October 31 - Skippack Ghost Walk
High school drama students performed twice on Halloween evening for the annual Skippack Ghost Walk hosted by the Village Coffeeahaus in historic downtown Skippack. The student actors portrayed real-life citizens of Skippack who supposedly haunt the buildings. Dressed in costumes and make-up, the actors were stationed at a variety of locations throughout the 75 minute tour. Audience members enjoyed watching their dramatic portrayals of the characters.
September 14 - Nutcracker
The Renaissance Academy Dance Department had an overwhelming turnout for
The Nutcracker. We have close to 100 students participating in this production. Download this
flyer for information on the rehearsal schedule, participation fee, and costume requirements. Tickets will go on sale November 1. Watch this page for more information.
September - Reading Olympics
Renaissance Academy has the opportunity to participate in the Reading Olympics again this year. This is a chance for your student to better their reading and comprehension skills. Students in the 5th-12th grades may participate in this event. The Chester County Reading Olympics are primarily a celebration of reading rather than a contest. All participants are awarded ribbons. Since the teams generate much excitement about this reading event, the experience is rewarding for everyone involved. 5th grade will compete at the Elementary level, 6th-8th at the Middle school level and 9th-12th at the High School level. If your student is interested in joining a team, they can stop by the RA Library and speak to Miss Ashforth. More information and dates for the spring events to follow.
September 9 - Tutor.com Available Again!
Again this year, remote access to Live Homework Help for Renaissance Academy students is available from Tutor.com. You will need a password from your teacher to access.
Click on the smiley to get help now!
June 27 - Renaissance Academy Makes the Front Page!
There was a nice article about Charter Schools and the Renaissance Academy right smack in the middle of page one in today's Philadelphia Inquirer. If you missed it, take a look at online version at
philly.com.
June - Drama Teacher Hits the Big Time
Congratulations to drama teacher Jenny Shoeman. Her original play, "Harris Superman," was produced at the NovaStage Theater Company of Canada Ms. Shoeman also had the opportunity to travel to the Toronto area to work with the director and actors.
May 16 - Renaissance Academy gets Award
Renassaince Academy was honored today by the Center for Educational Reform (CER) as one of their Charter Schools of the Year. Oustanding charter schools from across the country were recognized for "
...innovative practices, high achievement, and hard work that have served children outstandingly well..." The ceremony took place at the National Press Club in Washington DC. More information can be found at the
CER website.
“May - Breakfast Club” Performance Tickets are On Sale Now
Don't miss this Renaissance Academy first! Tickets MUST be purchased in advance. There will be 50 tickets available for each performance. A limited number of tickets may be available at the door. Ticket price is a minimum donation of $3—but feel free to donate more! Proceeds from this show will benefit our show next year. Our hope is to raise enough money to rent a larger space and do a bigger production next year! Performance dates and times are Thursday, May 31st and Friday, June 1st at 5:00 and 8:00 pm, and Saturday, June 2nd at 2:00 and 8:00 pm.
Contact Jen Shoeman with questions at x1024.
May - Renaissance Scholars
Über congratulations are in order for our two (out of a class of less than 50!) semi-finalists in the National Merit Scholarship Program. (We'll see if we can get a picture.)
April - Drama Department Completes its Third Successful Year of Touring Shows
For the third year in a row, students in the Class Clowns and LOL comedy improvisation troupes toured to several local schools to perform for hundreds of students in the region. This year, Class Clowns (grades 5-8) performed at Marshall Street Elementary School, East Bradford Elementary, and The Pathway School. LOL (grades 9-12) was hired to perform at Chambersburg High School for their drama club, which in exchange donated money to the Renaissance Drama Department. It was an amazing experience for our high school actors to perform in an 800 seat theater!
April - Drama Pictures Page
If you haven't already found it, check out the latest addition to the RAK12 website: the
Drama Department Pictures page where you can find pictures of Renaissance students engaged in various drama activities. Watch for the page to grow in the future.
April 23 - Reading Olympics
Congratulations are in order to members of our two middle-school Reading Olympics teams: the
Creampuffs, and the
Home Skillet Biscuits. The teams spent two hours Monday night at Downingtown East High School answering questions about the content of 45 different books that they read. In addition to having the best team names, the Creampuffs and Biscuits walked away with blue and red ribbons, respectively.
Our junior academy team, the
Renaissance Readers also did themselves (and the school) proud, bringing home a white ribbon in their competition the neight before.
April 14 - Chili Cook-Off Adds Spice to Renaissance Academy
Members of the Renaissance family poured into school on a bright Saturday in April, determined to heat things up. These taste-testers tipped their spoons into over 20 pots of chili, determined to fill their tummies while choosing a favorite.
Judges drawn from the local community awarded prizes to contestants, with parent Peg Cuthbert coming in first, and our school nurse, Kathy Peszka, claiming second prize. Parent Patrick McLaughlin was a double winner, taking third prize and the People’s Choice Award.
The always-entertaining Renaissance Class Clowns presented two live shows and everyone was treated to a lively version of the TV game show, Deal or No Deal. A flurry of raffle ticket sales produced happy winners who left clutching their winning baskets.
