ACA Families,

It is with great pride and enthusiasm that I welcome you to another school year at Atlantic Collegiate Academy. This summer has given me the chance to reflect on the tremendous welcome I received when I joined this school, and I am more energized than ever to begin this year. From my conversations with staff to the time spent preparing our building and programs, it has been clear that ACA is a unique learning community, and I could not be more excited for what lies ahead.

Over the past several weeks, our team has been hard at work getting the school ready — refreshing classrooms, finalizing schedules, and planning meaningful experiences for the Armada. I also want to recognize Assistant Principal Paske, who has been an invaluable thinking partner and colleague as we prepare for the year together. We are going to make a great team, and I know our combined efforts will serve our students well.

Introduction 

As you may know, I come to you from the great state of Maine. Professionally, this is my 34th year in education. I began as a high school American Studies teacher then moved to an assistant principal position, followed by high school principal, assumed an assistant superintendent role and a graduate professor of educational leadership. I bring a wealth of experience to my leadership position for your students.  What I found was central to all of those roles was my strong connection with students and families and a desire to create positive and challenging learning opportunities.  Perhaps most relevant to you, I am also the parent of three children as well.  I know the joys and challenges that you all experience with your children.

As we begin this school year, I want you to know that my approach to my initial work is guided by the following:

Visibility – I want students, families, and staff to know I will be present in our classrooms, hallways, and events throughout the year.

Approachability – The best intentions in leadership cannot be realized if staff, students, and families do not feel they can come to me and be heard, with their ideas and concerns genuinely considered.

Continuous Improvement – I will continue gathering information from a variety of sources with the goal of moving an already excellent school to be an even better one.

Hiring Update

I also want to share an update on our athletics program. We are currently working to hire our Athletic Director to replace Coach Payne, and I am pleased to report that we have several great candidates in our pipeline. Once that hire is in place, we will turn our attention to filling our varsity baseball coach position. We are committed to finding leaders who reflect the same values of excellence, integrity, and attention to student-athletes that define ACA, and we look forward to sharing more news soon.

Take a look at our Careers page to see other open positions for the coming year. Please have any qualified candidates you may know reach out to me about any of these positions as soon as possible.

There is already such impressive work happening here, and I look forward to building on it together with you this year. My intention remains the same: to ensure that ACA continues to be an engaging, supportive, and appropriately challenging environment for your children.

I look forward to seeing you all — students, families, and staff — as we kick off a great year together.

Regards,

Dr. Patrick Hartnett
Principal
 

About Atlantic Collegiate Academy: Atlantic Collegiate Academy (ACA), located in Conway, S.C., serves high school students in a safe, small and family-centered setting. Our students seek the opportunity and challenge of rigorous curriculum, high academic standards and elite athletics while also earning up to two years of college credit. ACA serves students in grades 9-12 using an honors curriculum in 9th and 10 grades with a dual enrollment curriculum in 11th and 12th grades.

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Learn more about ACA by visiting our website at AtlanticCollegiate.Academy and by following us on social media on Facebook, Instagram and X.