Paideia
Paideia 2021
Paideia Conference is held each summer to equip, educate, and inspire the Veritas community. Our purpose is to create an ideal atmosphere for this to take place while connecting you with people who share the same passion as you to strengthen your family and raise your children in the paideia of the Lord. The lessons you learn, the advice you take in, the friendships you deepen, and the new relationships you form will leave you (re-)oriented, (re-)energized, (re-)connected, and (re-)inspired. We pray you will leave full of zeal for the Lord, your family, and our upcoming school year!
The Week At-a-Glance
Paideia is a series of special tracks and trainings to help equip everyone for the upcoming school year. Click on the images below to jump to specific details for each day... but don't forget to come back and Register for Paideia!
MONDAY
ORIENTATION
New Students, Parents & Faculty AND
ALL Kindergarten, 5th & 9th Grade Students
TUE-WED
CONFERENCE & CAMP
New Students, Parents & Faculty AND
All Veritas Families & Faculty/Staff
THURSDAY
GRADE LEVEL LAUNCHES
All Co-Teachers/Parents & Faculty
FRIDAY
DEFENDER DATE
NIGHT
All Veritas Parents, Faculty & Staff
Registration
Everyone is asked to register for Paideia, even new families and faculty who are expected to attend. Registration not only helps us with a final headcount, but makes sure we have lunch orders, name tags, and everything else ready for your family!
Paideia Day-by-Day
Monday: Orientation
August 9 | Check-in Begins @ 9am
The first day of Paideia is referred to as "orientation" and is designed to equip all new parents and teachers in their role at Veritas Academy while giving students an opportunity to make friends and learn the systems and routines of their new school. Because orientation is so important for the success of the newest members of our community, the admissions season closes on this day.
WHO NEEDS TO ATTEND?
(1) Any family who walked through the admissions process for the upcoming school year, either as a family (student + co-teacher need to attend) or as a new sibling (only student needs to attend). The exception to this is new PreS & PreK students who are invited to register for childcare, but are not required to attend Monday's orientation or Tue/Wed's camp. Please see the Paideia Registration Form to register your family and note that all new students are considered pre-registered.
(2) All rising Kindergarten, 5th grade, and 9th grade students, as they are each new to their school level. Please see the Paideia Registration Form to register your family and note that all Kinder, 5th, and 9th grade students are considered pre-registered for orientation, although you will need to sign them up for Tue/Wed's camp, if desired.
(3) All new faculty and staff. Please see the Paideia Registration Form to complete your register.
WHERE DO I GO?
Please follow the parking and check-in signs on campus to help get you to the right place on Monday morning. Generally speaking, students will check-in under the carpool canopy, and adults will check-in on the 2nd floor of the SLR Academic Building.
WHAT DO I NEED TO BRING?
Dress is business casual for all adults, but it's always a good idea to bring a light sweater, water bottle, and notepad.
Students should wear comfortable clothes for running around and outdoor activities and should bring a labeled water bottle, a nut-free snack, and a lunch.
In addition to the items listed above, PreS & PreK students registered for childcare should bring a beach towel or nap mat, as we will have a rest time for our youngest Defenders. Please also pack (and label) a complete change of clothes in case of accidents and dress your child in clothes that allow him/her to go to the restroom easily (elastic waist, no buttons).
MONDAY'S SCHEDULE:
Tue-Wed: Conference & Camp
Aug 10-11 | Check-in Begins at 9am
The Paideia Conference is our annual training to support families and faculty as we partner together to raise up generations of children in the paideia of the Lord. With sessions to support parenting, school@home days, and more, these two days are quite the opportunity to prepare for the school year! Similarly, students are becoming more familiar with campus, connecting within and outside their grade level, and awakening their hearts and minds for a new year.
WHO NEEDS TO ATTEND TUE & WED?
(1) All Veritas families are invited to join those newest in our community at this two-day conference for co-teachers, parents, faculty, and staff. Please see the Paideia Registration form to sign-up as a family and/or an individual.
(2) All K-12 students are also invited to attend Paideia Camp, with those in grades K-6 attending as a "camper" and those in grades 7-12 attending as a "student volunteer." New students are automatically registered for Paideia Camp, while returning students need to sign-up via the Paideia Registration form.
(3) Optional childcare is available for students enrolled in PreS & PreK at Veritas Academy. To sign-up for childcare, please see the Paideia Registration form.
WHERE DO I GO?
Please follow the parking and check-in signs on campus to help get you to the right place each morning. Generally speaking, students will check-in under the carpool canopy (student volunteers should check in at 8:30am, with everyone else checking in at 9am). Adults will check-in on the 2nd floor of the SLR Academic Building, with all sessions being held throughout the building on the 2nd-4th floors, and the first keynote beginning at 9:30am.
WHAT DO I NEED TO BRING?
