Introducing: The ACA House System!

This month, we officially launched the ACA House System in the middle school! We named each of our four houses for ancient cities with rich histories: Alexandria, Carthage, Constantinople, and Damascus.

8th graders and middle school teachers were sorted into predetermined houses in the first of the sorting ceremonies. 6th and 7th grade students were sorted later in the week by drawing one of 4 house colors out of a hat. At this second sorting ceremony, the houses also competed in their first competition, and the first-ever house points were awarded. The first point was given to 7th grader Ginger Respess from House Damascus for her display of virtue in the past week (pictured second row, left). The second was given to the House with the best cheer: Alexandria (pictured second row, right)!

“We are very excited to be launching the House System this year in our middle grades,” said Mr. Schepps, Upper School Assistant Principal. “We hope it will provide an important cultural layer in our Middle School. As it grows, the House System will instill a sense of citizenship and ownership that can be unique to ACA as it gives students new opportunities to lead, serve, and compete. Special thanks to Mr. Holt (5th grade) for serving as our founding Dean of Houses, to Mr. McClatchey for creating our logos, and to Mr. Rosenzweig, the Founder of the Feast, for bringing this idea and structure to us!”