We are always excited to see how well Challenger students perform during standardized testing, but this year we are ecstatic! That’s because as educational institutions across the nation continue to report the severity of students falling behind after two unprecedented years of quarantines and online learning, Challenger students broke the trend and achieved excellent results on the Iowa Assessments! (Watch your mailbox for your child’s personalized Iowa results that will be mailed to you this month.)
In both charts below (click to toggle), the bars represent Challenger student performance against all Iowa test-takers nationally (using 2017 norms). The fiftieth percentile represents the average rank of all test-takers. The average Challenger student in every grade outpaces—by a significant margin—his or her peers in both public and private schools (which we would expect to be a higher achieving group).
In every grade, Challenger students excel. These high scores are the result of hard work and dedication of students, teachers, and parents who stayed focused and overcame difficulties. Congratulations, and well done to all!
Ceremonies for eighth-grade graduates will be held during the last week of school. If you have a graduate in your family, you should have received an invitation in the mail. We are proud of our graduates who now embark on new chapters in their lives as self-reliant, productive individuals.
Preschool and kindergarten classes will close the school year by enjoying a “big top” of fun!
On the last day of classes, students may come dressed as a circus character if they wish. We’ll play games and have lots of laughs and circus-themed activities.
With summer just around the corner, it’s time for some outdoor fun, friendly competition, and fresh air!
Our annual Field Day, which will be held on the last day of school, is a day for students to take part in outdoor activities like relays and games.
Students are not required to wear their uniforms on Field Day. They should wear modest clothing appropriate for outdoor recreation.
Please check the lost and found at your campus before the school year ends. You may find something you did not realize was missing!
We listed several recent achievements of many students in the May newsletter, and we’ve listed a few more in this issue. Nice work and congratulations to these amazing Challenger achievers!
Each year, Challenger fifth-through eighth-graders participate in the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) American History Essay Contest. Essays are judged for historical accuracy, adherence to topic, organization of materials, interest, originality, spelling, grammar, punctuation, and neatness.
Congratulations to Lana C., (Salt Lake, UT) who won first place in state and took the overall first-place prize for all seventh graders at the national level!
Congratulations to a few more DAR chapter and state winners:
We received word of additional students who, as a result of their excellent science fair projects, were nominated to compete at the Broadcom MASTERS—a designation for middle school science fair projects that placed in the top 10% in the United States. We congratulate Haripriya R. (Shawnee, CA), Kiyan R. (Strawberry Park, CA), Rachel F. (Lone Mountain, NV), and Sanvi M. (Strawberry Park, CA), on their nomination and wish them and all Challenger qualifiers the best in the upcoming competition.
Congratulations to the following Challenger students who placed in the top ten at their respective state spelling bees!
The International Academic Competition (IAC) consists of both team and individual competitions in geography, history, humanities, science, and other subjects. The competition is open to elementary through high school students in over 25 countries. We applaud the multiple Challenger students who placed at the national level!
The national competition for 2021 was held in Washington, D.C., this past September. We congratulate the following students for their achievements at the national level.
Because of her achievements in the Academics, Humanities, and U.S. History Bees, Neha P. made IAC history by being the first female to win multiple championships in different subjects!
Additionally, the following Challenger students from the Strawberry Park, CA, campus competed as a team and won first place at the national 2021 History Bowl and third place in 2021 national Academic Bowl.
The national competition for 2022 will be held in Orlando, FL, this month. We congratulate the students below who placed in the IAC regional bees and, therefore, qualify to compete at the national level in June.
Math Kangaroo is an annual, international math competition for students in grades 1–12, with over 30,000 American students participating in 2022. We are proud to announce that the Challenger students listed below were ranked within the top five placements nationally.
Started in 1984, MathCounts is an annual, nationwide competition for students in grades 6–8. With over 250,000 participants annually, students compete in categories including algebra, number theory, probability, counting, and geometry.
We are proud to announce that our Salt Lake, UT, team consisting of: Bryce H., Juntain D., Rishi P., and Sreeram P. took 2nd place in the state-level competition.
Due to their stellar performance at state, sixth-grader Tanish S. (Traverse Mountain, UT) and sixth-grader Juntain D. (Salt Lake, UT) were selected to join the four-member team to represent Utah at Nationals in Washington, D.C.!
We applaud the dedication and hard work of the many students who distinguished themselves this year in outside activities, including these achievers:
Challenger’s summer program is designed to review academic concepts while offering meaningful interaction with teachers and other students.
Half-day and all-day programs are available and begin June 13 (or 14 for TTh students). Students will engage in unique learning exercises, drills, and activities using methods that have proven successful for nearly six decades—it’s the perfect way to enrich your child’s summer days!
If you have not yet enrolled your child in an on-campus summer program and would still like to do so, follow the steps below. A $25 application fee will be assessed.
It’s that simple! Click here to see the payment schedule, and contact your campus office with any questions. We look forward to a summer of fun and learning with your child.
To keep concepts alive in your child’s mind this summer, consider picking up the Challenger Phonics Fun kit.
The activities, characters, and songs are so fun that children learn while they play! Visit TheLearningCrew.org today.
Mark your calendars now for our two main breaks during next school year.
Challenger will not be in session during the dates listed below: