Paul Drake

New Parent Orientation

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Why new parent Orientation? To emphasize the mission and the vision of the school. Review the statement of faith and highlight key information in the parent/student handbook. Goal is to remind the parents what they have agreed to do as parents and what they can expect from the school. When do you have the orientation? During the summer before the start of the school year. Ideally, in June, right after the end of the school year or in August before the start of the school year. It’s good to offer two dates since it is a strongly recommended event. How? Start with the plenary session with all the parents to review the school wide information. Take a break with refreshments and then break the groups into different schools. At Geneva School, we had three sections: Preschool, Lower school and Upper school.

Rim Hinckley

Prior to starting The Geneva School of Manhattan, Rim Hinckley taught mathematics at United Nations International School for six years. Along with other Christian believers, she began planning for a classical Christian school in Manhattan in 1995. After a year of planning, praying, pursuing real estate leads, and completing city requirements, Geneva School opened in September 1996 with twenty-two students in three grades. After several years serving as the founder and Head of School, Ms. Hinckley stepped down as full-time headmaster to spend time with her young family. She served on the Board of Trustees for the School until 2011, when she again resumed Head of School responsibilities. Under her leadership, the School has grown to 280 students. Ms. Hinckley serves on the boards of Messiah College and Society of Classical Learning and has previously served on the board of Hope for New York and PAVE Academy Charter School in Brooklyn, NY. She was Teaching Leader for Bible Study Fellowship International from 1996 to 2000. She and her husband Carter Hinckley have two sons, C.J. and Charlie (‘14 and ‘16).

Paul Drake

Wisdom to Guide Families into an Uncertain Start to School

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Perspective on how to deal with parents when their children struggle and need encouragement…..and how to engage a nervous confused parent population about a “new” return to school.

Keith McCurdy

Keith has worked with families, children, parents, and individuals for over 30 years in the field of mental health, working with more than 15,000 individuals and families. He received his Master of Arts and Education Specialist degrees from James Madison University. He is currently the President and CEO of Total Life Counseling, Inc., and is licensed in the state of Virginia as a Licensed Professional Counselor and Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist. Keith provides counseling and consulting services as well as a variety of workshops on improving parenting skills, building strong marriages, and maintaining healthy relationships. He has developed and regularly offers parenting retreats entitled “Raising Sturdy Kids” to help parents operate from the correct paradigm with their children and has extended and customized this powerful program for schools and students. For many years Keith has been a consultant and speaker nationally to businesses, churches, and schools both within and outside of the world of Classical Education. He previously served as Chairman of the Board at Faith Christian School, a Christian classical school in Roanoke, VA. Keith has been a regular contributor to The Roanoke Star with articles on children, parenting, and marriage. Keith has been featured on the Circe Institute’s podcast “The Commons," "BaseCamp Live," and "Crosspolitic" podcasts respectively.

Paul Drake

Where Have All of the Parents Gone?

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Do you have parents who seem to need permission to parent? Are your students overwhelmed by technology or unable to properly respond to appropriate expectations? Are you an administrator who needs to understand, serve, respond and oversee it all? Join us for a session to gain valuable context, lessen stress, open lines of communication, bring understanding and help teachers and administrators be better prepared to do their jobs.

Keith McCurdy

Keith McCurdy has worked with families, children, parents and individuals for over 30 years in the eld of mental health, working with more than 12,000 individuals and families. He received his master’s and education specialist degrees from James Madison University. He is currently the President and CEO of Total Life Counseling, Inc., and is licensed in the state of Virginia as a Licensed Professional Counselor and Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist. Keith provides counseling and consulting services, as well as a variety of workshops on improving parenting skills, building strong marriages and maintaining healthy relationships. He has developed and regularly offers Raising Sturdy Kids parenting retreats to help parents operate from the correct paradigm with their children. He has extended and customized this powerful program for schools and students. For many years, Keith has been a consultant and speaker to schools both within and outside of the world of classical education. He also serves as the Chairman of the Board at Faith Christian School, a classical Christian school in Roanoke, Virginia. Keith is a regular contributor to The Roanoke Star with articles on children, parenting and marriage. He has also been featured twice on the CiRCE Institute’s podcast The Commons to discuss raising sturdy kids. His primary focus is helping others better understand how a Christian worldview — not psychology — should be the primary in uence in parenting and relationships today. A signi cant part of his work has been helping parents understand the bene t of allowing their children to struggle and do hard things. Keith is an avid outdoorsman, is actively involved with Boy Scouts of America and coaches high school basketball. He and his wife, Lynnie, have been married for 24 years.

