Classical Association of the Atlantic States - Main Page

A message from Traci Dougherty, a CAAS-area teacher and ACL Vice President for Membership & Engagement:

Are you going to this year's American Classical League Institute at William and Mary in Virginia?

If so, please consider attending my session about Catching Proficiency Growth.

Less grading. More evidence. Greater student ownership.

Your students are growing in your class, but how do they see it? How can you prove it? Traditional assessments capture a snapshot of learning, but student proficiency portfolios can tell the whole story

Catching Growth in the Middle Workshop: WL Proficiency Portfolios (June 27th, 6-9 pm)

In this interactive ACL Pre-Institute workshop, you’ll explore how proficiency portfolios can help students take ownership of their learning while providing powerful evidence of growth for teachers, administrators, parents, and students themselves.

Together, we will:

• Examine the research behind portfolio assessment and student motivation
• Explore practical portfolio models from Latin classrooms
• Create a portfolio framework you can immediately implement
• Develop reflection and goal-setting activities that build student agency
• Investigate digital tools that simplify collection and organization of student work
• Learn authentic assessment strategies aligned with ACTFL proficiency goals

You’ll leave with ready-to-use templates, reflection prompts, sample portfolio structures, and a concrete plan for bringing portfolios into your own classroom.

Whether you’re new to proficiency-based instruction or looking for better ways to document student growth, this session will provide practical tools you can use right away.

I hope you’ll join us as we explore how portfolios can help us tell the story of student growth that too often goes unseen. I would love to see you there!

Traci Dougherty
ACL Vice President for Membership & Engagement

CANE's Summer Institute is just a few weeks away, July 6-10. It is virtual, and you do not need to be a member of CANE to attend! Find out more at the link below.

Register Now for CSI 2026! - CANE Registration is open for the 2026 CANE Summer Institute!

There will be another school board hearing about the UDSD Latin program on Monday, May 18! If you haven't signed the petition yet, you can do so at the link below.

The Latin program at Upper Dublin School District (PA) is at risk of elimination. The school board is meeting on May 6 to discuss the issue. If you are able, please sign the petition linked below and complete any of the other listed action items to help support this important and long-standing public school program: https://c.org/HWtcd2rKm8

Upper Dublin High School Latin Club

The Latin program at Upper Dublin School District (PA) is at risk of elimination. The school board is meeting on May 6 to discuss the issue. If you are able, please sign the petition linked below and complete any of the other listed action items to help support this important and long-standing public school program: https://c.org/HWtcd2rKm8

Upper Dublin High School Latin Club

Former CAAS Executive Director Mary Brown has contributed another article about the recent activities of the Classical Studies program at St. Joseph’s University, in the hope that it may inspire other Classics educators. Read more at this link: https://www.mainlinemedianews.com/2026/04/20/brown-as-good-as-it-gets-a-day-in-the-life-at-hawk-hill-the-james-j-maguire-campus/

Emma Vanderpool, author of innovative Latin novellas for all students, is Temple University's 2026 Masciantonio Pedagogy Colloquium Speaker! Her presentation is in the IH Lounge (Mazur 215A) at 3 pm on Monday, April 27. Contact Dr. Karen Hersch at [email protected] for more info or to RSVP for pizza.

May 1 is the deadline to nominate a CAAS colleague for an ovatio or gratulatio or a McManus Leadership Award! Find out more at https://caas-cw.org/caas/awards/

DEADLINE: May 1, 2026! The CAAS Awards Committee invites you to nominate a colleague for an ovatio or gratulatio, or for the Barbara F. McManus Leadership Award, for CAAS 2026! Find out more at https://caas-cw.org/2026/02/08/call-for-nominations-2026-caas-awards/

Former CAAS Executive Director Mary Brown recently wrote two articles about successful Philadelphia-area Classics programs. Both articles may be of interest to CAAS members throughout the Mid-Atlantic region:

Read about recent student activities and the continuing success of the Classics program at Saint Joseph’s University: https://www.mainlinemedianews.com/2026/03/24/democratizing-the-cheat-code-latin-for-everyone-at-hawk-hill/

Read about the Philadelphia Classical Society's 87th Annual Latin Week Contests: https://www.mainlinemedianews.com/2026/03/02/maximas-gratias-to-the-haverford-school-for-hosting-the-philadelphia-classical-society-87th-annual-latin-week-contests/

‘Maximas Gratias’ to The Haverford School for hosting the Philadelphia Classical Society 87th Annual Latin Week Contests Students earned four levels of awards: summa cm laude, magna cm laude, cm laude, and “Best In Category.”

On behalf of Graduate Center CUNY Classics:

The Classics Department at the CUNY Graduate Center invites you to the 18th Annual Graduate Student Conference in Classics, Thalassocracy and the Power of the Sea, on Friday, April 24th, 2026. The event is free and open to the public.

The conference will take place in the Skylight Conference Room at the CUNY Graduate Center (365 Fifth Ave, right across the street from the Empire State Building), from 9:30 AM to 6:00 PM, and will feature a keynote address by Columbia University's Elizabeth Irwin, as well as three panels of graduate student speakers on nautical matters ranging from the Assyrian Empire through the Roman hegemony in the Mediterranean.

Registration for the event can be found on our website, https://thalassocracy.commons.gc.cuny.edu/. While registration will remain open up to and including the day of the event, we encourage those interested in joining us for lunch to register by April 10th so that we can order a sufficient amount of food.

For questions, please email [email protected].

DEADLINE EXTENDED: proposals for the 2026 CAAS Fall Meeting are now being accepted through Sunday, April 19, at 11:59 pm! Visit our website for more information about submission requirements: https://caas-cw.org/2026/02/05/call-for-proposals-caas-2026-annual-meeting/

Call for Proposals: 2026 CAAS Annual Meeting – EXTENDED to April 19, 2026 | CAAS-CW Call for Proposals: 2026 CAAS Annual Meeting – EXTENDED to April 19, 2026 Posted on March 30, 2026 by webmaster Deadline for all proposals: EXTENDED to Sunday, April 19, 2026 (11:59 p.m.) Meeting dates: October 8-10, 2026 Meeting location: The Hotel Du Pont, Wilmington, DE Submit here: https://eas...