HEADMASTER NEWSLETTER 

As we prepare to open the doors of Cicero for the 2026–27 school year, we are excited to welcome our faculty, followed shortly by our students and families. Some of you will be joining the Cicero community for the first time, while many of you are returning families who have been part of the Academy for years.

Each member of our community contributes to the success of Cicero and to our mission of serving students well. We are grateful for the opportunity to partner with you during this important season of your child's education and look forward to the year ahead.

PREPARATIONS

Across our community, everyone is preparing for the coming school year. Our front office and operations teams are refining systems and communication. Teachers are engaged in professional development, planning, and setting up classrooms. Parents, you are likely purchasing books, supplies, and making sure your child’s uniforms fit, while also making the most of the final days of summer together.

We are all preparing for a new season of growth and as headmaster, I am putting the finishing touches on Cicero's thematic goal for the 2026–27 school year. I look forward to sharing it with our faculty during orientation next week and with families at our first Coffee with the Headmaster on August 7.

Transitioning Back to Learning

As we enter the final days of summer, I want to revisit a few core ideas that help bring out the best in our students through strong partnership between home and school.

The Pursuit: Students learn from whatever they pursue.

Returning to school can be an adjustment. Students are coming back to an environment intentionally designed to minimize distractions and cultivate attention, learning, personal growth, and discipline. It is a day filled with community and friendships where they can encounter and experience the virtues that develop as one pursues- Truth, Goodness, and Beauty. Our mission is to invite students into a lifelong pursuit of these enduring ideas as they are found in the sciences, arts, mathematics, histories, languages, and finest literature and stories. We hope your summer has given you time together as a family to pursue these things personally as well.

Embracing the Task: We are what we repeatedly do.

Faculty, students, and parents each play a role in protecting the environment where children can grow and thrive. Part of students embracing the task of learning and growing is preparing well for each school day. This may mean developing habits of being on time, in dress code, rested, and ready to learn. But can also mean learning to be mindful of not only oneself, but also peers and teachers. These small but intentional practices help students to develop healthy norms that reduce stress and prepare them to be open to learning. This also helps build toward lasting growth which occurs when we repeatedly choose what is good—even, and especially, when it is difficult.

As you help your child transition back to school, consider practical ways to support that growth: limiting screen time, encouraging quality reading, establishing healthy sleep routines, eating meals together, chores, and creating opportunities for meaningful connection with family and peers.

Student Life

The classroom is only one avenue for personal and academic growth. And while we invest a lot in our classrooms, we know that students also grow and thrive through personal study/reading, curricular events, socials, extracurricular activities, athletics, and when they are older, leadership opportunities. We hope each family helps their student to find ways to invest and engage so they can experience the freedom that comes with the development of moral and intellectual virtues in a community of strong friendships.

In closing, I’d like to return to a line from the Family Handbook that reminds us of the shared responsibility and partnership between home and school:

"Each of us, as free citizens of the Academy, should equally strive to make our school a better place—a city of truth, goodness, and beauty—for those students, parents/guardians, and teachers who will follow us."

In Partnership,

Christa Reichert
Headmaster, Connect on LinkedIn

Join me on Friday, August 7th at 8:00 am for the first

Coffee with the Headmaster

HEADMASTER UPDATES

Dear Families, 

We have some updates and role changes. These role changes reflect our desire to build a stronger K-12 team to serve our families, students and faculty. These K-12 Positions are:

K-12 Director of Operations: Ginger Brooks

K-12 Dean of Academics Student Achievement: Taylor Stefaniak

K-12 School Counselor: Juana Ambrose

K-12 ELL Coordinator: Dr. Rezarta Tammaro

You will see new partners in our Family Giving Office, Nurses's Office, and in the Front Office. We are blessed by the addition of our new members and are glad you get to meet them soon!

Front Office Updates: 

Family Giving Officer: Leanne Grogan

School Nurse: Becky Franson

Archway Office Manager/Registrar: Lisa Buchanan

Archway Front Office Assistant: Savannah Urban

Prep Registrar: Anya Morrison

Prep Front Office Assistant: Anabel Contreras

Our Leadership Team not only includes the K-12 Leadership Team but also these members who are serving at Archway or Prep. 

