BCSI Archives

Golden View Classical Academy Graduation

BCSI Teacher Spotlight—Sarah Kiesewetter

Sarah Kiesewetter teaches fifth grade at Golden View Classical Academy in Golden, Colorado. Golden View Classical Academy emphasizes seven core virtues: courage, moderation, justice, responsibility, prudence, friendship, and wonder. […]

The Wonder and Enjoyment of E. B. White’s Charlotte’s Web

By Carin Harner Barney Charter School Initiative Instructional Coach Charlotte’s Web is the wonderful story of a young girl, a young pig, and a spider. It is a story about friendship, […]

young students saluting the flag academy

BCSI Staff Spotlight—Eric Coykendall

By Katarzyna Ignatik, ’20 Eric Coykendall has been with the Barney Charter School Initiative for five years—watching the program grow from a staff of three to a staff of 15. […]

BCSI Teacher Spotlight: Kate Nadolny

Kate Nadolny teaches music at Pineapple Cove Classical Academy at West Melbourne, Florida. A native of the Sunshine State, she received her bachelor’s degree in music from Stetson University and […]

The Jungle Book: Cultivating Virtue and Imagination in Young Readers

By Tomek Grzesiak Barney Charter School Initiative Instructional Coach Written over 100 years ago, Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book continues to be read by and to children of all ages. […]

Watercolor cover art of the book 'The Wind in the Willows', featuring Rat and Mole rowing down a river.

Friendship in The Wind in the Willows: Timeless Lessons from a Children’s Classic

The beloved children’s book, The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame, has delighted readers with its whimsical animal characters since its publication more than a century ago. But those […]

young students in class at charter school

Finding Common Ground on our “Islands of Sanity”: Preserving Classical Tradition in a World of Chaos

In 2003, author and economist Thomas Sowell sent a letter to then-Hillsdale Academy Headmaster Ken Calvert, thanking the school for being “an island of sanity in a crazy educational world.” […]

Geoffrey Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales: Four Tips for Approaching a Medieval Masterpiece

Without a doubt, Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales endures as a masterpiece of English literature. At the same time, its archaic language makes it one of the most feared classics […]