2nd - 5th grade grammar instruction.

Dr. Phillips' first session will be "Easy Games and Easy Grammar," focusing on the strategies and ideas behind effective grammar instruction. The second session will be "Easy Writing," focusing on teaching students to write with higher level sentence structures.

We believe that this seminar will be a wonderful time of learning and fellowship. If you would like to attend, please let us know by emailing your name and contact info to pinnacleclassical@gmail.com. We hope to see you there!

Summer Update Packet Available

PCA has produced a brief booklet which details our most recent developments. If you would like to receive a copy of this summer update packet, please email your mailing address to pinnacleclassical@gmail.com. We would love to send you a packet!

PCA is still accepting student applications for the 2010-11 school year. Please let us know if you would like to receive an application packet.

PCA Announces School Location

We are very excited to announce that we have finalized our location for the 2010-11 school year!

The congregation of Rose Hill Church of the Nazarene has graciously agreed to allow PCA to rent classroom and extracurricular space for next year. The facilities and location of Rose Hill seem to be a perfect fit for PCA's first year, and we pray that it will be a blessing to our students and families.

Rose Hill Church of the Nazarene is conveniently located at 11001 Kanis Road – just west of the Shackleford Rd. and Kanis Rd. intersection.

Less than 3 months to go...

With school beginning in less than three months, PCA is getting more excited each day as we anticipate our fall opening! In the last couple of months several exciting things have been happening, and we wanted to give you a brief update on a few of these:

1) Our Location: The congregation of Rose Hill Church of the Nazarene has expressed a willingness to allow PCA to rent a portion of their facility for our school home. Currently, PCA is awaiting a Conditional Use Permit from the city of Little Rock, which will likely be granted on June 3rd. There are a few other logistics to sort out, as well, but we anticipate each of these details working out in due time. We are very grateful for the blessing of this wonderful facility. Rose Hill Church of the Nazarene is located at 11001 Kanis Rd. in Little Rock.
2) Our Curriculum: The PCA curriculum committee has selected the curriculum for each subject for next year, and has made wonderful choices! We are very excited about what each student will be learning. If you are interested in knowing the titles of specific curriculum, please contact us and we'll fill you in on the details.
3) Student Uniforms: We have chosen our student uniforms for next year. We will use Lands' End as our uniform supply company, and we think that the uniforms will serve our families, students, and school very well next year. If you would like specific details about uniform guidelines, please contact us and we'll send you more information.
4) School Day Hours: The PCA school day will begin at 8:15am and will run until 2:30pm for full day students (grades 2 - 5). Half day students (K and 1st) will be dismissed at 12:30pm.
5) Fundraising: PCA has recently launched a small fundraising campaign in hopes of establishing some additional funding for the upcoming year. We especially hope to establish a tuition assistance fund so that we can assist interested, committed families who have financial need. If you are interested in giving to the PCA General Fund or the Tuition Assistance Fund, please contact us. We would love to talk with you personally.
6) New Website: PCA is in the midst of developing a full website in order to better serve the needs of the school and the Little Rock community. We hope to launch our new website within the next month. Our web address will remain the same.

We are continually amazed at God's provision for PCA, and we are so thankful for His grace and mercy to us. There are certainly many more details we could share with you, but we wanted to take a moment to share some of the most recent highlights. We hope to have another meeting over the summer - please let us know if you would like to be added to our mailing list.

PCA is still accepting student applications - please contact us if you would like to receive an application for your child.

Cottage Meeting this Thursday, May 6th

PCA's next Cottage Meeting will be this Thursday, May 6th, at 7:30pm. We will meet in the home of Dave and Mary Peery (1308 Lansing Street, 72223). We will be providing updates on our location, curriculum, student uniforms, and our faculty search. Joseph Bailey will also be leading a discussion of the article "An Invitation to the Pain of Learning" by Mortimer Adler. Clicking on this link http://www.cambridgestudycenter.com/artilces/Adler1.htm will take you to a copy of the article. We had a wonderful Cottage Meeting in April, and we hope to see you in May!

Non-Profit Status Officially Granted!

We are excited to announce that PCA has officially, and finally, completed all of the requirements to become a federally recognized non-profit organization! The IRS sent us our Letter of Determination yesterday, stating that we are now recognized as a 501(c)(3) corporation. We have been working on this process since September 2009, and we have been praying that the Lord would allow us to receive this status. There are several benefits to being a non-profit organization. Two of the most noticeable benefits are: 1) we are not required to pay federal income tax and we are granted tax exemption on nearly all of the purchases made for the school 2) anyone who wishes to donate money to PCA may do so and that money will be tax-deductible. We thank the Lord for letting us complete this crucial step in the establishment of PCA!