Leadership Updates:

Athletic Director: Chase Beebe

Archway Assistant Headmaster: Kelsey Diamond 

Archway Dean of Students: Dmtri O'Brien 

Prep Assistant Headmaster: Alec MacIsaac 

Prep Dean of Academics: Rose McMahan (McClanahan) 

Prep Dean of Students: Melissa Hunt (joining Kurt Guenther) 

College Counselor: Cheryl Parsons 

For a complete list of faculty and staff, please see the school websites.

Dear Archway Cicero families, 

Our academy will be extending open grade books to 3rd-5th grade beginning this year. This means that on Friday 3rd- 5th grade parents will be able to log into PowerSchool and monitor their scholar’s progress. This will include assignments and homework (updated weekly), quizzes and exams (bi-weekly), and their overall current grades. Parents will also be able to see whether assignments are missing, late, or impacted by an absence. Teachers will be able to utilize the comment section to provide any notes to parents regarding certain assignments. We will send a notification of when Gradebooks are open for viewing. Grade books open 2 weeks after the quarter begins and close the week before the end of the quarter.  Late homework or quiz corrections must be completed by attending the next teacher tutoring hours. 

Why open Gradebooks?

Great Hearts was founded on the idea that parents are the primary educators of their children, and the school is a partner in that education. By providing parents access to their child’s progress, it allows us to better partner together to support your child’s needs and growth.  As such the open grade books is intended to support parent-child conversations and ownership. It is primarily to be used to monitor student progress and assignments and allow parents to support their child as needs emerge and to be able to celebrate and affirm a scholar's growth.

The gradebook is one measure of how a scholar's habits are contributing to their success, but it is only one measure.  Our ultimate purpose is to set the conditions for learning that aim at cultivating a heart and mind for moral and intellectual virtue. The gradebook is limited and cannot provide the fuller picture of a scholar’s success and growth. We are Great Hearts not Great Gradebooks. 

For those of you who already have prep scholars, you can expect the similar cadence of when gradebooks open and close at the beginning and end of the quarters. For those of you for whom this will be new, it is important to note that the overall summative grade may fluctuate as assessments and quizzes are inputted. Teachers will no longer be sending home pink slips or notices. 

We hope you and your scholars will find this beneficial in feeling successful at school and prevent unnecessary surprises so scholars and families can focus on overall growth and connection during their foundational years. 

In partnership,

Headmaster Reichert

Dear Cicero Families, 

One year ago, we introduced a new vision and leadership structure for our academy. This shift was a natural step in advancing our mission, which has guided us since we opened our doors in 2013. I am continually grateful as I walk our halls and see the artwork and plaques honoring the founding families who invested in Cicero from the very beginning. 

Since our founding, we have been honored to serve families who share our commitment to a holistic education—one that develops in each student a mastery of self, a sense of duty and friendship, and a deep intellectual and moral life that will sustain them beyond their school years. Our namesake, Cicero, reminds us that virtue is central to an education that prepares young people to enter society well. The cultivation of reason, perseverance, charity, and community ultimately does more to prepare our students than academics alone. 

As we complete our first year as a K–12 academy, I am encouraged by the positive impact we are seeing across Archway, Prep, athletics, and our parent community. 

__________________________________________________________________________________________________

Family Survey
Thank you for your strong participation (104% for Archway / 75% for Prep). Your feedback provides valuable insight into how we are serving your families and helps guide our planning and growth. 

Areas of Improvement (most above the network average): 

• School Climate 

• Academy Leadership 

• Parent–School Partnership 

• Academics 

• Discipline 

• Special Education Services 

Areas Maintained (with focus for growth): 

• Cultivating Joyful Order
  While our academy is marked by joy and excellence, this is sometimes diminished by recurring challenges with dress code, behavior, and adherence to our code of conduct. These patterns impact the orderly and joyful environment we strive to maintain. Moving forward, we will continue developing our use of Love and Logic practices while strengthening our partnership with parents to build strong habits in students early. A disciplined environment is essential to preserving the joy and order that allow students and teachers to flourish. 