April 12 - Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption
On April 12, 2007, Renaissance Academy sponsored a Teacher's Night at
Wendy's in Phoenixville to support the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption.
Turnout was great and Wendy's grossed $2500 in sales, which earned the
foundation over $500. When combined with contributions earned at school
through the students active listening, participating in class, and using
core values, the total dollar contributed to the foundation was $1,007.
Thank you to staff, parents, and friends of Renaissance Academy for
supporting such a worthwhile cause.
March 27 - Renaissance Drama Students Featured on New Century Television!
High school students in the LOL comedy troupe participated in an intensive comedy workshop hosted by professional actors of Philadelphia's "The N Crowd." Named "Philadelphia's premiere improv troupe" by Philadelphia Magazine, The N Crowd is a popular improvisational troupe that performs shows similar to "Whose Line is it Anyway." The workshop was filmed by New Century Television, a station created by one of the former producers of CBS and HBO. A professional DVD will be created and distributed to college and high school drama departments all over the world. This is sure to put our Renaissance Drama Department on the map! We look forward to further collaborating in a future partnership with both The N Crowd and New Century Television to educate and promote arts education both nationally and abroad.
More LOL troupe and Class Clowns pictures can be found
here.
March 23-25 - Key Club Honored
Six members of the Renaissance Academy Key Club attended the 61st Annual Key Club convention in Pittsburgh. Because of the club's extensive service to the community, they were honored with the
"Highest Average Club Hours Per Member" award in the state of Pennsylvania. Congratulations are in order to all Key Club members.
March 25 - Attention Aspiring Artists
Edison New York is launching a contest to design the t-shirt employees will wear in the Chase Corporate Challeng, a 3.5 mile run/walk race in New York City benefiting the Central Park Conservatory Fund. The design should relate to the theme of outdoor fitness and must be submitted by May 1, 2007. The winning artist will also receive a $50 gift certificate to Amazon.com. Interested young artists should contact Jaina D’Ambra of Edison
(
jdambra@edisonschools.com) for more details.
March 14 - Super Office Manager
Congratulations are in order to our own Peggy Lagarde for being recognized as a "Super Office Manager." Read all about it on the Common.
March - Dave Thomas Adoption Foundation
Renaissance Academy Students and Staff will be raising money for the Dave Thomas Adoption Foundation in March. In April there will be a Renaissance Academy Night at the Wendy's in Phoenixville. We look forward to your support. More information can be found
here.
February 13 - National Honor Society for Dance Arts!
That is right - there is a new honor society for Dance Arts. Renaissance Academy has been issued the 1st charter in the state of PA for NHSDA. Dance students from the 6th to 12th grade were invited to attend an informational meeting on 2/13 during lunch to find out what this new club is all about. Interested students should contact Mrs. Jarvie for more information.
February 3 - MathCounts
Forget the Superbowl. The real athletes spent Saturday at Great Valley Middle School participating in the Chester County MathCounts competition. Over 200 Mathletes representing 30 area schools had their math skills pushed to the limit. The event included individual and team demonstrations of math prowess, both orally and in writing.
Congratulations are in order to four Renaissance Academy middle school students. These math wizards returned from Great Valley with a sixth place overall finish in the individual competition. Full team results are not yet available, but the team is confident of a good showing. Congratulations!
Update - These four numerical prestidigitators placed thirteenth overall out of 29 teams! Woo! Woo!
December 6 - Fine Arts in the Community
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Renaissance Academy Dancers, Elementary Choir, 6th grade singers, and 7th & 8th grade ballet classes entertained the residents of the Phoenixville Senior Center and Exton Adult Day Care Center on Wednesday, December 6, 2006.
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November 6 - Lowe's Donation
Lowe's Inc. has generously donated materials and volunteers to construct a Black Box Theatre to be housed in the drama room. Construction is scheduled for this Friday. Stay tuned for further developments. More information can be found
here.
November 1 - Mock Debate
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It was a packed house as upper school students and parents attended a pre-election gala sponsored by the Social Sciences department. The school was buried in campaign posters designed and drawn by students for their favorite candidates. The highlight of the night was a debate between student versions of the two major candidates for US Senate.
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October 31 - Girls Volleyball
Congratulations are in order to the Girls Volleyball team for qualifying for the district tournament.Their first playoff game will be this Thursday at Norristown High School.
October 19 - Amish Walk
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Edison's website commended the efforts of our students in reaching out to help Amish families impacted by the recent indicent of school violence. A copy of Edison's web page can be viewed here.
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October 4 - Grandparents' Day
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We held our 3rd annual Grandparents' Day event on October 4th. Over 100
grandparents joined their grandchildren from 1st and 2nd grade. Everyone
enjoyed a special story about grandparents. The grandchildren completed a
packet with their grandparents to find out what life was like for them when
they were in school. The event ended with a few students reciting a
Grandparents' Day poem!!
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September 22 - Family Fun Night
Attendees at the FSO Family Fun Night had a
wonderful time. Snacks were consumed, pizzas and pies were
sampled, games were played, and both parents and children
went home tired and happy.
September - Ms. Blanton Chosen as a "Super Teacher"
