3 MORE Reasons Why LOA is a GREAT INVESTMENT

3 MORE Reasons Why LOA  is a GREAT INVESTMENT

Lake Oconee Academy has been and continues to be good stewards of Greene County taxpayer dollars. By achieving excellence both in the classroom and in the community through athletics, the arts, civic organizations, and the local workforce, LOA students perform in such a way that taxpayers can be confident their tax dollars yield superior performance.

LOA is a GREAT INVESTMENT.

LOA Students Compete at Georgia National Art Fair

Students, Families and Community,
Thank you to each of you who worked hard to submit work to the state competition at the Georgia National Fair. Please join me in congratulating our students for earning a place and receiving recognition in this year's competition. We were grateful for the opportunity to participate this year and our students earned many ribbons and winnings. The list of the awards for this year's competition is below. Thanks to parents and teachers who have supported our art students and encouraged them to participate. The benefit of participating in off campus learning is a gift we will not take for granted. Students, I am proud of your hard work, achievement and the recognition you deserve!

Sincerely, Mrs. Vogel
Debbie VogelVisual Arts Middle, High School and APSGA AdviserAfter school Art
Inspiring young artists to create using skill, critical thinking and intention

2021 Fair State Competition  

1st Place and Best of Show: 9th and 10th grade mixed media - Mary Claire McCommons

1st Place and Best of Show: 11th and 12th grade 2D other - Ava Johnson

 

1st Place 6th-8th - 2D Printmaking - Blakely Cantrell

1st Place 9th-10th Grade Sculpture Wire - Jacy Singleton

2nd Place 6th-8th - 2D Printmaking - Riley Carr

2nd Place 6th-8th - Sculpture - Ceramics - Ava Ciavola

2nd Place 9th-10th - Drawing Ink - Lauren Glass

2nd Place 9th-10th - Drawing Marker - Mary Claire McCommons

2nd Place 9th-10th - 3D other - Mary Claire McCommons

2nd Place 9th-10th - Painting - Rylle Oyler

2nd Place 11-12th - 3D other - Raine Ansley

2nd Place 9th-10th B/W Photo - Marley Beeker

 

3rd Place 11-12th - Mixed Media - Sam Schleiden

Honorable Mention 9th-10th B/W Photo - McKenna Young

Honorable Mention 9th-10th B/W Photo - Abby Reddick

Honorable Mention 9th-10th Color Photo - Dayana Gonzolez

Honorable Mention 11th-12th Color Photo - Zani Khan

Honorable Mention 9th-10th Drawing Chalk - Madison Cummings

Honorable Mention 11th-12th Mixed Media - Raine Ansley

Honorable Mention 11th-12th Mixed Media - Gemin Manto

Lake Oconee Academy Students Awarded with Academic Honors from College Board National Recognition Programs

Lake Oconee Academy students excelled in College Board assessments and schoolwork to earn these awards, which colleges use to identify academically competitive underrepresented students.

Greensboro, GA (September 30, 2021) – Lake Oconee Academy students have earned academic honors from the College Board National Recognition Programs. These National Recognition Programs grant underrepresented students with academic honors that can be included on college and scholarship applications and connect students with universities across the country, helping them meaningfully connect to colleges and stand out during the admissions process. Colleges and scholarship programs identify students awarded National African American, Hispanic, Indigenous and/or Rural/Small Town Recognition through College Board’s Student Search Service.

The following student is a College Board National African American Recognition Program Scholar:
Tayla Merritt

The following students is are College Board National Hispanic Recognition Program Scholars:
Elisa Garcia-Carreras
Tyler Urrutia

The following students is are College Board National Rural and Small Town Recognition Program Scholars:
Elisa Garcia-Carreras
Kyle Beasley
Tayla Merritt
Tyler Urrutia

“We’re thrilled that our students have earned this recognition. We are very proud of them for their achievements in their classrooms and on College Board assessments,” said Dr. Tucker. “These programs help students from underrepresented backgrounds stand out to colleges during admissions.”

Students who may be eligible have a GPA of 3.5 or higher and have excelled on the PSAT/NMSQT or PSAT 10, or earned a score of 3 or higher on two or more AP Exams; and are African American or Black, Hispanic American or Latinx, Indigenous, and/or attend school in a rural area or small town.