• Teacher Responsiveness
  Increasing teachers’ capacity will allow them to communicate more effectively with families. Our leadership team is actively exploring ways to reduce competing demands on teachers’ time so they can better respond to parent questions and provide support. 

• Athletics

  • Communication: Improving communication systems among coaches, athletes, and families- especially regarding registration, physicals, payments, and team updates—is a priority. Mr. Gregg and Mr. Boulangeat are working to strengthen consistency across all teams. 

  • Facilities: We remain committed to enhancing our athletic facilities through community partnerships while maintaining and improving our current spaces. 

__________________________________________________________________________________________________

 2025–26 Highlights (so far): 

• 1A Volleyball State Champions (3rd consecutive year) 

• First Annual Cicero Carnival (900+ attendees) — thank you, PSO! 

• 800+ teacher observations completed 

• Growth in Math and ELA benchmarks 

• Four faculty seminars, including

On Duties I–III

(Cicero)

How to Think Like Shakespeare

(Newstok) 

Inferno

(Dante) 

Little Women

(Alcott) 

• Continued growth in Young Hearts Preschool enrollment

• Virtue assemblies 

• 6th and 7th Grade Quarterly Commons 

• PSO-hosted curricular events 

• 91% teacher retention rate 

• College acceptances and senior thesis defenses 

• A full report will be shared in June as we close out the year. 

As we enter the fourth quarter, we look forward to many end-of-year events—picnics, trips, celebrations, promotions, and awards. We also invite you to two important parent-focused events: 

• Headmaster Address & Breakfast
  Friday, April 17 (during the General PSO Meeting, MPR) 

• Volunteer & Donor Appreciation Event
  Friday, April 25 at Salt River Fields (Center Field Patio)
  
  

Please join me at the Headmaster Breakfast to hear more about this year’s outcomes and our strategic vision for 2026–27. Additionally, we warmly invite all families who have supported Cicero through time, talent, or financial contributions to attend the appreciation event. This is our opportunity to thank you and to continue building a strong culture of generosity and service within our community. 

Finally, please join me in thanking our dedicated Carnival Committee for creating such a memorable and successful event. It was a wonderful celebration of our entire school community. 

All My Best, 

Headmaster Reichert

We are happy to announce that 5th grade gradebooks are now open. As a reminder, gradebooks will be updated each Friday with weekly work, and bi-weekly with quizzes or tests. While the gradebook will show the grade a scholar earned on an assignment or test, this does not replace the value of looking at your scholar’s graded work together to understand how they are engaging with and internalizing the curriculum. As always, reading aloud with your scholar will have a profound impact on their growth, resilience, and overall literacy. So, open a great book and the gradebook!

OPEN GRADEBOOKS LETTER from January 16th:

Dear Archway Cicero families, 

Our academy will be extending open grade books to 5th grade beginning this month. This is part of a larger project to eventually extend it to lower grades as well, but we are starting the transition with 5th grade. What this means is that on Friday evenings 5th grade parents will be able to log into PowerSchool and monitor their scholar’s progress. This will include assignments and homework (updated weekly), quizzes and exams (bi-weekly), and their overall current grades. Parents will also be able to see whether assignments are missing, late, or impacted by an absence. Teachers will be able to utilize the comment section to provide any notes to parents regarding certain assignments. We will send a notification of when Gradebooks are open for viewing. The tentative date is Friday, January 24th. 

Why open Gradebooks?

Great Hearts was founded on the idea that parents are the primary educators of their children, and the school is a partner in that education. By providing parents access to their child’s progress, it allows us to better partner together to support your child’s needs and growth.  As such the open grade books is intended to support parent-child conversations and ownership. It is primarily to be used to monitor student progress and assignments and allow parents to support their child as needs emerge and to be able to celebrate and affirm a scholar's growth.

