Thanks to our generous donors, we finished 2018 celebrating another milestone: a successful Christmas Campaign! In total, your support helped us raise over $34,000, exceeding our goal of $30,000.
As we continue to grow and serve the Richmond Catholic community, our community’s support and generosity help shape the education and culture at Cardinal Newman Academy, now and into the future.
You are helping educate the next generation of leaders who will seek in wonder, and serve with joy.
We now look with joyful excitement to 2019 and sharing with you our continued growth and success and how your support is changing lives!
Throughout the year, our benefactors and supporters are remembered in prayer at Cardinal Newman Academy. Thank you!
Happy feast of St. Nicholas! November was a busy month at Cardinal Newman Academy.
We hosted several shadow days with prospective students, as well as our second Admissions Open House.
Welcoming visitors to our school gives me great joy, and I look forward to seeing more new faces as our school continues to grow.
Cemetery Cleanup CNA’s Service Club organized this year’s annual trip to East End Cemetery. We joined volunteers from VCU to help clean this historical cemetery. The event is always a great opportunity for our students, families, faculty, and Board to come together in service and in prayer for those who have gone to their eternal rest.
Annual Pilgrimage Every year, our students participate in a pilgrimage. “To step out of ourselves and encounter God,” in the words of Pope Benedict XVI, is a great gift. Last month, students toured the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart, then walked to St. Peter’s Catholic Church, the original cathedral of our Diocese, for noon mass.
Fencing returns! Our former Olympian and Coach Dee Hayes has returned to CNA this year to continue offering fencing to our students. We’re grateful to have her, and our fencers are improving their skill and discipline!
Around the halls
Students have been reading Faulkner, Tolkien, and Thucydides, and discussed virtue in public life;
In Enrichment, we offered our rosaries for the poor souls in Purgatory and spent time reflecting on death and eternity;
Our students engaged in a fierce door decorating competition (see below);
In Natural History, our students are completing projects on birds and updating their journal entries;
In music, students are presenting on various composers and will be attending a concert and choral performance at the University of Richmond.
Looking ahead :
Stay tuned for an announcement next week on this year’s Christmas Challenge . Last year, you helped us raise over twice our initial goal!!
Check your inbox and our Facebook page next week for information on how you can join our challenge and support our growing school.
It struck me Monday as our school gathered for our 2nd annual Feast Day Picnic: I am privileged to be a part of the CNA family and thankful to God for the role our community plays in the formation of our students.
Blessed John Henry Newman, whose feast we celebrated October 9th, believed that true learning takes place person to person, with hearts shaping hearts in community.
He believed it so deeply he put it in his crest, and we put it in ours: the Blessed Trinity in a personal relationship of mutual love is represented in the upper left quadrant.
CNA parent Tony Douglas with some future Riverhawks
At Cardinal Newman Academy, our board, faculty, parents, and students all play an integral role in our community of faith and learning. Through their attendance at school functions, weekly mass, or events serving the poor of Richmond, our school families and leaders provide faithful witness to our mission and enrich the formation of our students and the culture of our school.
Happy feast of All Saints!! With the growth of our school, there is more and more to share all the time! With that in mind, we will be making one of our regular weekly emails a monthly newsletter to share recent happenings. Enjoy!
Maymont Scavenger Hunt
Our students visited Maymont Park in October for an exploration of the wildlife and history of the park, and to compete in a scavenger hunt.
Science at CNA
Mr. Tito’s passion is Biology and Natural History, so this year brings double the joy, both inside and outside the classroom. This month, our Natural History class put in significant field work! Students visited Pony Pasture, Huguenot Flatwater, York River State Park, and Bryan Park. Observing and discussing the natural world is a highlight of every month, but the welcoming Fall weather makes October a special one!
In Biology , our students made model proteins and have been using Legos to help construct and visualize what they’re learning. Hands-on learning is an important part of academic life at CNA.
Cross Country
The first season of Cross Country has ended, and we are so proud of our runners. Lucy and Isabella Siwko, Christian Hale, Wes Bowers, and Alexander Clark all ran exceptionally well, improved their personal best times, and represented our school well during this inaugural season. We’re grateful for Coach Wagenaar’s leadership and excited to build on this success with Track in the Spring.
Media Literacy workshop
Our students recently participated in a workshop presented by the Shades Media Literacy Project, which helped our students examine the role media plays in our lives, the ways in which the consumption of different media change the way we behave, and whether it leads to a joyful life. We’re grateful to the Shades Media Literacy Project for visiting us from Northern Virginia.
