Welcome to Columbus Academy
A Message from Head of School Melissa Soderberg
The hearts of Academy students are the soul of our school community. Their wide-ranging interests and efforts – and deep character – lead them to invest in service projects, win state championships and participate in wonderful theater productions and art exhibitions throughout the school year.
Our commitment to character and ethics is represented throughout our campus, from our Explorers Program for 3-year-olds to our junior speeches and commencement. In each stage of their education at Columbus Academy, our students engage with a carefully crafted curriculum that invites learners at every age to both challenge and mastery.
Since its earliest days on Nelson Road in 1911, the core to our experience at Columbus Academy has been the relationship between each child and his or her teacher. We have long cultivated excellent and experienced faculty and staff who are dedicated to fostering compassion and integrity while they reward effort and accomplishment among the students with whom they teach, lead and coach.
And while our history roots us in those steadfast values, we are committed to preparing students for the joyful and challenging complexities of our diverse world by shaping our community through actions of inclusion, equity and justice. We pledge to "foster compassion, respect and moral courage" as tenets in our students' lives so that they can be the best possible citizens in a pluralistic world.
Stepping into an excellent school is like breathing fresh air.
Come see our playful young students sorting math tables, 12-year-olds mastering pieces on the cello and teenagers learning to express themselves with clarity and grace. There is sanctity in the sense of community and a reverence for learning at all ages.
I invite you to visit our 231-acre campus and see our passion, our industry and our mission at work – we can't wait to meet you!
Sincerely,
Melissa Soderberg P’18 ’20
Head of School
(614) 509-2224
headofschool@columbusacademy.org
Mission & Leadership
Our Mission
Columbus Academy – an independent, coeducational college preparatory school – enriches its academic tradition of excellence by valuing a broad diversity of students as it seeks to develop the complete person: mind, body and character. The school rewards rigorous effort and accomplishment, fosters compassion, respect and moral courage, and insists on integrity, fair play and community service. Academy strives to develop and sustain a community of thoughtful, responsible, capable and confident citizens eager to engage in a pluralistic and ever-changing world.
Leadership Team
Melissa Soderberg P’18 ’20, Head of School
Dan Olexio P’21, Assistant Head of School for Academic Affairs
Maggie Koerner P’11 ’14, Chief Financial Officer
Cory Izokaitis P’25 ’29, Head of Upper School
Shaka Arnold P’24 ’26 ’28 ’30, Head of Middle School
Mark Hansen P’19 ’24, Head of Lower School
Pascal Losambe, Director of Diversity and Community Life
Adriana Matzke, Director of Enrollment Management
2024-25 Board of Trustees
Tanisha Lyon Brown P’20 ’22, President
Bill Porter ’74, Vice President
Paul Judge P’33 ’36, Secretary
Christine Freytag P’18 ’20 ’22, Treasurer
Sandy Doyle-Ahern P’20 ’22, Immediate Past President
Kimberly Allison P’26 ’28
Ted Carlin ’89 P’17 ’22
Valda Clark Christian P’30
Ching-chu Hu P’25 ’30 ’32
Karen Jennings P’22
Jamie Lewis P’33 ’35 ’35
Kevin Malhame P’28 ’30
Jessica Chi Nimjee P’29 ’33
Niles Overly ’69
Tom Rubey P’22 ’26 ’27
Michael A. Schlonsky ’84 P’17 ’19 ’25
Danielle Skestos P’29 ’31 ’31 ’33
Mary A. Smith P’24
Pankaj Tiwari, MD, P’22 ’25
Trevor Woods P’26 ’26 ’30
Kelly Jennings Yeoman P ’24 ’27
Patti Zettler ’98 P’32 ’35
Kelly Hondros ’06 P’38 (Alumni Board representative)
Ellie Merritt-Zeiger P’25 ’28 (PACA representative)
Strategic Vision
Columbus Academy teaches careful thought, creativity of imagination and the habit of excellence. The school’s strength has been predicated on careful planning, a robust imagination about its future, and living by its Mission as it nurtures students for a global community. A Strategic Vision adopted by the Board of Trustees of Columbus Academy imagines the future with student learning at the center of all aspects of school work. In carrying out the Strategic Vision, we will determine the best ways to infuse innovation, service, creativity and stewardship in students’ daily lives while the school seeks partnerships in research and collaborative work to prepare them for our pluralistic world.
The Vision is to imbue Columbus Academy’s excellent academic tradition with critical thinking, creativity and reflection by pursuing these strategic goals:
- Curricular Innovation: Innovating the way we teach, learn and play while reasserting Columbus Academy’s most sound programs both inside and outside our classes.
- Ethics and Character Formation: Elevating students’ insight into difference, ethics and character formation through reflective discovery about self and others and active implementation of cultural competencies.
- Student Flourishing: Honoring the way our students achieve and flourish by emphasizing determination, creativity, sense of play and iteration as important and healthy components of their success.
- Service Learning: Fostering compassion, respect and moral courage through the intentional practice of sustained service work beyond the school’s walls.
- Campus as a Living Classroom: Instilling a sense of stewardship and wonder of our campus as a living classroom.
We invite you to tour our world! Click the button below to schedule your personal tour of campus.