Paul Drake

Where Have All The Parents Gone?

Posted on by Paul Drake

Keith McCurdy

Keith has worked with families, children, parents, and individuals for over 30 years in the field of mental health, working with more than 15,000 individuals and families. He received his Master of Arts and Education Specialist degrees from James Madison University. He is currently the President and CEO of Total Life Counseling, Inc., and is licensed in the state of Virginia as a Licensed Professional Counselor and Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist. Keith provides counseling and consulting services as well as a variety of workshops on improving parenting skills, building strong marriages, and maintaining healthy relationships. He has developed and regularly offers parenting retreats entitled “Raising Sturdy Kids” to help parents operate from the correct paradigm with their children and has extended and customized this powerful program for schools and students. For many years Keith has been a consultant and speaker nationally to businesses, churches, and schools both within and outside of the world of Classical Education. He previously served as Chairman of the Board at Faith Christian School, a Christian classical school in Roanoke, VA. Keith has been a regular contributor to The Roanoke Star with articles on children, parenting, and marriage. Keith has been featured on the Circe Institute’s podcast “The Commons," "BaseCamp Live," and "Crosspolitic" podcasts respectively.

Paul Drake

Triangulating Community Outreach, Parent Education, and Professional Development: The Great Conversations Series at Covenant Classical School as a Case Study

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This seminar will develop the Great Conversations Series at Covenant Classical School as a case study. Speci cally, we will discuss how seminars, lectures, and reading groups hosted at CCS have attempted to draw parents, teachers, and even their friends beyond our immediate school community together in a positive experience of our school’s classical, Christian curriculum and pedagogy. Our hope is that our successes and failures would prove helpful to other schools endeavoring to (re)launch similar programs. The seminar will conclude with Q & A, especially aimed at exploring other schools’ attempts at similar programs.

Marcus Foster

Marcus graduated from Baylor University with a BA in Classics in 2000. He worked with youth in Berlin, Germany, for ve years, part of which was also spent studying theology at Humboldt Universität. He completed an MHum in Classics/Theology from the University in Dallas in 2011. Heavily invested in languages, Marcus aims to stir a love for language and literature in his students at Covenant Classical School, teaching 7th–12th grade Latin. He and his wife, Julie, have been married for 14 years, blessed with three beautiful daughters and one strapping son.

Paul Drake

90 Days, 90 Dads

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As any school grows in age and numbers there is an increasing risk of parents having less understanding and appreciation for classical Christian education. Parents with a weak understanding of what differentiates a classical Christian school from other choices are more vulnerable to the larger culture and less prepared to create home environments that are commensurate with the vision of the school. They are also less involved and more likely to transition out to other schools. Learn how one school’s ambitious goal of meeting face to face with every parent resulted in a meaningful increase in the parent’s commitment in terms of greater contributions of their time, treasure and talents.

Davies Owens

W. Davies Owens is the Head of Vision and Advancement at the Ambrose School in Boise, Idaho, where he also served as the Dean of the Upper Schools. Prior to moving west three years ago, Davies served on the board, and later for seven years as Head of School, at Heritage Preparatory in Atlanta, Georgia. Prior to that, he was the Executive Director of BlueSky Ministries, an innovation lab and consulting organization. He is an ordained Presbyterian minister who served as a local church pastor for twelve years in North Carolina and Florida. Davies has a BA in Sociology from Furman University, an MDiv from Duke Divinity School, and a doctorate from Gordon Conwell Seminary in Boston. He and his wife, Holly, see the consistent fruit of classical Christian education in the lives of their three children: Hannah (16) , Liam (13), and Benne (11).

Paul Drake

Purposing to Partner and Empower: Cultivating Relationships with School Parents

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How can our classrooms be the catalyst in redeeming the education of multiple generations, past and present and future? Each time we touch a child we are touching the Covenant. We are invited into this partnership by the parents of the children that grace our classrooms. How do we inspire and invite parents to join the journey of discovery with their child? How do we alleviate their fears and instill once again the joy of learning, when their students need help with Latin, Physics and Algebra? Unlocking the mysteries of classical education for our parents is an important component to the success of our mission as classical Christian educators. During this seminar, we will explore not only the why, but also the ways, of equipping, empowering, and encouraging parents as they seek to connect with their students in the great conversation.