The gradebook is one measure of how a scholar's habits are contributing to their success, but it is only one measure.  Our ultimate purpose is to set the conditions for learning that aim at cultivating a heart and mind for moral and intellectual virtue. The gradebook is limited and cannot provide the fuller picture of a scholar’s success and growth. We are Great Hearts not Great Gradebooks. 

For those of you who already have prep scholars, you can expect the similar cadence of when gradebooks open and close at the beginning and end of the quarters. For those of you for whom this will be new, it is important to note that the overall summative grade may fluctuate as assessments and quizzes are inputted. Teachers will no longer be sending home pink slips or notices. 

We hope you and your scholars will find this beneficial in feeling successful at school and prevent unnecessary surprises so scholars and families can focus on overall growth and connection during their foundational years. 

In partnership,

Headmaster Reichert

“For of all virtue, I say, and I repeat it, the beginning is understanding and the fulfillment is courage; by the one we understand what ought to be done and by the other we fulfill our understanding in action.” - Demosthenes 338 BC

COURAGE: VETERANS DAY AND THANKSGIVING

Dear Cicero Families, 

As we close November and embrace Thanksgiving, a time of reflection and remembrance, I’d like to share with you a few reflections from this month’s Archway Virtue Assembly. Before I do, I want to earmark the significance of assemblies in our community. I would go as far to say that each time we assemble, whether in the classroom, in line to transition to specials classes, lunch, Archway Monthly Virtue Assemblies, Middle School Quarterly Commons, Junior Blazer Ceremony, Athletic Banquets, or Promotions and Graduations, we offer an opportunity to reflect and remember. 

In the Great Tradition of Classical Liberal Arts memory holds an essential role. This is not merely memorizing one’s math facts or parts of speech, those are well and good, those have their place but the deeper kind of memory that belongs to the fullest form of education. It is memory that builds an understanding of the nature of things: the nature of numbers, patterns, language, the sciences, and the nature of human capacity and virtue. Without memory knowledge cannot become wisdom. 

In a sense to be fully educated is to have an awareness of how things relate so that one can discern what should follow: what ought to be. This is what we mean when we refer to moral, intellectual, and physical virtue. Our scholars have the opportunity to be students of the wisdom found in each discipline and as they come to discover the truths held up in each, they then can anticipate what ought to be, if they remember. There is an order to the world, to each discipline, to each human being, and ultimately to how one can think and act well. 

In this month’s Virtue Assembly, we celebrated scholars who have demonstrated courage. To show courage is not only to understand what is best, what one ought to do, but to choose to act even when it is difficult. This is the root of courage. It was fitting that this assembly helped connect the virtue of courage to two significant observances our scholars encounter each November: Veterans Day and Thanksgiving.

The assembly began with Mrs. McWilliams leading the school in “America the Beautiful,” followed by Mr. Tyler Carter, a senior at prep and a rhetoric student, honoring the veterans who were present by delivering an Athenian Funeral Oration by Demosthenes from 338 BC. With many tiny hands waving American flags, we stood together to acknowledge the veterans, each receiving a flag from a kindergarten scholar. As the veterans remained standing, our scholars serenaded them again with “America the Beautiful.” It was a solemn and beautiful moment. I hope it is one they remember.

As we approach Thanksgiving, I like to pause to remember that it was in 1863 that President Lincoln proclaimed it a national holiday to be observed on the third Thursday every November. It was not in a time of peace it was proclaimed, but in a time of conflict. I highly encourage families to take time to read aloud and reflect on Lincoln’s Thanksgiving Proclamation.  

I hope that this message serves to remind us of the ordinary and noble work that is done each day at Archway Cicero and Cicero Prep. It is truly our mission to cultivate a community of Great-Heartedness and Great-Mindedness so that our young scholars will grow up knowing what ought to be done, and have the courage to act whether it is in their ordinary daily life, in their professions, or in civic duty. As C.S. Lewis wrote, "Since it is so likely that children will meet cruel enemies, let them at least have heard of brave knights and heroic courage." In this case we not only look to literature, but also to history to find men and women who acted, especially when it was difficult - with heroic courage. This is the kind of memory we want to help cultivate in our young scholars for when it is their turn to act, they will do so with courage. 

