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Solar Ovens

Mon, 16 Apr 2012 14:51:00 -0400

The students of Mrs. Cawley's 6th grade science constructed solar ovens for a unit on heat transfer and conduction. Each student made their oven from an oatmeal container and foil and roasted a marshmallow to test it out. When the roasting was complete and the s'mores were consumed, students compared their results with their classmates to gauge which design was most effective and ways in which their oven could be improved.

Extreme Reading Relay

Mon, 16 Apr 2012 14:45:00 -0400

Noble Academy Partners with

International Dyslexia Association in Attempt to

Break Guinness World Record in Reading

Extreme Reading Relay brings together thousands of children from across the globe to raise awareness and funds for dyslexia by doing what they struggle with most: reading

Greensboro, NC – April 12, 2012 – The International Dyslexia Association (IDA) has partnered with more than 30 schools around the world, including Noble Academy in Greensboro, North Carolina, in an attempt to break the Guinness World Record for the most people reading a single book in a reading relay across multiple venues in one day.

The Extreme Reading Relay, which will be held on Thursday, May 10, 2012, is an international awareness campaign and fundraising event that will bring together thousands of students from 30 different schools from Baltimore to Honolulu to Cairo. In this historic celebration of literacy, students will demonstrate that all struggling readers can learn to read successfully and become lifelong learners.

The participants will read The Sword of Darrow, a middle grade fantasy novel co-authored by Hal Malchow and his son, Alex. When they began writing the novel in 2002, Alex, then eight years old, was struggling with a serious learning disability and could not read at all. The family contributes all royalties from the book, which is available on the IDA’s website, www.interdys.org.

The IDA, based in Towson, Md., will start the relay at 9:00 a.m. EST at The Lab School in Washington, D.C., where Alex Malchow attended. Alex will read the first sentence of The Sword of Darrow to kick off the relay. Then, each student will read a pre-determined portion of the book and the next school will pick up where they left off. The event will finish — and the Guinness World Record will be broken — at Jemicy School in Owings Mills, Md. later that afternoon.

“The Extreme Reading Relay is an empowering event for students,” said Kristi Bowman, Director of Development for the IDA. “These children have the opportunity to break a world record doing what they struggle with the most: reading.”

The event will be streamed live over the Internet for all the world to see. Each participating school will receive the video technology, the bandwidth to stream the event and technical support for free, courtesy of V-Brick Systems, Inc., of Wallingford, Connecticut.

Those interested in making a donation to the International Dyslexia Association to support the Extreme Reading Relay can go to http://www.interdys.org/readingrelay.htm. Fifty percent of all money raised by students will go directly back to their participating schools. The other 50 percent will be used by IDA to provide continued outreach to parents and support for teachers and their schools.

About the International Dyslexia Association:

The International Dyslexia Association is a non-profit, scientific, and educational organization dedicated to the study and treatment of dyslexia as well as related language-based learning differences. The IDA operates 45 branches throughout the United States and Canada and has global partners in eighteen countries, including Australia, Brazil, England, Germany, Ireland, and Japan.

For additional information please contact Lisa Harlow of Clapp Communications at (410) 561-8886 or via email at lisa@barbclapp.com.

Students lead cell phone policy review

Thu, 05 Apr 2012 09:55:00 -0400

Everyone knows that our school does a great job teaching students to have strong academic skills, organization and time management. Our classes, strategies and resources are specifically designed to meet the academic needs of our students. But a lot of what students learn in any school are the social skills, problem solving skills and sense of their community that will make them good college students, employees and leaders in their future lives. We spend a lot of time working on these "8th Period" skills as well.

