2026: Building for What Endures

As we turn the calendar to a new year, I want to wish every member of the Cincinnati Classical Academy community a happy and hope-filled New Year. January is always a fitting moment for reflection and anticipation, looking back with gratitude on what has been accomplished, and looking forward with confidence to the good things that are to come. As a school devoted to the permanent things—to what is true, good, and beautiful—we do not chase novelty for its own sake. Yet when genuine growth serves our mission, it is something to celebrate. And there is much to celebrate as we begin 2026.

This month marks a major milestone. By the end of January, we will officially open the new addition to our Summit Park campus. This is a significant expansion that supports not only our physical growth, but also our philosophical commitments as a classical school. Most notable among the new spaces is our gymnasium, a facility designed with care, durability, and excellence in mind. The gym floor itself is beautifully laid out for physical education and for our Sentinel athletics programs, especially basketball and volleyball. It is a space that communicates, even silently, that bodily formation matters.

In the coming week, we expect delivery of the new bleachers, with seating for both home and visiting teams on opposite sides of the court. These will require approximately two to three weeks for full assembly and completion. During this brief transitional period, Summit Park PE classes will be held in what will eventually become our choir and band rooms. These are two very large spaces located on the west side of the new addition. Beginning in February and continuing through the end of the school year, all PE classes will be held in the new gymnasium. This temporary inconvenience is a small price to pay for what will soon be a permanent and excellent home for physical education and athletics.

Looking ahead to the 2026–27 school year, our middle school and upper school music programs will also move into the new addition. These dedicated choir and band rooms represent our continued investment in the liberal arts, rightly understood. Music, after all, is not an “extra,” but one of the ancient disciplines of the quadrivium. It is a training of the soul in harmony, proportion, and order. To provide our students with beautiful, well-designed spaces for musical study is entirely consistent with our mission.

To the north side of the gym are two additional large spaces: a strength and conditioning room and a dedicated wrestling room. Yes, Cincinnati Classical has launched a K–9 wrestling program this season, and it has already generated considerable excitement and interest. Once the floors in the wrestling room are fully finished, the new wrestling mats will be moved into their permanent home. For now, our wrestlers have shown admirable perseverance, rolling out mats after school in the cafeteria for practices. Their patience and grit are virtues we are glad to see embodied so tangibly.

The new addition also includes locker rooms—with showers—another sign that our athletics program is maturing and preparing for what lies ahead, including our first varsity competitions. The lobby of the addition will feature two Corinthian columns originally from the historic Albee Theatre on Fountain Square, a remarkable piece of Cincinnati’s architectural and cultural heritage. Their presence is more than decorative. It is a quiet lesson in continuity, reminding our students that they are heirs to a tradition larger than themselves.

The addition has its own public entrance for guests attending events, and a large concession stand that will also serve as a spirit shop, helping to foster school pride and community life. These spaces will host contests, performances, and gatherings that bring families together and strengthen the bonds of our shared endeavor.

All of this growth serves a single end: the formation of students. Great things are on their way, and we will continue to communicate details as they become available. The year ahead holds much promise.