On behalf of all of the Archway Cicero and Cicero Prep faculty and staff, we wish you a blessed Thanksgiving. 

All my best, 

Headmaster Reichert

We are pleased to announce that Grade Books are NOW OPEN for viewing and will remain open throughout the grading period.

• Headmaster Update: Open Grade Books

• What to Expect: Logging In and Navigating the Grade Portal

Greetings Cicero Families, 

Open Grade Book Initiative: As many of you are aware Cicero Prep has chosen to pilot Open Gradebooks this school year. We are excited about this initiative as it has the potential to strengthen the partnership between students, parents, and faculty and ultimately serve your scholars’ growth and success. Throughout the year we will be evaluating the process, procedures, and communications related to this initiative to continue to develop best practices and metrics to enhance how our academies serve our families. 

Parents as Primary Educators: Great Hearts Academies, being founded by parents themselves, have long held to the principle that parents are the primary educators of their children and as such built this network of academies to fulfill this vision. We are confident that opening grade books is in keeping with this vision and partnership. To begin with, our first desire is to keep parents better informed in how their scholars are developing in foundational habits such as homework and participation, both quantitatively and qualitatively. We hope this means parents will be able to engage early on when needed or celebrate growth and success along the way. It is evident that these foundational habits are critical in the development of learners to advance in their studies and personal responsibility, increasing their overall confidence and happiness at school.

Classical Liberal Arts: Life-long Learning: Our academies continue to maintain a classical and liberal approach to education in that a scholar is not only given quantifiable feedback and assessment, but also qualitative. This has always set our faculty, learning community, and therefore our academies apart. As such the aim of the academy is to invite and develop scholars into life-long learners, whose ability to continue to grow academically, intellectually, and morally extends beyond the confines of what is captured in a grade book. If done well, opening grade books can have a profound impact in supporting scholars in building strong habits and a growth mindset that will serve them well at school and in life. We hope that will be your experience as well. 

Academic Engagement: What many of us agree on is that at its best, increased visibility of grades will become a powerful tool through which we can gauge and encourage a student’s overall growth; it can direct students and parents to understand their scholars’ strengths and areas of need. Grade transparency has the potential to enhance parent partnership and student academic engagement. Children benefit from seeing concrete results of hard work and the consequences of not putting forth their best effort. Children also benefit from expectations that cannot be so easily captured by number or a grade, such as an active sense of wonder and a sincere depth of inquiry. 

Athletic Eligibility: We hope that Open Grade Books will be a tool for parents and scholar-athletes to avoid athletic ineligibility. As a reminder: scholar-athletes are responsible for maintaining athletic eligibility and will be placed on academic probation. If students are on probation, they will not be eligible for games, but can participate in practice if their daily eligibility sheet has been completed. Please check your scholar’s gradebook each Friday to support them in maintaining their eligibility. Athletes must be passing all courses and have no more than one D. Contact the Athletic Director for eligibility support and probation protocol. 

Ultimate Goods: Use & Misuse: We believe in the Aristotelian idea that human happiness is dependent on virtue. And that virtue is developed as one’s actions are aligned to ultimate goods and that virtues remain undeveloped when tied to utilitarian ends. We recognize that a robust partnership between parents and the school is the best way to guard against the utilitarian misuse of number crunching grades. What we want to avoid is the harm that access to real-time grades can do to our educational principles. It is all too easy to focus on grade performance, losing sight of the overall goals of a Great-Hearted education. We urge parents and students to use this access in service of the broader goals, and higher goods, which education is designed to serve. 

Education as Relational: Our conversations with parents and students will continue to be largely centered around the development of a child’s humanity, sense of wonder, habits, and virtue rather than numerical scores. Even with access to student grades, we must acknowledge the limitations of the accrual of points earned through homework, tests, quizzes, etc. on a student’s grade and development.  The academy holds to the idea that education is about human flourishing which is more fully realized when one is in rightly ordered relationships with one’s peers and faculty.

