In between rain showers this weekend Hargrave held its president’s inspection. The president’s inspection is a detailed room and uniform inspection allowing cadet companies to receive points toward being named as the academy’s “Honor Company.” This year inspection was won by “G” company. Well done !

After the inspection the Lacrosse team traveled to Roanoke for a game against East Roanoke. HMA’s Scout Troop went to Elkhorn Lake for a Court of Honor and outdoor activities. Several cadets plus members of the faculty and staff participated in CPR and life guard training at the aquatics’ center. Finally several CIS cadets helped with the back stage work for a production at Gretna’s Little Theater.

This weekend is the academy’s final open weekend. Friday is the final day for the interim grades for the final grading period. Grades will be posted by Tuesday on Ed-Line. There is also an SAT examination for juniors or seniors that want to advance their scores.

Two very important phases in the college application process occurs between now and the end of the school ear. The most obvious is that juniors are completing their junior year. When juniors apply for college beginning in mid-summer the grades that will set the stage on applications is the transcript of their junior year. So----parents--- instead of slacking off and coasting to the end your junior needs to press hard and achieve the best grades possible. Another valuable task for juniors is to take at least one SAT examination. It is good practice for the student and also provides excellent feedback to parents.

The second important event that is occurring involves eighth graders. Yikes! You are saying EIGHTH GRADERS??? Yes eighth graders. Beginning in the ninth grade everything counts. So parents and their eighth grader need to have a serious talk and develop a plan to recognize that student’s grade point averages (GPA) begin in the ninth grade. Many students that arrive at Hargrave have a very poor GPA in the ninth and tenth grade. Parents often remark that they did not realize those grades influenced college applications. It is difficult to make up several years of poor grades. I recommend considering summer school to replace those Fs and Ds.

For sports minded families the NCAA requires students applying to D-1 colleges to complete high school in eight consecutive semesters. Repeating a year will disqualify your student for D-1 sports. Again summer school is a good consideration to prevent repeating a year

Where college is concerned parents should think well past your student’s current year.

A lot of information has been on the news and internet lately about a synthetic marijuana know as K-2. The substance originated in Kansas where lawmakers are considering drafting legislation to ban the substance. K-2 comes in a small pouch of dried herbs that look like oregano but is laced with chemicals designed to mimic the effects of marijuana. Hargrave Military Academy’s position is to treat K-2 as an unauthorized substance. David Klepper’s blog reports that teens argue since K-2 is legally sold on the internet and will not register on a drug test, therefore they should be allowed to smoke the substance.

Hargrave teaches its cadets that illegal substances, and legal substances misused are potentially dangerous to a student’s health and do not contribute to the safe learning atmosphere the Academy strives to achieve. For example, glue is a legal substance but when huffed becomes very dangerous. The process of ingesting glue offers its own risks to the human body. Secondly, the effect on an individual’s behavior once huffed is unpredictable for each user.

Based on the increasing popularity of K-2 we believed it was appropriate to present the topic for the attention of our current families and for families considering Hargrave. This topic has been presented to our cadets during a weekly assembly and further reinforced by student advisors during their weekly meetings.


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The weather could not have been more appropriate for our recent open weekend. The cadets needed some warm outdoor time. Hargrave’s JV and Varsity basketball teams lost to Covenant Friday evening. However, the varsity earned a shot at the conference tournament that begins on Tuesday. HMA’s wrestlers went to Richmond for the state championship. John Kneppler placed 6th and Jack Neblett won a fourth place earning him an invitation to the National Championships. The swim team traveled to Manassas Virginia to participate in the state championship tournament. The relay team earned a ninth place and Cadet Charles Totten achieved a personal best in the Butterfly and qualified for “Nationals.” Go Charles!

Cadets that elected to remain on campus this weekend had the opportunity to attend a professional NBA game in Charlotte NC. In addition several students went on a movie trip to Danville. This was the first weekend for our House Mother to join the CIS students. Mrs. Shelton arrived armed with homemade cookies which were a big hit. I visited her Sunday afternoon and she said many cadets have visited her room to get to know her.

On Thursday cadets will travel to Cambridge, MA to participate in the Harvard Model Congress. Students have worked very hard to prepare for this outstanding opportunity. I am sure they will have great stories when they return. HMA’s Scout troop is considering a hiking trip on the “AT” (Appalachian Trail). We have to determine the condition of the hiking trails because a lot of the recent snow and ice remains in shaded areas. Also this week Hargrave’s Band will travel to Randolph Macon Academy to participate in a military band competition.

Hargrave’s forth marking period ends this Friday. Also on Friday and Saturday Hargrave will host the First Piedmont Military Basketball Tournament. Hargrave’s undefeated PG team will play teams from Fishburne, Massanutten, and Fork Union.