Recently the student body had an opportunity to see what success in this arena looks like. Everyone knows that in the six years since our cell phone policy was last written, there has been a paradigm shift in how these devices are used, and the role they play in the lives of our student and the general public. Our policy, on the other hand, had not changed to reflect this new reality. When Mrs. Hughes assigned a persuasive speech about a rule that students would like to see changed, junior Taylor Eagle picked the cell phone policy. He admitted to me later that he had no idea that his points would be taken seriously. That was when another junior, Tyler Ray, who is a junior representative on the Student Senate asked if he could have Taylor's notecards so that he could bring the proposal up in a senate discussion.

When I first read the speech, my initial reaction was to refute the points that were brought up; but by the end I was convinced enough to look into what other schools were doing and read some articles behind these policies. I quickly came to understand that the current policy was not only difficult to enforce, it made little sense with how cell phones have come to be used in society.

Taylor attended a Student Senate meeting to talk about his points and the senate discussed the merits of the idea as well as the potential issues. They brought up many concerns before I had a chance to and suggested ways to deal with them. Based on this feedback we already had a fairly well worked out plan when I met with the administration and faculty to discuss and approve or reject the proposal. Ultimately both groups approved the change with a few revisions, and the Student Senate passed their bill with a vote of 10-1 with one senator unable to vote.

The new policy affects students in grades 9-12. It allows them access to their devices during lunch and recess, and modifies the standards of posessing a phone during academic times. If you would like to read the bill passed by the students, click here. If you want the simplified version that will be added to the handbook, click here.

From my perspective as Dean of Students it is gratifying when students start to learn that if they make thoughtful suggestions and work within, instead of against, the system available to them, they can have a positive impact on the community that we all share. It might have been that the staff would have come up with this change on our own, but I much prefer that the students had some ownership of the process.

Family Service Fundraiser Results

Fri, 23 Mar 2012 15:44:00 -0400

I received this update from Anne Osborne who helped coordinate our Change-ing lives fundraiser in February:

Cannot thank all of you at Noble Academy enough for launching our "Change-ing Lives" program. My hope is that the students at Noble gain mentally, responsibly and spiritually from this project. Here's the breakdown: (!)

160 bottles = $2017.69 total monies collected

19,519 pennies

3,479 nickels

4,478 dimes

3,733 quarters

1 half dollar

---------------------

$1750.69 Coins

267.00 Cash

30.00 Checks

Our best to all of you who participated and helped Change Lives at Noble!

That is a grand total of $2,047.69! Six grades had 100% participation; 3rd, 4th, 7th, 8th, 11th and 12th. We will be having an assembly of all Noble Academy students for the ceremonial handing over of funds on April 2nd at 2pm. Feel free to let me know if you would like to join us.

O'Keeffe to Join Women's Soccer Program in 2012

Thu, 22 Mar 2012 14:52:00 -0400

(From the Greensboro College Athletics site)

Head Greensboro College women's soccer coach Ian Spooner and his program picked up another committment recently. Molly O'Keeffe, a native of Greensboro, NC, announced her intentions to join The Pride in the fall of 2012.

O'Keeffe has experience playing defense for her club team but consistently played the forward position at the Noble Academy. She was a four year varsity starter, earning Most Valuable Player and All-Forsyth County recognition as a sophomore.

In addition, O'Keeffe was a seven year member of the Twister Soccer Club and also played for the NC Fusion and Burlington Soccer Club. Her brother, EJ, played soccer at UNC-Greensboro while her sister, Claire, currently plays at Elon.

A two-year team captain for her high school basketball team, O'Keeffe will look to become a leader on the field at Greensboro College.

"Molly is a great addition to our program," said Spooner. "She is a physical player who is versatile and will add strength to our team defensively. I have known Molly for a number of years and am very pleased that we will have her join our squad."