Gratitude: I am grateful to our faculty who are committed to providing families with timely quantitative and qualitative feedback while preserving the first principles of a classical liberal education. We are blessed at Cicero with a faculty who are remarkably earnest and want the best for your scholars and aim to honor your student with both quantitative and qualitative feedback as they grow and mature. The highest end of our education is human flourishing, which asks much more of teachers and students beyond quantifiable gradebook categories. We ask for your patience and understanding as we improve our service to you and your scholars through this new initiative. 

In Partnership,

Headmaster Reichert

-------------------------------------------------------

What to Expect: Logging in and Navigating the Grade Portal

What to Expect:

• Grade Books: Open Two Weeks into each Quarter

• Updated every Friday, not daily.

• Assignments and Participation Updated Weekly

• Weekly Quizzes or Retrievals Updated within 3 days, or by Friday

• Larger Assessments/Essays/Projects Graded after 5 days, in Grade Book by Friday the Week Grading was Completed.

Summary: Assignments will be posted in the grade book and viewable to parents to assist students in building strong academic habits by turning in homework on time, completing homework with effort and care, being a constructive contributor in class (participation), and by actively seeking to grow in an understanding of the material through assessments. Grade Books will be viewable following the second week of the quarter.  

Note: The grade book does not necessarily include the overall summative grade for the course, as that is determined at the end of an evaluation period by the teacher. The summative grade will include an overall assessment of the students' growth in habits of inquiry, habits of discussion, and growth according to the course rubric. See Family Handbook for Philosophy of Grading. Contact teachers if you have questions about how your student is doing overall. 

Logging into Parent Portal: 

Log into the Grade book Portal to view your scholar’s grades. 

For RETURNING FAMILIES, use the same login credentials as before. If you have forgotten your username and password, please see attached instructions.

For NEW FAMILIES: Please set up your access by reviewing the instructions attached to this email. 

When going into the grade book, you can expect to see your students' first two weeks of progress in relation to participation and homework.  Some of our teachers have put in their first assessments as well.  The teachers will be updating the gradebooks every week to ensure that all stakeholders are aware of the students’ progress.  Please use this information to help support us as we continue to improve our educational model.  

Having trouble logging in with the instructions given? Please contact Faith Jones, Office Manager, for assistance. If you have questions regarding grades, please reach out to your scholars’ teacher.  

Thank you for your support as we continue to provide students with the best possible educational experience.

Cicero Prep Admin Team

Dear Parents, 

This week we welcomed back our faculty to campus. What a privilege it is to bring together a faculty who love education and love being here for your kids each day. It is no small task being a Great Hearts teacher because it asks much more than a typical school does. However, like any good work – when it is done well, it is its own reward. We look forward to welcoming you all to campus next week for meet the teacher, but in the meantime, I wanted to share with you some encouragement that I shared with our faculty this week:

Education is about flourishing, or life, in the generative sense. As Cicero says, a good life. And “What is life without hope?” as one of my sons reflected to me this week. 

What is education but an education of the heart, mind, soul, and body to have hope that there is human dignity and freedom, that truth is knowable, that conversation and community aid in cultivating and sustaining oneself and each other, that we are free to pursue moral, intellectual, and physical virtue and in doing so find strength and courage to persevere, and that in humility we also have hope - we are not striving to govern the immutable things, but rather they are sustaining us even as they remain a beautiful mystery.