Eligible students will be invited to apply during their sophomore or junior year and will be awarded at the beginning of the next school year. Students will receive their awards in time to include them on their college and scholarship applications.

“By awarding students who excel academically with honors from the College Board National Recognition Programs, our aim is to create pathways to college for underrepresented students,” said Steve Bumbaugh, College Board senior vice president of College & Career Access. “We hope this inspires many more students to work toward this recognition.”

COMMENDED STUDENTS IN THE 2022 NATIONAL MERIT® SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM

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The principal, Dr. Chris Harth, of Lake Oconee Academy announced today that Mason Reddick has been named a Commended Student in the 2022 National Merit Scholarship Program. A Letter of Commendation from the school and National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC®), which conducts the program, will be presented by the principal to this scholastically talented senior.

            About 34,000 Commended Students throughout the nation are being recognized for their exceptional academic promise. Although they will not continue in the 2022 competition for National Merit Scholarship awards, Commended Students placed among the top 50,000 students who entered the 2022 competition by taking the 2020 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT®).

            “Those being named Commended Students have demonstrated outstanding potential for academic success,” commented a spokesperson for NMSC. “These students represent a valuable national resource; recognizing their accomplishments, as well as the key role their schools play in their academic development, is vital to the advancement of educational excellence in our nation. We hope this recognition will help broaden their educational opportunities and encourage them as they continue their pursuit of academic success.”

LAKE OCONEE ACADEMY INTRODUCES NEW HEAD TENNIS COACH

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Greensboro, Ga. (June 18, 2021) – Lake Oconee Academy is pleased to introduce David Paradzik as the new head of the tennis program.  He will become the head varsity coach in the 2021-22 school year.  He also has plans to build a K-12 tennis program to be offered to all students at LOA.  He will be an English and Language Arts teacher at the school.

David Paradzik was born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio, where he attended University College Preparatory School as a scholarship student. While at University School, David won the Ohio State Singles Tennis Championship and was a semi-finalist at the National Indoor Championships. He matriculated to the University of Michigan on a full tennis scholarship where he was a member of the 1996 Big Ten Championship team, All Academic Big Ten Recipient, #1 Singles Player, Captain, and the 1996 National Amateur Champion Gold Ball Recipient. David graduated from the School of Language, Science, and the Arts at the University of Michigan with a B.A. in English. 

After a brief stint on the ATP tour, David established the Paradzik Institute of Tennis where he was a high performance coach, advisor, and hitting partner for several Top 10 WTA and ATP players in Los Angeles. He developed numerous National Junior and NCAA Champions. Most notably, he worked with players such as Nicole Gibbs (#68 WTA, 2X NCAA Champion at Stanford), Lauren Davis (#38 WTA), Clay Thompson (NCAA Champion at UCLA, #408 ATP), Kyle McPhillips (NCAA Champion at UCLA), Tommy Marx (Gold Ball Recipient, #1 Butler), and DJ Spice (#1 Wake Forest). 

David possesses over 20 years of teaching, mentoring and coaching experience at all levels. He was fortunate to have the opportunity to teach and coach at several top Independent schools such as Sierra Canyon, The Crossroads School for the Arts and Sciences, and The Quarry Lane International School. David attained his Master’s in Education from Loyola Marymount University in 2018, and he is a member of the Kappa Delta Pi International Honor Society of Education. 

David is an avid reader and author who enjoys composing book reviews and published his first book “Virtuous Tennis: Preserving American Tennis One Virtue at a Time.” Moreover, David believes in fostering a holistic approach, influencing youth to lead an all-inclusive life-long pursuit of academic excellence, intellectual curiosity, mindfulness, and overall well-being.

Chris Ingle, LOA’s Director of Athletics and Activities said, “We are extremely excited about Coach Paradzik joining our team.  His passion for teaching both tennis and English is infectious.  His background in coaching tennis at the highest level is tremendous.  I could not be more thrilled to welcome him to the LOA family.  After a great year in tennis under Coach David Sloan in which our boys team won the Region Championship and the girls team progressed to the Elite 8, we have high hopes of where Coach Paradzik will take our program.”