See the original article here

Junior High Drama Wins State Honors

Thu, 22 Mar 2012 14:41:00 -0400

A selected number of our junior high students competed in the North
Carolina Middle School Play Festival on March 17. The primary goals of
the yearly held festival are to foster collaboration and communication
among theatre arts programs, and to provide a supportive, nurturing
atmosphere for young artists. The event functions both as a showcase
and as a means of assessing and improving the standards of theatre
arts programs in the state. There were nine shows from middle schools
competing on that day and the students are judged by prestigious
educators, actors and directors in the field. The following students
were on the competition team representing Noble Academy: Rae Gordon,
Eleanor Shafer, Grant Geiss, Noah Taylor, Steven Garfunkel, George
Kirkpatrick, Walker Medlin, and Max Beaman There are five excellence
in acting for males awarded. Out of over 100 students competing that
day Max Beaman was on of the five winners. The students also won an
award for excellence in Costume Concept. There are two excellence in
ensemble acting awards given. Our students received one of them. The
plays themselves are rated as either good, excellent, or superior. Our
students received a superior rating. There are three excellence in
directing awards and your ever so humble Skelley received one. To
conclude Noble Academy took home five awards that evening. I am very
proud of these students and all the hard work and dedication they put
into this production. I would also like to thank the parents, whom
without their contributions, this show would not have been a success.

Three Noble Academy 8th Graders Win Writing Honors

Wed, 29 Feb 2012 08:06:00 -0500

Josh Kinley, Paula Kirkpatrick and Ian Moser have won the "Best Collaboration" in this year's Piedmont Young Authors Contest. Their book cover will be on the Piedmont Parent Facebook page, as well as in the Spring issue of Piedmont Parent magazine. Their book, Wall-E and Sally the Robot, will be honored at a reception Sunday, March 25 at theChildren's Museum of Winston-Salem, 390 S. Liberty St.

Spelling Bee

Thu, 16 Feb 2012 14:11:00 -0500

On February 16, Noble Academy hosted the Central Piedmont Non-Public Schools Spelling Bee. There were 24 spellers in grades 3-8 from 12 schools: The Piedmont School, St. Pius X, Our Lady of Grace, New Garden Friends, Carlisle School, B'Nai Shalom, Immaculate Heart of Mary, Bethel Hill Charter, Greensboro Academy, Phoenix Academy, Roxboro Community Charter, Triad Math & Science, and Noble Academy.

The Spelling Bee was sponsored by the Winston-Salem Journal and featured Leigh Brock from WFMY as the pronouncer.

Noble Academy was represented by 6th grader Anastasia Wilson and 8th grader Stephen Garfunkel. The Spelling Bee was won by 4th grader Daniel Mayo from Bethel Hill Charter School in Roxboro.

Professionals Breakfast

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 13:12:00 -0500

On Tuesday, January 24, Noble Academy hosted a breakfast for local school leaders, government officials, psychologists, pediatricians, audiologists, tutors, and other professionals who were interested in learning more about our school.

Around 20 professionals joined us for a short information session and tour of the entire campus. While many in attendance had been to Noble Academy and were extremely interested in seeing the expanded campus, others were visiting the school for the first time.

Homecoming 2012

Mon, 23 Jan 2012 13:27:00 -0500

Noble Academy students and families got a chance to show their Noble Knights spirit during Spirit Week, which culminated in Homecoming 2012.

Primary girls dressing up on Decade Day

During the week, students participated in Decade Day, Noble Academy apparel day (which happened to coincide with the Ribbon Cutting), Twin Day, Pajama Day, and Noble Academy Spirit Day.

Emma and Sophie on Twin Day

Peter and Nick on Twin Day

Students also participated in a Pep Rally at the Y on Friday afternoon, where the Student Senate held a paper airplane contest where the winners earned credit at the concession stand at the basketball game.

Varsity Basketball Knights

Sixth Graders showing off their SPIRIT!

Getting ready to participate in the paper airplane contest

The stands were packed on Friday night at the basketball game, as many people experienced their first game in Noble Academy's new "home court", which is the back gym, shared with AAU, instead of the main Y gym. The Noble Academy Ambassadors were presented to the crowd at halftime. Those who stayed all night were treated to a hard-fought game of basketball against Faith Christian Academy. Several alumni were also in attendance to cheer on the Knights.