Hope is tied to truth. And hope tied to truth will not disappoint. Each day at Cicero is a day where your scholars and the faculty discover the truths in mathematics, in the sciences, in history, in literature, in language, in fine arts, and in PE and each truth they discover together through reading, writing, thinking, and discussion builds up a library of hope. This is in contrast to most of what our kids will encounter and consume through other means. But as Emily Dickenson wrote, “Hope is a thing with feathers … that perches in the soul and never stops” This is our privilege as educators is to be a part of building up this library of hope for each child. https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/42889/hope-is-the-thing-with-feathers-314

With Hope,

Headmaster Reichert

2024-25 Highlights

Summer Headmaster Zooms, Wednesdays 9:30 am (details below)

Updates for the 2025-26 School Year

Dear Cicero Families, 

Community: The end of the school year brought many celebrations for our community from curricular and grade level events, academic and athletic awards, 5th grade matriculation, 8th grade promotion, senior march, and commencement. We are thankful to all of our parents who have made this year possible and more full of joy by creating special memories for our community from kicking off the year with our largest homecoming kick off to date, bringing horses to campus for the 6th grade cowboy breakfast, teacher appreciation throughout the year, and running the lunch program to name a few. 

Athletics: A Year of Achievements

A huge congratulations to our outstanding athletic teams, their dedicated coaches, and the supportive parents who make these successes possible. We are proud of all our student-athletes and their hard work throughout the year. Here’s a recap of some of our remarkable achievements:

HS Girls Volleyball: Congratulations on securing their 3rd State Championship title, marking their 2nd consecutive victory! 

College Signings: Three senior girls signed to play college volleyball (beach and indoor). Samantha Atwood, Mirabella Medina, and Jaclyn Stone.

MS Swim (Boys): Second-place finish in the league championship.

HS Girls Tennis: A historic run in the state playoffs, competing against 3A teams and making it to the semifinals. Congratulations to Bianca Carbone and Bryn Hermenau, our top doubles team, for taking second in state. 

HS Golf: Golf Team qualified for State Tournament. Congratulations to Kieran Walsh for winning the prestigious Great Hearts Tournament of Cup Champions.

HS Boys Volleyball: First Great Hearts school to have a men’s volleyball team and achieving a spot in the 3A state tournament.

MS Girls Volleyball: Second-place finish in the Great Hearts middle school league.

HS Girls Basketball: Making history with their first-ever appearance in the state tournament.

HS Girls Soccer: Competing in the state tournament for the first time ever, marking a major milestone in the program’s history.

HS Track: Multiple podium finishes and PRs.

Iron Centurion Award: Congratulations to Nica Caggiano for being recognized as the outstanding athlete of the year. Playing three-sports while maintaining one of the highest GPAs. 

It has been an incredible year for Cicero Athletics, and we are so excited to see our athletes continue to compete and achieve greatness in the seasons to come. Let’s keep up the hard work! For the latest follow us on Instagram @centurions_athletics

Faculty: Thank you to our faculty who brought to life the curriculum and invested in our students and one another each day. Congratulations to our faculty that completed master degree programs this year and we are excited to celebrate a new Phd this coming year. Our Lead Teachers and Master Teachers are the backbone to our academy and are the key to our strong faculty culture. Thank you for your investment in Cicero.

Academics: Congratulations to our 5 seniors who passed their senior thesis defenses with the highest merit: Pass with Distinction and the 10 seniors who received the next highest honor: Pass with Merit. Their thesis papers will be bound in a commemorative book on display in the Upperclassman Commons. Congratulations to our Valedictorian, Adam Myers and our Salutatorian Avi Bejarano and thank you for your contributions to Cicero over the years. 

There are too many accomplishments to mention in a short summary but I hope you have had the opportunity to celebrate as family and as friends the special landmarks in your children’s lives this year whether academic, personal, athletic, in the arts, extra-curricular, or in volunteerism. 

Summer Headmaster Zooms: Please join me this summer on Zoom. Summer Headmaster Zooms help to keep us connected and allow me to share out updates for the K-12 model. Hear more about all aspects of the academy from student life, academics, enrichment and student support programs, as well as the vision and mission. The summer zooms are a great way to stay connected and check in on any questions you might have. 

