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Dear Families,
Today is the first day of classes of Year 2 at EF Academy Pasadena.
The students and faculty are eager to get to work!
With 18 new faculty members, growing our total faculty to 33 people, we are using all of our classroom buildings this school year. Today students are studying STEAM classes in Blackwell Hall, Humanities & World Languages in Strong Hall, and Arts and Physical Education in Robinson Center. Students will enjoy moving around campus more throughout their days this year and discovering the unique feel of the classroom spaces in each building.
We had a wonderful time welcoming new and returning students and families to campus on Arrival Days last week on Tuesday and Wednesday. We have 106 new students this year across grades 9 through 12! Our new students join 90 returning students for a lively community of 196 students this fall. We have grown too large to host our community meetings on the 2nd floor of Cena Dining Hall and we have to use the bleachers in Robinson Center to fit all of our students, faculty, and staff. I am loving what this growth will mean for our co-curricular programming, as adding more talented and dedicated students and adults to our community means greater opportunities in sports, the arts, and academic extracurriculars like Model United Nations and robotics! With this growth we are also able to offer a more robust set of course offerings. In Year 2 we have added 30 brand new or reimagined courses to our catalog compared to our Year 1 offerings.
After our two Arrival Days last week, we enjoyed five Welcome Days together. On Thursday there were Welcome Days activities for both students and families. Our families in attendance had the opportunity to hear about our vision for academics and student life programming, and then had the chance to connect with their student’s teachers, advisor, University and Academic Counselor (UAC), and house parent. It was a great day, culminating in our annual faculty, staff, and family barbecue on the quad.
On Friday our students participated in Academic onboarding and had the opportunity to select their co-curriculars for Season 1 at our clubs and athletics fair. On Saturday, Sunday, and Monday there were a number of on-campus events and off-campus excursions to help students get to know our campus, our community, and our city! With an ice cream truck, bouncy houses, a glow in the dark pool party, and s’mores in the fire pits, our students enjoyed spending time together and getting to know new friends on our magnificent campus.
Our off campus excursions included grade level trips with students and advisors to local and Los Angeles landmarks like the Griffith Observatory, Huntington Gardens, and downtown Los Angeles. And, of course, daily shopping excursions were available to Target and the Americana at Brand, one of L.A.’s favorite shopping destinations.
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