Dress is business casual for all adults, but it's always a good idea to bring a light sweater, water bottle, and notepad.
Students should wear comfortable clothes for running around and outdoor activities and should bring a labeled water bottle, a nut-free snack, and a lunch. Additionally, on WEDNESDAY, 5th & 6th Grade students should bring a towel and a change of clothes for water day!
In addition to the items listed above, PreS & PreK students registered for childcare should bring a beach towel or nap mat, as we will have a rest time for our youngest Defenders. Please also pack (and label) a complete change of clothes in case of accidents and dress your child in clothes that allow him/her to go to the restroom easily (elastic waist, no buttons).
TUESDAY'S SCHEDULE:
Thursday: Grade Level Launches
Aug 12 | Various Times
After all the great sessions at Paideia, co-teacher/parents are invited to join classroom teachers and/or administrators for Grade Level Launches throughout the day on Thu, Aug 12. There will be a movie room available in the Lyceum (SLR 200) for those needing childcare during the launch. Even though students will not be meeting their teachers today, they will soon for the GS Come-and-Go Open House on Monday, August 16, and during the SLR Connect Conference on Thursday-Friday, August 19-20.
WHO NEEDS TO ATTEND THURSDAY?
Every co-teacher/parent should plan to attend Grade Level Launches as each session will cover very practical details for your child's grade level and class for the school year.
WHERE DO I GO?
All GS Launches will be held in your child's classroom, which can be found under "Schedule" in Family Portal after 5pm on Wednesday, August 11. If you need help with childcare during this time, you can check your child(ren) in to the movie room in the Lyceum (SLR 200).
All SL/R Launches will be held in the SR Student Commons (SLR 300).
LAUNCH SCHEDULE:
All GS Launches will be held in your child's classroom, which can be found under "Schedule" inFamily Portal after 5pm on Wednesday, August 11.
- All SL/R Launches will be held in the SR Student Commons (300).
Friday: Defender Date Night
Aug 13 | 6-10pm
Defender Date Night, also referred to as DDN, is a fun, adult-only event that concludes our week of Paideia! This night out is also an opportunity for new and veteran parents to meet one another, see old friends after a summer away, and enjoy an evening with your spouse. With this year's theme, Olympic Games, you definitely don't want to miss out! Tickets can be purchased in the Paideia Registration form.
We are excited to welcome Dr. Richard Ross as this year's Keynote speaker on Tuesday, while we also have the privilege of hearing from our Associate Head of School/School of Rhetoric Head, Troy Schuknecht, and Head of School, Jef Fowler, on Wednesday.
Richard Ross has served as professor of youth ministry in the Jack D. Terry School of Educational Ministries since 2000. His entire life has focused on seeing Christ glorified in the lives of teenagers and their parents and leaders. He served as a local-church youth minister for 30 years. Overlapping part of that time was 16 years of service as the youth ministry consultant at LifeWay Christian Resources.
He has written over 20 books related to teenagers, youth leaders, and parents of teenagers. Each year he speaks and preaches in over 40 churches, conferences, and conventions.
God whispered the idea for the True Love Waits movement to Jimmy Hester and Richard Ross. The first promises of purity were made by members of Ross’s youth group in 1993. Today the movement has been embraced by 100 denominations and national student organizations in the U.S. and in 100 countries. Interest in the movement has led Ross to appear on such programs as The Today Show, Nightline, and CNN Headline News—and be interviewed by The Washington Post, The Washington Times, the New York Times, USA Today, Newsweek, Time, Life, Seventeen, and several hundred other newspapers and magazines.
Dr. Ross's Paideia Sessions
Tuesday Keynote 1: Lost Parents, Convert Parents, Disciple Parents—and the Future of Their Children
Tuesday Breakout 1: Leading Your Family to Fulfill the Primary Reason Your Family Exists
Tuesday Keynote 2: A Powerful Variable in Impacting the Spiritual Life of Your Child or Teenager—Heart Connections
Veritas Vision Address
The last keynote of the week is the Veritas Vision Address given by our Head of School, Jef Fowler. All parents, faculty, and staff as asked to attend this keynote as Jef casts a unified vision for the upcoming school year and reminds us all why our school exists.
Contact Information
Joanna Heflin
Paideia Conference Coordinator
Maia Manchester
Paideia Camp Coordinator
Sarah Liz Windham
Defender Date Night
Auditorium Livestream
All sessions held in the auditorium will be available for streaming. Please follow the corresponding link below to live stream these sessions.
What is Paideia?
Paideia is the ongoing transmission of a cultural heritage of goodness, truth and beauty by impressing those values upon each generation, through discipline and instruction, with the telos (purpose, end, goal) of creating excellence and virtuous minds, body and souls. In short, Paideia is the disciplined crafting of a man—the whole man—in excellence and virtue.