From your south campus principal, Grant Bickell
One of the most common questions I get in sharing our journey to The Academy is why we were even interested in the first place. Why would you want to move to Oklahoma City? This is a question I have thought through many times. I was totally content at my school in Wichita. I miss my students and my colleagues. There was something about The Academy that I found so intriguing and it all started on a sunny day in January and on that day I met Jamie Howell.
At my school in Wichita, I was our Director of Student Life. (This job could best be defined as assistant principal and culture and events coordinator slammed together.) One of the areas I was responsible for was oversight of our House System. Someone in the office had heard of a school in OKC that had a great house system and suggested I check it out. After emailing Jamie several times she agreed to meet and let me experience a Spirit Day at the North Campus. I was blown away. The day started with a group of 7th and 8th graders leading their house meeting. All the teachers were there and ready to help in any way and the littlest of our students was being brought in to a discussion on how God had made our brains and how we can study well. I loved it. From there, Jamie let me pick her brain and we went on a tour. It was wonderful. After that I simply went back to my school ready to implement some changes and to grow from what I had learned, until I attended a conference session with Fr. Carr and Mr. Taylor.
The Classical Thistle (theclassicalthistle.com) hosts a yearly conference at the School of the Ozarks in Branson for classical educators in our area. I had agreed to speak at the conference and was excited to go and hear from like minded people in the area. Since I had just been on campus at The Academy I decided to attend a session titled “The Festive School” with Fr. Nathan Carr and Mr. Stephen Taylor. During this session, they laid out their desire for a festal nature to permeate every part of their school from lunch, to prayer, and to the house system. In the moment, I couldn’t contain myself. This school was trying to do exactly what the Headmaster and Assistant Headmaster were talking about. I had to know more. That night, I browsed the website, read all the documents, and saw a listing for South Campus Principal. The next morning, I made sure I was up and around while Nathan and Stephen were eating breakfast. I wanted to talk to them more about their school and the opportunity to apply for the Principal position.
There we were, Nathan, Stephen, and I standing around a breakfast bar at a random hotel in Branson. I finally worked up to saying, “I think I may apply for your open Principal position.” Fr. Carr stopped mid bite of yogurt and as they say, the rest is history. I am so thankful to be here serving alongside our talented staff and our faithful parents and I cannot wait to see how we continue to grow together next year.
Enrollment Update
With 90% of our current students already enrolled for next year, join me in praying for the Lord’s hand of favor to be upon us as we look to grow our campus. If you have any enrollment questions, feel free to reach out to Lindy Beswick at lbeswick@theacademyok.org. For the first time in a while, we will have waitlists at South Campus. If you are holding out until later, I suggest starting soon to guarantee your spot!
We are looking to hire for 2021-2022
Do you know someone that would be a great fit at South Campus? Help us get a great start on next year by sharing our Employment Opportunities page. https://theacademyok.org/employment-opportunities/
Upcoming Events
Please check our most update to date calendar at https://theacademyok.org/event-calendar-widget/