Cyndi McCallister

Cyndi McCallister earned a BA from Columbia International University in 1985 where she studied theology and education. She and her husband Karl have been homeschooling since 1994. In 2004 Cyndi discovered the beauty of a classical education through Classical Conversations where she has served as a Director/Tutor, Support Manager, and speaker, training parents to become classical Christian educators for the past 9 years. As the wife of a pastor, Cyndi is also passionate about seeing the church once again embrace this biblical model of conveying His truth to future generations. The more she learns about the classical model the more she desires to share this method of education with other communities, the church and the nations. Like Classical Conversations’ mo o, “To Know Him and make Him Known,” Cyndi wishes to equip and empower not only homeschooling families but teachers around the world in using the classical model. She believes our Christian classical communities should strive to have such an impact.

Paul Drake

Building an Effective and Healthy Parent Organization

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Since parents are the primary educators of their children, then your school must connect with them. I guess that every school at this conference started because a group of parents wanted more for their own children and their city. In your school’s beginning, parents painted walls, mopped floors, bought used furniture, led the board meetings, and did most other things that just needed to get done. Overtime, the flaming visionary parents morph into a support structure whereby paid administrators and paid teachers carry many of the burdens. As this morphing takes place, your school grows in strength as you continue to give parents an effective and healthy way to partner with the administration and teachers. Roles and responsibilities are the key. Join me and one of our former Regents Parent Council Chairs, Carla for this lively discussion that exposes the lessons we learned and the ongoing challenges that await our school in parent organization advancement.

Rod Gilbert

Rod Gilbert serves as the Head of School at Regents School of Austin. He was the Head of Upper School for four years, and then he became the Head of School ve years ago. Prior to his start at Regents, he was the founding Assistant Headmaster of Trinity Academy of Raleigh in North Carolina. He and Angie have two children at Regents School. When he is not working with Regents, you may nd his family tending their Alpine dairy goats. They tend the goats, and enjoy delightful milk and cheese. In formal training he completed a B.S. in Economics and an M.Div. Currently he is completing requirements toward a Ph.D. in Education.

Paul Drake

Building Parent Partnerships That Last

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Have you ever spoken to one of your families and realized they just don’t get it? Ever had five of those conversations in a week? When is the last time you invited a youth pastor to speak at chapel? Will you ever do it again? Many of our families and churches still do not seem to understand the vision of classical Christian education. It often makes our jobs difficult and frustrating. In this session, Eric will assess the challenges we face as classical Christian educators. He will also provide some practical strategies on how to partner with parents in a culture that is not very classical or Christian.

Eric Cook

Eric Cook is the Headmaster at Covenant Classical School in Fort Worth, Texas. He is from Lexington, Kentucky where he received his B.A. in Secondary Social Studies Education from Transylvania University. Eric taught history, civics, philosophy, and psychology for ve years in two di erent public schools. He received his M.A. in Instructional Leadership from Northern Kentucky University and served as an assistant principal at a large middle school in Cincinnati, Ohio. In 2006, Eric became the Middle and Upper School Head at Faith Christian School in Roanoke, Virginia before becoming Headmaster at Covenant in 2009. He has served on the SCL board for three years. Eric is married to his beautiful wife, Liz. They have six children: Haydon, Olivia, Grant, Cole, William, and Lincoln.

Paul Drake

Parent Impact Panel

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Four experienced administrators join together to discuss the challenges of working with parent volunteers and parent led organizations in order to extend the mission of the school. Each will show his well-earned battle scars and discuss the positives and pitfalls of working alongside parents in a private school setting.

Brad Ryden

Brad Ryden is the Head of School at Geneva School of Boerne, Texas. Prior to taking the position at Geneva in 2006, Brad served as the Head of School at The Covenant School in Dallas. Brad and Becky, a middle school English teacher at Geneva, have been married for 26 years and have four children. Brad is a member of Trinity Presbyterian Church (PCA) in Boerne.