As a big surprise to our cadets we canceled classes this past Wednesday so the students could sleep late and participate in the “Winter Festival.” Students gathered in the Grant gym in their PT uniform to join in the activities. We had a dunking booth so cadets could throw a ball and dunk a faculty or staff member, a cup cake eating, a basketball shooting, and a push up contest and gladiator type floating platform. Lunch was served in the gym and the students “hung out” until sports time. The purpose was to break the monotony of the long snowy days we have experienced. Please look at the pictures on Face Book.

Hargrave cadets had the opportunity to participate in many activities and outings this weekend. HMA’s varsity soccer team traveled to Richmond Va. for a Valentine’s Day soccer tournament. They played three games in a scrimmage atmosphere. Troop 68 traveled to the Triangle Rock Club in Raleigh NC. The rock club is an indoor mountain climbing and training center where the scouts could work on their climbing merit badges. They spent the night in the climbing facility which is owned by a Hargrave alumnus. Six Scouts were able to earn the climbing merit badge. Hargrave swimmers participated in the VIC championship tournament in Roanoke Va. on Friday and Saturday. Currently Hargrave is tied for the VIC Championship. Finally on Friday the juniors and seniors joined in for a fun evening around a bonfire to discuss goals for the remainder of the year.

Saturday was another full day. HMA wrestlers went to LCA for a tournament and earned an overall third place. SgtMajor Hofer took his leadership class to Quantico Va. to tour the Marine Corps Museum. Another group went to Winter Green for a ski/snow board trip. JV and varsity basketball had games on Saturday and the varsity defeated a strong Eastern Mennonite team. Capt Wilson and Capt Robinson took Hargrave’s band and color guard to Roanoke for a “massing of the bands” to honor WWII veterans.

Paint ball competition was the activity highlight for Sunday. Sunday evening was the beginning of Hargrave’s Spiritual Emphasis week. Spiritual Emphasis week is dedicated to improving everyone’s Christian values and creating a tone of reflection on individual progress for the year.

All of the cadets are excited because spring sports begin this week. The weather should begin to improve and everyone is ready for outside activities. Haregrave cadets are also looking forward to this week’s open weekend.

Hargrave experienced another ice and snow weekend. Meritorious Performers (MP) who lived within driving distance were able to take advantage of their earned weekend. Cadets who qualified for the weekend and were unable to leave because of the weather will have the opportunity to leave next weekend.

Friday was the end of the 4th grading period. Grades will be posted on Ed Line Wednesday morning. Over the weekend most of the cadets took advantage of the snow and slid down our hills on everything imaginable. Student activities sponsored a movie marathon on Saturday. The big hit for the weekend was the Super Bowl party. Student activities rented the biggest screen I have ever seen, add a record number of pizzas plus an abundance of raffle prizes and the evening was a success. The entire academic and staff departments joined together to create “goodie bags” the cadets could draw as door prizes.

Tuesday we plan to have an early study hall so the cadets can watch the PG basketball team play a home game. We are also planning a gathering for new cadets to gain some feedback on their arrival at HMA. Finally, we are engaging in a pilot program to have a “house mother” on the CIS dormitory. Initially Mrs. Martha Shelton will be available one evening a week and Sunday afternoon.

I hope everyone enjoyed their Christmas break. The cadets have adjusted to being back in school and are settling into the normal routine. The wrestling team and all of the basketball teams have their first post Christmas games tonight, Wednesday, January 6th. In addition to the demands and challenges of returning to school, the faculty and staff are heavily involved in preparing for the academy’s accreditation renewal. Hargrave is accredited by the Virginia Association of Independent Schools (VAIS) and SACS the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.

Hargrave Military Academy will host representatives from VAIS and SACS in February 2011. The visiting team consisting of faculty and administrators from other independent schools will spend three days examining all aspects of the school. The evaluation will focus on seven major categories: HMA’s philosophy and mission, community of the school, instruction and programming, professional personnel, governance and administration, financial resources, and facilities and service management.

HMA’s faculty and staff began working on a self-study in May, 2009. Our goal is to have the study completed by May 2010 so it can be reviewed by all of the faculty and the board of trustees. The accreditation process is a rigorous evaluation to determine if the school meets the 76 standards required to continue being accredited. During an interim evaluation in 2006 Hargrave met all of the standards without any findings.

The accreditation process is demanding and requires a large amount of work. However, everyone that participates in the process will learn a lot about education and it certainly makes the school academically and financially sound. As we get closer to the actual visit several parents will be contacted to meet with the visiting team. While we are on the subject of parent’s participation we all appreciate your time and effort in completing the survey which is part of the accreditation process.

The accreditation process is hard but helpful and I wanted to share with you what is going on at Hargrave. I will provide additional reports as we progress toward our goal of meeting the standards.

Welcome back-we missed the cadets.