Lower School (Grades K-5) Tours:  February 8, and March 14 and 28 at 9:30 a.m.
St. Johns Episcopal Church, 5649 Mount Gilead Road, Centreville

Upper School (Grades 6-12) Tours: February 7, and March 13 and 27 at 9:30 a.m.
Centreville Presbyterian Church, 15450 Lee Highway, Centreville

K-12 Recitatio: February 24 at 7:00 p.m.
Centreville Baptist Church, 15100 Lee Highway, Centreville

To RSVP for an event, schedule an alternate time or for questions, please contact Paula Sloan, AFA’s admissions director, at 571-345-4755 or admissions@adfontes.com. We look forward to meeting you!

February 3 is the early admissions deadline to receive priority enrollment consideration for the 2012-13 school year. New applications received by February 3 will be reviewed following returning student applications for available seats. A number of classrooms will have limited capacity for the 2012-13 school year. Following February 3, applications will be reviewed on a first come, first served basis.

You can refer to the Admissions page or contact Paula Sloan, Admissions Director, at admisisons@adfontes.com for further details on the admissions process.

While Samantha has found AFA’s homework load and curriculum to be a challenge compared to her previous public school experience, she says, “I know it will help me to be better in the long run.” In addition to juggling schoolwork, Samantha plays the piano and enjoys the friendships she has made at AFA: “friends that I plan to keep for a long time.” When she came to Ad Fontes, Samantha found it easy to “become friends with people and attend tons of school events,” but keeping up with homework and test preparations was more difficult. “I wish someone would have told me before I entered Ad Fontes, that Facebook, Skype, Twitter, and all those social networks are distracting and you do best with books.”

Samantha’s down to earth, diligent attitude about her work can be traced to the reasons why she attends AFA in the first place.  After different experiences in schools where “no one really cared what you learned and what you did,” she decided to search for a new environment for her sophomore year.  “I found [AFA’s] website online and said ‘Here’s my school.’  I admit I didn’t really understand everything I was getting into, but I knew I was ‘in’ for the duration.

That does not mean that Samantha has never questioned her choice.  “My GPA was much higher at my previous schools.  Here I work hard and still get ‘C’s.’  Sometimes that’s hard to live with, but there is something in my gut, telling me to stick it out, knowing God’s promise that ‘I will be with you.’  I want to see this through to graduation.  I want to be able to look at my class ring and know that I worked hard and accomplished something.

After she “sees this through”, she plans to pursue a major in Elementary Education.  “When I was little I would be the teacher for my stuffed animals.  I’ve always loved working with little kids.  My own experiences have taught how important it is to have a start strong with teaching the youngest children.  My own struggles with learning disabilities help fuel my passion to build that strong foundation for others.

Education, as Samantha knows all too well, “is not something you can slack off on. It takes time, dedication, and focus.”

While in Cambridge, the team also took the opportunity for college visits at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University. MIT students hosted team members in their dorms.Harvard’s Mock Trial Association was established by Harvard students in 1996 and is completely run by students, including the high school seminar. The Seminar is a two-day program of extensive presentations, case building exercises, and scrimmages, all of which are led by members of the Harvard Mock Trial Association. Many instructors have been recognized on the regional and national level, and are All-American witnesses and attorneys.

Try-outs will be held in October for those interested in joining the current AFA team of four seniors, one junior and one sophomore.