Go Knights

Eighth Grader Ian Moser shoots a free throw

Homecoming Ambassadors 2012

From Primary: Russell Lee and Caroline Piazza

From Intermediate: Bo Bayless and Lentz McNeill

From Junior High: Jaylon Smallwood and Maddie Shutter

From Senior High: Michael Branson and Anna Oates

Ribbon Cutting

Thu, 19 Jan 2012 13:54:00 -0500

Tuesday, January 10 2012 was a monumental day in the history of Noble Academy. The ribbon was cut and the doors were opened to the new building! Head of School Laura Blackburn, Board Chair Linda Hale, and Greensboro Chamber of Commerce representative Kathi Lester all made comments before a large crowd of students, parents, alumni, local dignitaries, and other supporters of Noble Academy.

The Class of 2012 had the honor of cutting the ribbon, and then everyone was invited inside to look around. Guests were awed by the magnificent lobby, the large auditorium, the wide hallways, the spacious classrooms, the bright art studio, and the four large science labs. Due to some slight delays with the inspection process, students were not allowed to have class in their new space until Tuesday, January 17. Now everyone is starting to settle in to the new space. The classroom space in the new building is primarily for Upper Division (grades 7-12 students). However, Lower Division students attend some of their classes there as well, such as drama, art, and healthy living.

Each classroom in the expanded campus is equipped with SmartBoard technology and one-to-one computing capability, giving students access to hands-on learning experiences. The facility also boasts a 588 square foot research laboratory, four cutting-edge science laboratories, an art studio and a sizable auditorium.

For Noble Academy freshman Tony Forman, the opening of the new building means a fresh, spacious school environment equipped with the latest technology. “I’m looking forward to more room in the hallways and classrooms, as well as all the new technologies,” remarks Forman; “it’ll be great to have larger lockers, too.”

Formerly Guilford Day School, Noble Academy has adopted a name to match the symbolism of its mascot, a knight, and to communicate the school’s commitment to developing students of excellence and integrity. The name change and the campus construction have both taken place in what has proven to be a momentous year.

According to Blackburn, the ribbon cutting is the culmination of all these changes and “marks a phenomenal day in the school’s history.” Blackburn also notes that “this day signifies the first step into Noble Academy’s future, as our facilities align with the educational experience our students receive. It is our hope that our new campus will provide a cornerstone resource for the community at large.”

Noble Academy is an independent, K-12 school for students with learning differences. With a welcoming, open environment, the school offers small classes and specially trained teachers. Noble Academy is committed to both the remediation of areas of weakness and the celebration of areas of strength.

How to Argue with Your Teen

Thu, 05 Jan 2012 08:18:00 -0500

You know that the teachers at Noble Academy are all experienced and trained in how to teach their various disciplines; anything from reading to math to visual and performing arts. What you may not know is that we also work hard at learning how to argue appropriately with our students.

NPR recently ran a story on All Things Considered about a study on teens, arguing and role modeling. The study found that teens largely act out what they experience with their parents. Those who get into shouting matches tend to shout their way through arguments. Those who whine back and forth tend to whine about what they want. Those whose parents listen to their arguments and respond back with careful and reasoned responses teach their kids how to do the same.

The most surprising part of the study are the findings around kids who meekly do what their parents want them to do. The study found that these kids do not, in fact, always want what their parents want. They want later curfews, more expensive clothes and possessions, more freedom, etc. just as much as the kids that argue. These kids have simply decided its easier to go along with what their parents want instead of trying to convince them otherwise. Unfortunately, this tactic translates to other, more concerning areas, such as when their friends ask them if they want to drink, smoke or do drugs. Kids who learned to argue in a reasonable way with their parents were more likely to say no and think independently. Kids who simply did what they were told were 40% more likely to simply go along with their peers.