Overview of PCA's School Calendar

Important School Dates for the 2010-2011 School Year
2010
August 11-13, 16 – Teacher Inservice
August 18: First Day of School (Half Day)
September 6: Labor Day (all school out)
October 15: Parent/Teacher Conferences (no school for students)
October 18-19: Fall Break (all school out)
November 24-26: Thanksgiving Break (all school out)
December 17: Last Day of Fall Semester
December 18 –January 2: Christmas Break (all school out)

2011
January 3: Teacher Inservice (no school for students)
January 4: Students begin Spring Semester
January 17: MLK, Jr. Day (all school out)
February 21: Teacher Inservice (no school for students)
March 19 – 27: Spring Break (all school out)
April 22: Good Friday (all school out)
May 2: Re-enrollment contracts and enrollment fees due
May 27: Last Day of School (Half Day)

Next Cottage Meeting March 29th

Marcus and Katie Moody will be hosting a Cottage Meeting at their home on Monday, March 29th, at 7:30pm. In addition to providing updates on the particulars of PCA's development, part of this meeting will be devoted to discussing Dorothy Sayers’ article “The Lost Tools of Learning,” a foundational document in classical, Christian education. We welcome anyone to attend this meeting, and we encourage you to take time to look over this article. You will find a copy of the article by clicking on this link: http://www.gbt.org/text/sayers.html

Student and employee applications will also be available at the Cottage Meeting. As a reminder, the First Round Deadline for student applications is this Monday, March 8th. Our Second Round Deadline is Monday, April 5th. Please let us know if you have any questions or if you would like to receive a student application.

Thank you for visiting Pinnacle Classical Academy’s blog!

For our new readers, I would like to briefly introduce PCA and the people who are behind the school. PCA is an independent, classical Christian school led by a Board of Directors. The Board of PCA is comprised of parents who desire to establish a school that will glorify God through the Christ-centered, classical training of children. Their hope is that the future graduates of PCA will be students who are instilled with a lifelong love of learning, equipped for service in love to God and man.

The Board started meeting early last summer (2009) and in September I was hired as PCA’s Director of Development. Together we began working to lay the foundation for Little Rock’s first classical, Christian school. PCA has held four informational meetings and is beginning to find like-minded individuals who are excited about partnering with PCA. More informational meetings will be held this spring.

Currently, PCA’s Board is working diligently to secure a location for the fall 2010 opening. PCA’s curriculum committee is in the midst of surveying and selecting the curriculum for each subject. Recently, PCA released both its student and employee applications. Though many tasks lay ahead of the Board, it is exciting to offer a new educational opportunity for Little Rock families and to see the many ways that the Lord is providing for the needs of PCA.

We encourage you to peruse the past articles on our blog, as you will find more information about classical, Christian education, as well as other helpful resources. We would love to talk with you individually and to send you more information about PCA. Please contact us at 501-240-9080 or pinnacleclassical@gmail.com.

Excelsior ad Dei Gloriam!

~Holley Peters, Director of Development

Student Admissions Packets Now Available

If you would like to receive a student admissions packet, please email us at pinnacleclassical@gmail.com. First Round Applications will be due March 8th and decisions will be made by the first week of April. Please contact us if you have any questions.

Spring Informational Meeting

PCA will host a spring informational meeting on Tuesday, February 23rd, at 7:30pm. The meeting will be held at Covenant Presbyterian Church, located at 1 Covenant Drive, 72211. Our keynote speaker will be Mr. Peter Baur, Director of Admissions and Events at Westminster Academy in Memphis, TN. Mr. Baur has over 30 years of experience in private school education, and he previously served as the Director of Institutional Advancement for Westminster Academy. In addition to his experience as an education professional, Mr. Baur understands classical, Christian education from the perspective of a parent. His son recently graduated from Westminster Academy as a member of the class of 2009.

Student Admissions Packets and Employee Application Packets will be available at this meeting, and we will be updating you on the progress of PCA. We hope that you will make plans to attend this special evening. Please contact us if you would like more information.

Student Admissions Packets Coming Soon

Student Admissions Packets will be released by February 1st. If you would like to receive an admissions packet, please email us at pinnacleclassical@gmail.com. We will be accepting applications for K-6 grades.

Employee Applications Now Available

Applications for employment are now available. We are seeking to fill the following positions:

Part-time Headmaster
Part-time Latin Teacher
Part-time Secretary
Kindergarten Teacher
First/Second Grade Teacher (classes will be combined)
Third/Fourth Grade Teacher (classes will be combined)
Possibly a Fifth/Sixth Grade Teacher (classes will be combined)

If you are interested in applying for any of these positions, please contact us via email (pinnacleclassical@gmail.com) or phone (501-240-9080) and we will mail an application packet to you.

Year-End Giving Opportunity

As we approach the end of 2009, we are reminded of God's abundant provision for PCA, and we are grateful for the task He has set before us. As you consider your year-end giving opportunities, we ask you to remember PCA. If you are interested in helping PCA move forward through financial support, please contact us. Donations must be received or postmarked by December 31st to qualify as a 2009 tax-deductible donation.

Pinnacle Classical Academy
P.O. Box 251732
Little Rock, AR 72225-1732
501-240-9080
pinnacleclassical@gmail.com

We are excited about the plans God has for PCA in 2010, and we are so thankful for your continued support.