LAKE OCONEE ACADEMY SENIOR GABRIELLE GRUSZYNSKI’S AUDIENCE WIDENS AS SHE BECOMES A PUBLISHED WRITER

Gruszynski Selected to Attend Governor's Honors Program in Communicative Arts

Greensboro, Ga. (June 22, 2021) – Lake Oconee Academy (LOA) rising senior Gabrielle “Gabby” Gruszynski, who served as the managing editor in the 2020-2021 school year of LOA’s literary magazine The Archetype, recently had the honor of having two of her original pieces, "Our Roots" and "The Witching Hour," published in a national literary magazine, Shambles: A Literary Journal. The magazine is released through LP Publishing.

"Our Roots" was written in Mrs. Caroline St. John’s creative writing class. After watching Amanda Gorman's recitation of her 2021 inaugural poem and all of the other inaugural poems that are recorded on video throughout history, the students were challenged to write an Inaugural Poem to signify an ending and a beginning.  Gabby’s poem portrays a time in the future when the country elects its first female President and Vice President.

“As her creative writing teacher, I have never been more sure that a student will use their writing to shape the world,” said Mrs. St. John. “We will see her name in the press one day. Our literary magazine staff is thrilled to cheer on Gabby as her audience grows.”

Her other literary awards include a regional Gold Key for the prestigious Scholastic Arts & Writing Awards for a nonfiction scholarly essay earlier this year titled “The Disney Princess Debacle” and consecutive district first-place finishes in the Young Georgia Authors writing competition for her pieces “Seven Deadly Sins” and “Of Heaven and Earth: A Collection of Poetry” respectively.

Gruszynski was also selected out of over 3,000 state-level nominees to attend the Georgia Governor's Honors Program (GHP) this summer in Communicative Arts. GHP is a residential summer program hosted at Berry College for gifted and artistically talented high school students who will be rising juniors and seniors. The program offers instruction, significantly different from the typical high school classroom, designed to provide students with academic, cultural, and social enrichment necessary to become the next generation of global critical thinkers, innovators, and leaders.

Gruszynski’s seriousness for her writing career has led her to want to pursue writing outside of her formal education. In college, Gabrielle hopes to study English, International Studies, or Broadcast Journalism and would love to work for the United Nations in the future.

LAKE OCONEE ACADEMY'S COLLEGE READINESS INDEX AMONG TOP SCHOOLS IN THE NATION IN THE 2021 US NEWS BEST HIGH SCHOOL RANKINGS

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Greensboro, Ga. (May 17, 2021) – US News & World Report has released its annual rankings of the best high schools in 50 states and the District of Columbia. The rankings include data on 17,857 public high schools based on their performance on state assessments, AP® programs, graduation, and college readiness.

For the 2021 U.S. News Best High Schools rankings, data from the 2018-19 school year was used to assess schools based on a six-factor formula devised by the magazine. Lake Oconee Academy had an overall score of 90.91/100 based on AP course enrollment and exam pass rate, mathematics and reading proficiency, and graduation rate. Lake Oconee Academy was ranked as follows:

#40 in Georgia High Schools (top 9%)

#1,623 in National Rankings (top 9%)

#266 in Charter High Schools (National, top 9%))

65.5/100 College Readiness Index (#9 Georgia - top 2%, #464 National – top 2.5%)

97.5% College-Ready Student Performance (based on AP exams)

The six factors used in the methodology to determine the rankings are:

·         College Readiness (30%), defined by enrollment and pass rate on AP exams.

·         Math and Reading Proficiency (20%), defined by aggregated scores on state-required testing.

·         Math and reading Performance (20%), defined by state testing results compared to expectations based on the school’s demographics.

·         Underserved Student Performance (10%), defined by state testing results among students who are Black, Hispanic and from low-income households compared to non-underserved students.

·         College Curriculum Breadth (10%), defined by qualifying scores on AP exams in multiple areas.

·         Graduation Rate (10%)

“Achievements such as these are the work of everyone at Lake Oconee Academy–students, faculty and families,” said LOA CEO Dr. Otho Tucker. “Our high school faculty does an excellent job preparing the students for their entrance into higher education. Our elementary and middle school faculty build the foundation for success. It is truly a team effort. I am proud of our students and their commitment to embracing the knowledge that a quality education will set a path for the rest of their lives.