The moral is that as frustrating as it is to engage in arguments with your teenager (and we do it every day!) if you see it as life skill training to help them be more independent and thoughtful thinkers, it just might help you through it. I can assure you we will be doing the same here.

To listen to the original story, click here.

Lower Division Spelling Bee

Thu, 15 Dec 2011 14:28:00 -0500

Congratulations to 6th grader Anastasia Wilson, who was the winner of today's Lower Division Spelling Bee! 6th grader Christopher Holbrook was runner-up.

All of our participants did a wonderful job - it isn't easy getting up in front of your peers to spell hard words!

From L to R: Anastasia, Christopher, Ethan Chrystal (6th grade), Sam Bowman (6th), Sutton Young (5th), Spencer Bentsen (6th), Joseph Stanley (5th), Rachel Hudgins (6th), and Nicole Shina (5th)

The spelling bee was open to any 4th - 6th grade student who chose to participate. The Lower Division winner, along with the 7th/8th grade winner, will go on to participate in the Carolina Central Piedmont Non-Public Schools Regional Spelling Bee on February 16, which will be held right here at Noble Academy, in our brand new auditorium!

Noble Academy Ribbon Cutting Event

Thu, 08 Dec 2011 09:04:00 -0500

Dear Friends and Families of Noble Academy,

On behalf of the Noble Academy Board of Trustees, I am delighted to invite you to the ribbon cutting and opening of our new, state-of-the-art facilities on January 10, 2012. Activities will commence at 9 a.m. in front of our expanded campus at 3310 Horse Pen Creek Road in Greensboro.

Deborah Hooper, President of the Greensboro Chamber of Commerce, and Linda Hale, Chair of the Board of Trustees, will speak, and students will see their new classrooms for the first time. It will be a memorable occasion for our school community, and we would like to celebrate this step into the future with you.

Noble Academy has made many changes over the past two years. With a new name and facility that communicate our vision and purpose, we are poised to begin a new phase of academic excellence.

Each classroom in the new facility is equipped with SmartBoard technology and one-to-one computing capability, giving students access to hands-on learning experiences. Our new facility also boasts a 588 square foot research laboratory, four cutting-edge science laboratories, an art studio and a spacious auditorium. Our future is definitely bright!

Noble Academy is an independent, K-12 school for students with learning differences. We provide a welcoming, open environment with small classes and specially trained teachers. We are committed to both the remediation of areas of weakness and the celebration of areas of strength.

If you have any questions about this event, please call the school at 336-282-7044 or email me at lblackburn@nobleknights.org. To find out more about the Noble Academy difference, please explore our website.

Thank you for your support. I hope you will join us as we celebrate this momentous achievement!

Sincerely,

Laura Blackburn, Head of School

First NHS Induction at Noble Academy

Thu, 01 Dec 2011 08:33:00 -0500

Left to right - Jared Lindsay, Becca Balabanis, Caitlin Greene, Erin Arnold, Noah Cameron, Anna Oates, Shawn Hardin, Hayden Boyles

The first Noble Academy inductees to the National Honor Society were sworn in Tuesday afternoon in a ceremony viewed by fellow students, parents and teachers. Mrs. Abel and Mrs. Caligiuri applied for the NHS charter early this year and there will be a second induction in the spring.

Students were offered the chance to apply based on their current GPA, but the selection criteria included achievments in the areas of scholarship, leadership, character and service.

Noble Academy Success at Regional Drama Competition

Thu, 17 Nov 2011 11:46:00 -0500

Despite being displaced through the process of renovation, losing their stage, rigging their lights, etc, the Noble Academy drama class continues to have success at the NCTC regional drama competition. We received this email from Michelle Long, the Education Director of the Children's Theater of Charlotte:

On behalf of the North Carolina Theatre Conference Board of Directors, I am pleased to congratulate you and your school on your accomplishments at the 2011 NCTC High School Play Festival this year.

