Poppy Fields near Argenteuil (1875) by Claude Monet

March at Golden View

A LETTER FROM THE PRINCIPAL

March 2022

Dear Friend of Golden View Classical Academy,

You may not know it, but each and every month that this newsletter comes out, it is edited and improved by Molly Bentz, our Family Engagement Officer. She will be leaving Golden View in early April to start a family, and her pending departure has me, has all of us really, thinking about how lucky we are to have the opportunity to spend some of our lives with such people, those who bring joy and who, because of who they are, bring more good into the world than was already there. No doubt she would edit that sentence for being a touch too long, but this month I’ll take the liberty to leave it as it is.

It is not only that Mrs. Bentz will be leaving shortly, but this time of year, each year, calls thoughts like these to mind. Our seniors are graduating in a few short months, and then they will be alumni. Some of them will return in the fall to visit their old and beloved teachers, and they’ll see that we miss them too, though things do move along without them. We are grateful for the chance to be in their lives, even if it is for a comparably short time, and even if we know this more than they do while they are here.

Sometimes we wake up in the morning and curse the day, and wish things were otherwise as we count our worries and cares one by one. But other days, hopefully more often, we take the chance to count our blessings. Mrs. Bentz has been such a one to us at Golden View, and I am thankful for the chance to have worked with her, ever since a family at the school urged her to apply several years ago.

The end of the year is closer than we’d like to think. The end of many things is always closer than we’d like to think, and sometimes we only realize it until the moment has passed. But just as the end of an education is called commencement for the new era that is about to begin, the beginning of many new and good things, unknown but constantly hoped for, is closer than we might think.

With that in mind, I want to pause, breathe, and say thank you to our families, our students, and our staff, singling out Mrs. Bentz in particular one last time, for making Golden View great. It is a pleasure and an honor to be part of it with you.

Sincerely,

Dr. Garrow

Principal, Golden View Classical Academy

CURRICULUM HIGHLIGHT

"Poetry" is a class about coming to grips with how poems are made. People who don’t like poetry usually do not understand how much skill it takes to write poems well. And, people who love poetry probably think of it as an accomplishment beyond normal human ability. Both are wrong. As the class is coming to see, a great poem requires tremendous skill, but it is a distinctly human accomplishment, composed from knowledge of the human experience, by normal human hands. To that end, we’re about to start something interesting and new: a close study of the early careers of four great poets. We will see how, as young men and women, they wrote poems which disappoint, underwhelm, and even disgust. And we will see how, in time and with much revision, they turned their early misfires into their first great poems. If anyone would like to follow along at home, they can by reading Helen Vendler’s short, sweet book Coming of Age as a Poet, which we will be using as our guide.

From Mr. Atherton, an Upper School Humanities teacher at Golden View

ATHLETIC HIGHLIGHT

Students in grades 1-6 have compulsory Fitness class every day. Upper School students are required to complete at least two semesters of Fitness classes in order to graduate. The use of Fitness instead of Physical Education is intentional to illustrate how the orientation is different at Golden View, where the emphasis is more on actively engaging in regular intense exercise rather than on getting a broad overview of a variety of sports, health, and nutrition topics. The primary objective of our fitness classes is to develop a lifelong appreciation for maintaining a healthy body through physical fitness. A secondary objective, however, is to support our school's athletic department. Golden View students who participate in a sport at our school know the effort that is required to be in shape, so coaches do not have to spend as much practice time on conditioning.

In Grammar School fitness classes, students do drills and play games that teach the fundamentals of the sports that Golden View offers in Upper School: Cross Country, Volleyball, Basketball, Track, and, yes, even Wrestling. When students begin participating in sports in Upper School, coaches can devote their attention to developing skill, strategy, and competitiveness rather than starting from the fundamentals. This approach prepares students to be successful while having an enjoyable experience.

NEW AND NOTEWORTHY

Apply for Enrollment

Families are invited to apply here for enrollment during the 2022-2023 school year. We will add names to waitlists in the order they are received, and send offers as seats open up through the end of September.

Board Meeting

The April Board meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, April 20 at 5:30pm in the Bailey Heritage Library. You can find meeting agendas on BoardDocs prior to the meeting. Unless otherwise noted, all meetings will be held in-person only this year.