Student Life - Pace Academy

Student Life - Pace Academy
Student Life
We’re often asked what life is like for a typical Pace Academy student.
It’s a hard question to answer because, well… there is no typical Pace student.
You’ll find one of our track stars playing trumpet for the fall musical and a state-champion debater broadcasting live from a Friday-night football game.
Despite this variety of interests and involvement, Pace students do have one thing in common: They THINK BIG.
That’s intentional. We give students the freedom to start something, explore, take risks, lead, follow, succeed and fail by creating an inclusive environment in the classroom, on campus and in the greater community.
Our students are well-rounded, passionate, purposeful and fun. They pick and choose from a variety of extra- and co-curricular offerings—activities and initiatives that develop the whole child. Because, while academic excellence forms the foundation of the Pace experience, we understand that a true citizen of the world must bring varied abilities, passions and perspectives to the global community.
Book Club
Robotics
Safety Patrols
Student Council
The Lower School Book Club is a weekly one-hour after-school activity offered to Lower School students in the third, fourth and fifth grades and facilitated by the Lower School librarian. Members read 10 books over the course of the fall semester in preparation for the Reading Bowl competition. In addition, readers have opportunities for discussion—and even travel—while nurturing the joys of reading individually and within a community.
The First Lego League (FLL) Challenge is a competitive STEM experience designed for students ages 9-16 and is available to Lower School students in fourth and fifth grades. Pace faculty members coach the teams. Each year, competitors work to build and code a LEGO SPIKE Prime robot to solve as many missions as possible in 2 minutes and 30 seconds. The missions change each year based on a theme and help team members learn coding, troubleshooting and problem-solving skills. Team members also work on an innovation project in which they solve a problem related to the theme, create a presentation, interview experts, and create a model or prototype. The team meets after school twice a week to help prepare for the competitions. Competitions (regional, super-regional, and state) take place on Saturdays throughout the year. The Lower School team has competed at the state level in four of the past five years. The Lower School robotics program also focuses on the Core Values of the First Lego League: discovery, innovation, impact, teamwork, inclusion and fun.
Fifth-grade students assist with carpool drop-off and pick-up duties every day, politely greeting families and assisting students as they arrive and depart school.
First- through fifth-grade Student Council members are elected by their peers at the beginning of each school year. As leaders of the student body, these students organize various service projects throughout the year and host a new student and faculty welcome party in the fall.
Buddies
Community Time
Handshakes, Highfives & Hugs
Light One Candle
Pillars of Character
Pre-First Fun Money
First- and fifth-grade buddies share special relationships, which
include time together in the classroom and events throughout the year.
Every Friday, our entire Lower School community gathers to learn and celebrate together. Spotlight on the Arts, Operation Gratitude, the Pace Fall Fair, grade-level performances and various cultural celebrations are some of our Community Time themes.
A daily greeting with the Head of Lower School is the Pace way to start the day!
Every child in the Lower School participates in the most celebrated of all traditions, the annual holiday program, which
tells the stories of Christmas and Hannukah.
Students who exhibit specific character skills, the pillars of the Lower School, wear a badge so that they are recognized and celebrated throughout the day. Empathy, Curiosity, Collaboration, Respect, Leadership and Perseverance are the skills that are emphasized each day in the Lower School.
Students earn coins in class and spend their earnings on an item in the treasure chest, or save for a big-ticket item, like lunch with Head of School Fred Assaf.
• Arts & Crafts
• Blueprint
• Board Games
• Cartooning
• Chess
• Film
• Hoops
• Knitting
• Lego
• Music & Songwriting
• Newspaper
• Pep Club
• Rock Climbing
• Ultimate Frisbee
• Yoga
• ICGL Study Tours
Mathcounts
Model United Nations
Newspaper
Theater
Tome Student Literacy Society, Pace Chapter
Students who love math and the challenge of competition join this team, which meets weekly in preparation for the February competition. Mathcounts makes learning math fun. The program builds problem-solving skills and positive attitudes about math, so students embrace
challenges and expand their future academic and career
opportunities.
Our growing Middle School Model United Nations (MUN) program welcomes seventh and eighth graders to participate in workshops, MUN events at area universities, and research and discussion groups. Along with faculty sponsors, Upper School MUN student leaders act
as mentors to Middle School students and assist them in learning about global topics, investigating countries around the world, practicing public speaking, writing position papers and proposing action items to form the basis of a UN resolution—the skills student diplomats use during a United Nations simulation. MUN stresses collaboration, negotiation skills, diplomacy and research.
The staff of the Middle School newspaper, The MidKnight Times, meets after school and during lunch/recess with their faculty sponsors to write stories, design page layouts, take photos and learn about the exciting world of producing a news publication.
Rehearsals take place after school with performances in the evenings. Students audition for the performance and then appear on stage, run lights and sound equipment, serve on the backstage crew, try their hands as makeup artists, and discover the joys and challenges of live performance.
• FALL (One-Act Play)
• WINTER (Full-Scale Musical)
• SPRING (Improv Throwdown)
Students feed their need to read by joining the club that's all about reading young adult classics. Student activities promote self-esteem, leadership skills, character and ethics, and nurture critical thinking, creativity and imagination.
• Class Retreats
• Daily Recess
• Lunch Bunch
• Community Engagement Days
• First Fridays
• Hero Day
• Parents Club Fall Fair
• Sixth Grade Father-Daughter Dance
• Canstruction
• Chattahoochee Nature Center
• Grandparents & Special Friends Day
• PJ & Cocoa Day
• Middle School Spirit Night
• Cabaret
• Team Challenge
• Medieval Banquet
Theater
Band
Chorus
Strings
Athletics
Debate
Student Council
Student Advisory
Knightly News
Knight Gallery
Yearbook
Great American Picnic
Physics Phlotilla
Spring Arts Festival
Cabaret
TEDxPaceAcademy
TEDx is a grassroots initiative, created in the spirit of TED’s overall mission to research and discover “ideas worth spreading.” TEDx brings the spirit of TED to local communities around the globe through TEDx events. These events are organized by passionate individuals who seek to uncover new ideas and to share the latest research in their local areas that spark conversations in their communities.
Learn more about TEDxPaceAcademy