Wednesdays, 9:30 am -10:00 am 

June 11

June 18

July 9

July 16

July 23

Meeting URL:

https://greathearts.zoom.us/j/8029769749?pwd=eVErQUpkelMrZkltTkd4SmNxUHo1QT09&omn=98096806213&from=addon

Meeting ID: 802 976 9749

Passcode Cicero

Spread the Word: Our school community thrives when families invite their neighbors, co-workers, friends, and family to join the community and enroll their child at Cicero. Please join us on instagram for highlights from the year and share your story with friends and family. @archwaycicero @ciceroprep

Growth for the Academy and Growth for Students: On a more personal note, I want to say that I have been greatly encouraged in the last few weeks with all the support for Cicero and how our community has responded with excitement to unifying as a K-12 leadership team and campus. As I enter my 10th year here at Cicero, I continue to reflect on the impact this academy has on hundreds of students and families. This year we will welcome more students and families with the growing demands for our high school program. We will be adding a section in both 10th and 11th grade. As many of you know we are also partnering with Great Hearts to offer a Young Hearts preschool program as well. It is a privilege to see this academy grow and serve more children and their families without losing the sense of community. Cicero is a place where your students can grow up among friends, free from pop-culture and devices, and where they are nurtured socially, intellectually, morally, emotionally, and physically. As an honors academy we strive to provide a space for your children to grow into fine young men and women who have a strong moral sense that will serve them well in their adult life as well as a strong sense of purpose connected to their studies across disciplines. Cicero is a great place to grow up and develop as a young person. With that, I will pause here and I hope to continue great conversations with many of you who are able to join the Summer Headmaster Zooms. May you all have a wonderful summer. See below for a list of updates!

All My Best,

Headmaster Reichert

2025-26 Updates:

• Young Hearts Preschool Opening August 2025

• Additional Sections Added for 10th and 11th Grade 

• Zero Hour Weight Training for High School

• MS/HS 7th Hour Enrichment Course Registration Open (first come, first serve)

• New Position: Dean of New Faculty - Hiring Manager and New Teacher Coach, Mr. Smith

• Mr. MacIsaac, former Cicero Assistant Headmaster, returning to Cicero as Director of Upperclassmen Studies and Formation and Master Teacher of Humane Letters

• Coach Wahl expanding his teaching schedule to include 6th and 7th grade PE

• Advisory Council will reconvene for the 2025-26 school year

• School Counselors: Mrs. Ambrose moving to the Archway building to serve K-5. Mrs. Hunt, who has been partnering with Prep the last two years, will join Prep as the new school counselor.  

• Registrar: Mrs. Lisa Buchanan will transfer to the Archway office to serve as the K-5 registrar.

• More updates to come!

*Middle School Math Curriculum Update: Cicero Prep will be transitioning to the Carnegie Math program. 6th, 7th, and 8th Grade students will receive an all-in-one math workbook textbook that where they will complete their daily classwork and homework. This is included in the Supplemental Fee that is due upon registration. FYI: Students will not be issued a math textbook until the fee has been paid. 

• Juniors and Seniors will now have early release at 2:30 pm on regular school days and 2:15 pm release on Wednesday

• 7th Period optional for Teacher Hours, Enrichment Courses, Peer Tutoring, or Volunteerism

• Flexible hours for upperclassmen for jobs, homework, extra curriculars, and athletics.

• May stay on campus if using one of the designated study or common areas.

• Minimize impact of Athletic Early Releases on instructional time

• Provides opportunities for upperclassmen to provide peer tutoring and volunteer service during 7th period for 6-10th grade students.

Many of you may have already heard that we are expanding into the second floor of the admin building. This area will be used for Junior Senior Courses and includes a common space for studying, conversation, and community.

• Living Room centered around fireplace

• New library stretching from wall to wall in common space

• 4 large seating areas around kitchen

• Study Room: with 4 reservable desks

• Writing Tables

• Physics and Robotics Lab, Shared with Logic and Coding

• 3 small seminar rooms

• 1 Large Seminar Room

• College Counseling

• Student Life Office

• Expanded Drama Space

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED: Furniture Assembly, please contact Mr. Gray at jgray@ciceroprep.org if willing to assist.