Looking ahead :
Our first Prospective Student Day will be next Tuesday, November 6th, and our second Admissions Open House is on November 11th, from 1-3 pm. We are looking forward to welcoming interested students and their families to our school!
We will gather for the third consecutive year at East End Cemetery on Saturday, December 1 at 10 am to pray for the dead and help the volunteers cleaning the cemetery grounds. Please join us!
Fencing and squash start soon as part of our winter sports offerings.
Classroom snapshots: in English, students will be reading short stories by J.R.R. Tolkien and Robert Louis Stevenson, and in Theology students are learning about the Paschal Mystery and beginning a section on ecclesiology.
Cross-country is well underway, the Natural History course has completed a half-dozen field studies, and today the students visit Maymont. In English, students have been reading The Iliad, Beowulf, and G.K. Chesterton. With Enrichment and weekly mass providing spiritual life for our community, we are busy with the work of education and formation.
Like most schools, October is a busy time of year for us at Cardinal Newman Academy. Our upcoming admissions schedule includes the following:
Family Picnic: October 8, 5-7 pm. (Open to all families).
We are excited to share our growing academic and faith community with interested parents and students, and we hope to see many new faces at one or more of these upcoming events.
I am pleased to introduce you to the newest members of our staff at Cardinal Newman Academy.
Jessica Pedersen joins us as music instructor. Jessica sings alto in James River Singers and previously was a soloist with the Richmond Choral Society and alto section leader in the choir at St. Benedict’s Catholic Church. She has also sung in the Schola at St. Joseph Catholic Church and the University of Richmond Women’s Chorale. Before moving to Virginia, Jessica sang in Idaho with the Boise Baroque Chamber Choir, Opera Idaho and the Boise Master Chorale, and in Arizona with the choir program at Northern Arizona University, where she studied history and music. Jessica and her husband David live in Chesterfield with their three sons.
Kate Lagarde teaches Latin and Invitation to the Pain of Learning. Kate previously taught at Veritas Preparatory School in Williamsburg, Virginia, and Chelsea Academy in Front Royal, Virginia, teaching courses in Latin, Theology, choir, and math, and led an extra-curricular Irish Dance club. Kate graduated summa cum laude, as the salutatorian from Christendom College with a major in philosophy and minor in liturgical music.
Susana Mulcahey teaches French. She graduated from the University of Connecticut with a Bachelor’s Degree in French and a minor in Portuguese. Susana has also studied Italian, Spanish, and Arabic. She has also studied at the University of Lisbon and the University of Haute Normandie, Mont St. Aignan, France. Susana also has a Master’s Degree in Special Education from North Carolina Central University. Susana has worked in a variety of settings, including French Language immersion, special needs education, Reggio Amelia, Montessori, and English Second Language (ESL).
Maya Walters is our Administrative Assistant. Maya attended Our Lady of Mount Carmel School and Peninsula Catholic High School. She graduated with a B.A. in History from VCU, where she served as a celebration leader for the Vacation Bible School and a religious education teacher at the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart. Following graduation Maya worked as a classroom assistant at Central Montessori School. She has also spent time volunteering for Sportsbackers Stadium, Hands On Greater Richmond, and as a DJ on WRIR. Maya is also an arboreal climbing assistant at Riverside Outfitters and is the community liaison at Gallery5.
I am humbled to add these excellent individuals to our team at Cardinal Newman Academy, and I hope you have a chance to meet them at one of our upcoming events.
Kate Lagarde teaches Latin and Invitation to the Pain of Learning. Kate previously taught at Veritas Preparatory School in Williamsburg, Virginia, and Chelsea Academy in Front Royal, Virginia, teaching courses in Latin, Theology, choir, and math, and led an extra-curricular Irish Dance club. Kate graduated summa cum laude, as the salutatorian from Christendom College with a major in philosophy and minor in liturgical music.
Susana Mulcahey teaches French. She graduated from the University of Connecticut with a Bachelor’s Degree in French and a minor in Portuguese. Susana has also studied Italian, Spanish, and Arabic. She has also studied at the University of Lisbon and the University of Haute Normandie, Mont St. Aignan, France. Susana also has a Master’s Degree in Special Education from North Carolina Central University. Susana has worked in a variety of settings, including French Language immersion, special needs education, Reggio Amelia, Montessori, and English Second Language (ESL).