Head of School Archives | Colorado Academy News

Smoke and flames rise during a fire at the landmark Notre-Dame Cathedral in central Paris on April 15, 2019.

Community, hope brings us together after a difficult week

Dr. Mike DavisApril 18, 2019

Smoke and flames rise during a fire at the landmark Notre-Dame Cathedral in central Paris on April 15, 2019.This week, the world watched as the Cathedral of No...

All School NewsAlumni NewsletterEditor's PicksFeaturedHead of School162 views

What’s an educator doing in a corporate classroom?

Dr. Mike DavisApril 11, 2019

What’s an educator doing in a corporate classroom? Well, it turns out, plenty. Dr. Mike Davis at University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business. I spen...

All School NewsEditor's PicksFeaturedHead of SchoolNews194 views

Dr. Mike Davis: State of the School

Dr. Mike DavisApril 1, 2019

I am excited to share with you my eleventh “State of the School” report and offer a “dashboard” of facts about Colorado Academy that are indicative of the stron...

All School NewsEditor's PicksFeaturedHead of SchoolNewsOn CAmpus Newsletter516 views

Michigan State basketball head coach Tom Izzo

Positive coaching leads to sportsmanship, citizenship

Dr. Mike DavisMarch 26, 2019

Well, folks, it’s really nice to be back in school. Our Spring Break was needed, but with the extra three days we had to take off because of a power outage, I...

All School NewsAthleticsEditor's PicksFeaturedHead of SchoolNews319 views

Climb on!

Dr. Mike DavisFebruary 27, 2019

One thing I look forward to at the start of every term is teaching a new class. This spring trimester, I am taking advantage of our tremendous new climbing faci...

FeaturedHead of SchoolOn CAmpus Newsletter377 views

Unplug! Students challenge the community to ‘Face-to-Face Friday’ (and beyond)

Dr. Mike DavisFebruary 27, 2019

The other day I was rehabbing my knee and my physical therapist said, “Look out! Your phone is about to fall out of your pocket.” I replied, “Good. I hope it br...

All School NewsEditor's PicksFeaturedHead of SchoolNewsUpper School203 views

The new Athletic Center at Colorado Academy

CA humbled, grateful for gifts of philanthropy

Dr. Mike DavisFebruary 14, 2019

This week, we were able to share news of a very generous lead gift for a new Center for the Performing Arts at CA, the school’s fourth and final capital project...

All School NewsEditor's PicksFeaturedHead of SchoolNews365 views

Why CA Students are the best

Dr. Mike DavisFebruary 7, 2019

So, I am finding rich irony that nearly every school in Denver canceled school on a pristine, blue-sky, sunny day. While we adhered to our safety protocol of fo...

All School NewsAthleticsEditor's PicksFeaturedHead of SchoolNewsUpper School700 views

The Tao of CA: Finding and defining purpose

Dr. Mike DavisJanuary 25, 2019

Feb. 12, 1969 concert poster I am turning 50 years old this month, and the notion of hitting a half-century has provoked a lot of existential thinking on my...

Head of SchoolOn CAmpus Newsletter443 views

The robots are coming!

Dr. Mike DavisJanuary 24, 2019

Over the past few years, I have been really interested in understanding just how technology will disrupt education. I entered the profession in the early 1990s....

All School NewsEditor's PicksFeaturedHead of SchoolNews118 views

Conflict—today and through history—is the spark for change

Dr. Mike DavisJanuary 18, 2019

The founding of our republic was based on the principle that we are all created equal. We could go through the list of Americans who have changed the course of ...

All School NewsEditor's PicksHead of SchoolNews73 views

Ten quotes to live by in 2019

Dr. Mike DavisJanuary 17, 2019

While the new year already feels months old, I didn’t want to miss the chance from an educational standpoint to add some thoughts to the collective 2019 manifes...

All School NewsEditor's PicksFeaturedHead of SchoolNews343 views

Hey kids, don’t conform! Disruption, revolution, and transcendence

Dr. Mike DavisDecember 19, 2018

Well, if that title didn’t get you to click this link, I don’t know what will! Lately, I have been thinking a lot about the function of schools and the role ...

Head of School369 views

Looking beyond grades, if you can

Dr. Mike DavisDecember 13, 2018

I am a big fan of organizational psychologist Adam Grant and his recent New York Times op-ed piece titled What Straight A Students Get Wrong. His thesis is that...

AcademicsEditor's PicksFeaturedHead of SchoolNews369 views

Season of Hope

Dr. Mike DavisDecember 6, 2018

This is the season of hope. Not only because “Students H.O.P.E.,” which took place just this past weekend—the largest, single-day, student-run, CA se...

All School NewsEditor's PicksFeaturedHead of SchoolNews159 views

A tribute to George Herbert Walker Bush

Dr. Mike DavisDecember 3, 2018

As the nation prepares to bid farewell to the late President George H.W. Bush, I am reminded of my own story about our country’s 41st President. During one o...

FeaturedHead of School256 views

What are we trying to do here?

Dr. Mike DavisNovember 29, 2018

“OK, everyone, “ I said to my class on the second to the last day of the term. “We are going to have a 'pop' final exam.” Gasps abounded from my students. “Well...

AcademicsEditor's PicksFeaturedHead of SchoolNews481 views

Grateful on this Thanksgiving

Dr. Mike DavisNovember 15, 2018

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays. There are those who bemoan it. Take, for instance, the opinion of comedian Jim Gaffigan. He notes that it appears ...

Editor's PicksFeaturedHead of School191 views

Veteran’s Day remembrance from the battlefields of Vietnam

Dr. Mike DavisNovember 8, 2018

My father-in-law, Dr. Lawrence Jelsma, passed away recently after a long battle with Alzheimer’s disease and was buried with Military Funeral Honors. Lawrence s...

Alumni NewsletterEditor's PicksFeaturedHead of School232 views

Caught in the middle

Dr. Mike DavisOctober 29, 2018

On a recent flight, I found myself in an uncomfortable situation. Part of it was because I was in the middle seat, cramped, with no legroom. But, it was more of...

FeaturedHead of SchoolOn CAmpus Newsletter933 views

Bennett Liu at the Mae Ra Moe Refugee Camp

Empowering students to make their learning real

Dr. Mike DavisOctober 25, 2018

I’ve always believed that one of the best things you can do for kids is to show them that you believe in their ability to change the world. It unleashes their i...

All School NewsEditor's PicksFeaturedHead of School279 views