The mission of the North Carolina Theatre Conference is to improve and enhance the environment for quality theatre in North Carolina through service, leadership and advocacy. The primary goals of the NCTC High School Play Festival are to foster collaboration, cooperation, and communication among theatre arts programs and to provide a supportive, nurturing atmosphere in which young artists are free to explore the world of theatre.

This event aims to stimulate interest in theatre arts in schools and communities across North Carolina. It functions both as a showcase and as a means of assessing and improving the standards of theatre arts programs in the state. All of the schools participating in the festival are organizational members of the North Carolina Theatre Conference. The festival your students participated in is one of eight regional festivals held across the state, which featured approximately 1800 students from 85 schools with 120 productions.

With that in mind, we wish to help your school celebrate the hard work and success at the festival and have attached a press release you may use for internal or external purposes to honor the following recognition(s) garnered by your school:

Excellence in Acting - Female
Thunder on Sycamore Street & I Dream Before I Take the Stand
Becca Balabanis

Excellence in Acting - Male
Thunder on Sycamore Street
Jared Lindsay

Excellence in Ensemble Acting
I Dream Before I Take The Stand

Excellence in Directing
Thunder on Sycamore Street & I Dream Before I Take the Stand
Sonja Joyce Kelley

Expansion Update

Mon, 14 Nov 2011 14:35:00 -0500

It has been awhile since I've updated the blog with pictures from the new building. Hopefully you follow us on Facebook, which I do update much more frequently. If not, here are some pictures since my last expansion post in May. We are still on track to open the new building in January! Stay tuned, we'll soon be announcing several events to celebrate the grand opening.

This is one of my favorite pictures of the building. It was taken standing at the firewall between the auditorium and the classrooms before any walls were put up.

This picture was taken shortly after the new entrance was created. The exterior walls have started going up, so you can see the building really taking shape!

This was taken standing where all 4 of the halls meet, looking down one of the wings.

The bricks start to go up

The walls are up! I think this may be from the same viewpoint as the above picture, standing at the top of the building and looking all the way down the hall.

This is the most recent picture, taken a couple of weeks ago; they have put the doors up!

Halloween!

Thu, 03 Nov 2011 10:57:00 -0400

Noble Academy students and staff had a fun time dressing up at school on Monday! Upper Division students had a costume contest Monday morning and Lower Division students had parties in the afternoon.

Innisbrook Limo Ride Winners

Thu, 03 Nov 2011 10:52:00 -0400

Congratulations to all of our students who sold over 40 items of Innisbrook, earning a limo ride to CiCi's Pizza! Our top seller was Caroline, with 65 items! Students were very excited to leave campus for lunch and ride in a stretch limosine! So if you happened to see a limo on Battleground yesterday around lunchtime and were wondering which famous person you were in the company of, it was Noble Academy's top Innisbrook sellers!

How much do you know about soil?

Thu, 27 Oct 2011 09:28:00 -0400

Mrs. Mitchell’s fourth and fifth grade science class has spent the last few weeks studying erosion. As part of the study, they invited Mr. Jim Beeson, a soil scientist with Piedmont Environmental Services and parent of Carter Beeson, to speak to the class.

Mr. Beeson brought in several soil samples that he had collected from areas in North Carolina. He explained that the color of soil tells us a lot about the soil. For example, dark brown soil means there is organic matter in the soil. Using a kickball, a golf ball, and a plastic pellet, students were able to observe the different sizes of sediment.

Mr. Beeson tied the soil discussion into our study of erosion by showing us a demonstration of deposition using jars, water, and soil. Also, he pointed out that soil color shows us whether soil is well drained or poorly drained. Fortunately, much of the soil around Noble Academy looks well drained!

Our lesson ended with students using an auger to dig deep into the soil and gather soil samples. Students were able to see that the soil color and texture changed the farther down they dug. Students really enjoyed this presentation and learned quite a bit. We may have some future soil scientists in the making!