News Detail

A Message from Dr. Johnson

Dr. Stephen Johnson, Upper Elementary Division Head
Well, it is hard to believe that it is already March, and with it the excitement of being able to get outside to enjoy some of this warmer weather during recess and PE. We hope that many of you have some fun things planned during your week away from school. Also, two weekends from now will be the start of Daylight Saving Time and the resulting loss of an hour early Sunday morning on March 13. The fun part for many of us is having an extra hour of daylight in the afternoons; the challenging part for others is that period of adjustment in getting our physical body clocks aligned with the clocks beside the bed or on the wall. I heard an informative segment on National Public Radio last year about the impact of sleep loss (this story was primarily on snoring-related problems) on mood and behavior. The bottom line is that the more we can do to ensure that all of us are getting enough sleep will help in the long run to keep us better engaged in our daily activities (whether work, school, or play) and keep our moods on an even keel. Helping your child get to bed as early as possible on the Friday and Saturday leading up to the change, and then again as we move into the week of our break will help in making that body clock adjustment a smooth one.
 
We are all looking forward to our UE Bowling outing tomorrow afternoon. It is always a fun event for our boys and girls and the teachers and administrative staff as well. It is a great way to have some social time together and to see some of our avid bowlers in the group compete against one another to reach the high score for the day. The hard part is often getting in a complete game and trying to get our group in and out of the snack bar line in an orderly fashion. For some, that can be the highlight of the afternoon! But it is all about having fun and spending some great time with one another outside the confines of our Currey Ingram buildings.
 
We met with our CIPO representatives, Ashley Cantrell and Stacey McCarty, the other day and discussed some ways to help facilitate communication regarding various special events that parents typically are involved with. We discussed trying out an idea that involves getting a parent volunteer from each homeroom to act as a communication liaison about upcoming events involving parent volunteers. We hope that you can help in this capacity in the event that Ashley or Stacey contact you about helping in this way. As always, we are very appreciative of all that the great things that our parent volunteers do for the school throughout the year!
 
Spring Sports will start in the coming weeks as our boys’ soccer team begins practices on Tuesdays (first practice is March 15) and Thursdays with our returning coach, Tom Smith, working with our boys. I have spoken with several of the boys and they seem very excited to get started with practices and then games beginning Saturday, April 2 after we return from Spring Break. Coach McFadden and the First Presbyterian League are still working out the final details on the schedule. Tennis started the other day during our PE classes, and the Golf Club looks to be having lots of interest based on the number who have signed up so far.
 
We are continuing with some transition activities for our classes and the other divisions nearest us here at Currey Ingram. These are opportunities for our 5th-grade students to once again be with the grade below them from the Lower School by having the 4th-grade classes visit with us during the second semester to help prepare them for the physical change of moving to a new building in August. They met with us as a group on Tuesday to see some of our Character Education podcasts and to have a Question and Answer session with our UE Administration. Those current 4th-grade students will be spending some time in our PE classes over the coming days and weeks, and then some other times with us later in May.
 
Finally, during the past few years, we have had the opportunity to work with some of my colleagues from Vanderbilt University’s Department of Teaching and Learning on the Peabody Campus as a location for them to conduct some classroom research as a result of our excellent technology program here at Currey Ingram Academy. This current research project by Dr. Ted Hasselbring, Dr. Maria Mendiburo, and Dr. Gautam Biswas involves the development of some specialized math assessment programs using an interactive on-line format through a laptop or other computer. Dr. Hasselbring is one of the creators of the FASTT Math program that we are currently using in many of our math classes in the Lower School and Upper Elementary program. Eventually, these researchers are interested in developing an interactive software program to teach students about fractions, and want to learn how to better assess a student’s current level of understanding of fractions through a computerized assessment tool that responds to an individual student’s answers to specific test questions.
 
Please see your child's Thursday folder for more information about this project. I ask you to take a few moments to read that and the attached consent form that we ask you to return regarding your child's participation in this project. We are excited to be selected as a collaborative site for this type of research, and look forward to sharing more details about this project with you in the coming weeks and months.
 
We look forward to continued productivity in the coming weeks as we prepare for Spring Break and then begin the process of gearing up for our Spring Testing weeks. It is always a busy time of the year here at Currey Ingram, and we will continue to do our best to provide the structure and support that we know is beneficial in helping the students and teachers through this end-of-the-year process.
 
Sincerely,
 
 
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Currey Ingram Academy is an exemplary JK-12 day and boarding school that empowers students with learning differences to achieve their fullest potential. Since 2002, the school has been located on an 83-acre campus in Brentwood, Tennessee, just miles from Nashville and Franklin. Families from 33 states and eight countries cite the school as their primary reason for moving to Middle Tennessee.

Currey Ingram Academy is accredited by the Southern Association of Independent Schools (SAIS).