|  Daily Pursuit
According to Middle School Director John McWilliams, "One of the most memorable assignments during my Middle School experience was the 8th grade research paper with Mrs. Jerry Pickett." In this Daily Pursuit, you will hear about the origins of the assignment, and some reflections from some students about this important milestone in their academic careers. These students clearly understand not only what they are doing in this project, but they certainly understand why it is so important. Click here to view
Fifth & Sixth Grade Chorus Performs at State Conference
The 5th and 6th Grade Chorus performed at the 2014 Alabama Music Educators Association In-Service Conference which was held on January 23, at the Montgomery Performing Arts Center. Forty-eight students, under the direction of Susan Cooper, performed for music educators from across the state. The MA Chorus was one of only two selected groups that performed during the keynote presentation. The presentation featured Nancy Ditmer, President of the National Association for Music Education. Click here to continue reading
Art Students Reach Out on a Global Level through The Memory Project The members of Camilla Armstrong’s Painting I and AP Studio Art Classes at The Montgomery Academy recently painted portraits of twenty-one Cambodian orphans through The Memory Project, an international outreach program founded by Ben Schumaker in 2004. The Memory Project is a unique initiative in which art students create portraits for children and teens around the world who have been neglected, orphaned, or disadvantaged. Because kids in such situations tend to have few personal keepsakes, The Memory Project aims to provide them with special memories that capture a piece of their childhood. The project also wants to help the kids see themselves as works of art. Click here to continue reading. Click here to see all the portraits. 
Third Graders Share Letters with Pen Pals in Guatemala City
The third grade class at The Montgomery Academy is taking part in a unique learning opportunity this year with pen pals in Guatemala City. The project is a fun way for students to increase their cultural awareness, share about life in Alabama, and also learn new words and phrases in Spanish. Lower School Spanish teacher, Marilyn Bullard, researched the educational pen pal project online and was excited to partner with Colegio Americano de Guatemala (American School of Guatemala), a K-12 private, bilingual school in Guatemala City with instruction in both English and Spanish. Click here to continue reading
Upper School Theater Presents The Importance of Being Earnest February 21-23
The Importance of Being Earnest has long been a favorite with theatergoers who prize its almost unprecedented abundance of wit and paradoxical wisdom. Join the Upper School Theater Department for their production in James W. Wilson, Jr. Theater during three performances: Friday, February 21 at 7:00 p.m., Saturday, February 22 at 7:00 p.m. and Sunday, February 23 at 2:00 p.m. All tickets are $10 and will be available for purchase at the door.
Coaches vs. Cancer Raises Over $6,300
The seventh annual Coaches vs. Cancer basketball game was held Friday, January 24, with the MA Eagles hosting the Trinity Wildcats. The Coaches vs. Cancer campaign is a nationwide partnership between the American Cancer Society and the National Association of Basketball Coaches that empowers basketball coaches, their teams, and local communities to make a difference in the fight against cancer. Since MA started hosting the event, the Eagles have donated almost $30,000, with proceeds of the event reaching just over $6,300 this year. Click here to continue reading.
Upper School Students Participate in Youth Build at Local Habitat for Humanity House
Montgomery Academy Upper School students recently spent a sunny Saturday morning working on a local Habitat for Humanity house. Their hard work resulted in a clean house with freshly painted interior walls and trim, a much-improved yard, and a full dumpster! Students that participated on the Youth Build were: Camp Spain, Laken Dennis, Ellie Knight, Charlie Elliott, Garrett Barnes, Sam Adams, Holly Harrold, Danielle Berlin, Noah Blondheim, Caroline Lester, Michael Philhower, Jennie Austin, Brock Henden, Anne Louise Pass, Jimmy Massey, Ashley Hallford, Chelsi Howell and Bates Herrick.
 Tech Tips!
Welcome to the new MA Technology blog! In each issue of Around the Academy, we will address a technology topic that is important to our MA community. We hope that you will find this blog to be both informative and helpful as we all navigate the opportunities and challenges presented by educational technology. Click here to read this month's topic on Gaming on the iPad: Another way of Learning or a Source of Distraction?
First Semester Honor Roll
Congratulations to these students named to the First Semester Honor Roll.
Parents+ Announces Spring Program
Click here to download a copy of the Spring 2014 Parents+ brochure.
Head of School
President Obama recently stated that while marijuana is a vice, a waste of time, and not very healthy, it’s no more dangerous than alcohol. His comments and the national media coverage of the legalization of pot in Colorado are deeply troubling to me as a parent and educator of adolescents. Our children are watching and listening and they need to hear from us on these topics as well. Click here to continue reading
Pringle's Pages
The end of the 2013 saw two wonderful productions performed by our students. In November, the second grade faculty, lower school music teacher and parent volunteers worked together to produce another outstanding Thanksgiving play. From the beginning of the children’s processional until the final curtain call, it was a wonderful and entertaining depiction of the first Thanksgiving. On our final day of school before the holidays, the 50th performance of The Montgomery Academy First Grade Christmas Pageant was presented. Click here to continue reading
McWilliams in the Middle
First of all, I have to begin by thanking the entire MA family for your outpouring of love and support at the time of Anna Elizabeth’s birth in November. Sarah and I are extremely grateful for your gifts, emails, notes, and words of encouragement as we begin the adventure of parenthood. We are blessed to be in such a caring and thoughtful community. Click here to continue reading
From the Upper School
Happy New Year and welcome back! It is hard to believe we are well into 2014. The start of a new year offers numerous opportunities to build on the foundation from the previous semester. Vern McLellan once stated, “What the new year brings to you will depend a great deal on what you bring to the new year.” This statement applies to each of us in the Upper School. Click here to continue reading
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