By Sarah Buchert

This year we have had some changes in the TPA administration. Mr. Veenstra, who was the interim headmaster last year, is now provost to the headmaster; he will now be overseeing the teaching instruction at TPA. The provost position has been around for over two years, beginning when the 400 building was being renovated, and the junior high was temporarily moved to the Meyer campus. At the Meyer campus, Mr. Bergez took on the role of provost, as he took charge of the campus whenever our previous headmaster, Mr. Halman, was unavailable. “Essentially, this is how the role has continued,” said Mr. Veenstra, “but presently, it is starting to focus more on education.” Despite the responsibilities provost entails, Mr. Veenstra still teaches Greek 1 and Greek 2.

Mr. Atkinson has taken up the new position of assistant provost and helps Mr. Veenstra in the oversight of the curriculum and instruction. It is beneficial to the students because it gives the teachers more support in delivering the material and knowing what the curriculum is, said Mr. Atkinson. He teaches a full schedule and when he is not teaching, he spends his time assisting Mr. Veenstra. Mr. Veenstra, Dr. Baum, and Mr. Atkinson look at different elements of the curriculum to see if it is being delivered well. “It is not just content and what books or what material we are covering,” says Mr. Atkinson, “but also the pedigree of how it is being delivered.” Humane letters has been going through a slow change in the books each grade reads. Ninth through eleventh grade is now historical and twelfth grade is a capstone.

Last year Mr. Keating was dean of students for only junior high and Mr. Atkinson was the dean of students for high school. This year Mr. Keating has stepped up and taken on the role of dean of students for junior high and high school students. With the change in leadership for dean of students, changes to the dress code have been made and implemented. Over the summer Mr. Atkinson, Mr. Veenstra, and Mr. Keating refined the dress code and took out some ambiguous language. “The real changes that you are going to see,” said Mr. Keating, “are during the winter months. We have hammered out exactly the types of outerwear that are acceptable on campus during the cold months. It is going to be quite a shock.” When the winter months do arrive, a teacher or Mr. Keating will remind each class of the changes. Being dean of students for all of TPA impacts his teaching schedule; he now teaches what he originally loved as a teacher, mathematics, to two sections of eighth grade. Mr. Keating tells us that, “the dean of students position is going to mostly be run the same way as last year. So unless you get in trouble you will never know the changes.”