Hey, everyone, Ronnie here. Welcome to my "It's been six months since I became Headmaster so I'm going to throw a bunch of stats at you because you're supposed to care" report. This report's working title was first going to be, "Everything is fine, nothing is ruined," given the consistency of the Shadow Academy and the carrying out of its purpose. But number crunching is fun, isn't it?

As many of you know, I was appointed Headmaster of the Shadow Academy back in February of 2012. It's now August. And yes, the typical reaction I've gotten from people when I've mentioned that is "HOLY MEATBALLS BATMAN IT'S BEEN SIX MONTHS????" So, yeah. Let's take a look at what's happened with the Shadow Academy in those six months.

1. The Shadow Academy is almost to full automation. No longer do you have to tap into FTP to create or edit exams. It can all be done through the administration page thanks to some great coders. These changes also include our very own independent image uploader, so we don't have to claw on the window hoping for someone to respond and help us out.
2. Three new exams have been created since February: ToR Basics, Debate I: Argumentation, and Debate II: Refutation. The Dark Sage of Law, subsequently, was updated so that the debate courses are now required to obtain that particular dark side degree.
3. The 2012 Dark Sage of Writing course came and went. Please congratulate Archangel on being the only student this year to obtain this prestigious degree. 2013 will see the exact same curriculum (save for a new text) as the 2011 Dark Sage of Writing course.
4. The Shadow Academy Debate League held its very first debate competition on the forums. Scelestus went away with first place, with Legorii and Xantros taking second and third respectively.
5. Along with appointing Solus Gar as my Praetor earlier on, I appointed Scelestus as Magistrate to the Shadow Academy and head of audits.

And speaking of audits, the entire Clan History department save for Arcona History has been audited, edited, and re-uploaded. Sanguinius, Professor of Clan History, will be working on Arcona History himself. Scelestus has been taking feedback from several DBers who partake in the Shadow Academy and will next be tackling General Studies.

I was really, really hoping that I would be able to give a complete list of stats that included the amount of Mavens, Savants, and Sages. But hey, guess what? The e-mail in which I got my stats from, ShadowAcademy, has not received updates on granted degrees since 2010. So I guess A. I'll have to track the degrees my own just in case while B. figuring out just why degree e-mails are not being sent to the ShadowAcademy e-mail while course updates are.

Oh, well. Let's just say we got a fair share of degrees sent out since February. The real lion's work, however, lies in the exams themselves.

Since February 20th, 2012:

• A total of 420 exams have been taken.
• Out of those 420, 398 exams have been passed. That's an average of 66 exams being passed every month. Basically, over two exams a day.
• 22 exams have been failed. That's only 5.5% of all exams taken since the noted date, meaning only 2.75 exams have received a failing score out of 50. That's very, very good.

There has been a noticeable slowdown of test-taking since May, which makes sense due to the fact that it's summer and people are on vacation. We expect the numbers to pick up again at the end of August/beginning of September.

Those of you who are interested, I would like you to send me some answers to the three survey questions below. Unfortunately, this will not be anonymous feedback because I really don't feel like heckling Muz about making me a legit survey site. So bear with me as you respond to my questions because I will know exactly who you are (and where you live. Just kidding, I don't know that. Or do I?). So here we go:

1. What is one thing you like about the Shadow Academy?
2. What is one thing you would like to see added to or improved about the Shadow Academy?
3. If you were to create an exam, what would it be about and why would it be useful to the Brotherhood?

E-mail all answers to me and only me at [Log in to view e-mail addresses]. If the feedback is particularly noteworthy, I will discuss it with the Dark Council. Please be advised that website concerns are being dealt with by coders and Councillors at this point in time.

I know that in my previous reports, I have mentioned bigger projects and possible vendetta ideas. Those are still on the table, but with the impending Horizons vendetta, I have been forced to put many things on the backburner. This is why the next debate competition will not be run for a while and why the games idea has still not been thoroughly discussed yet.

Please also keep in mind that I now have a full-time job working at AmeriCorps in a literacy program. I will be working, on average, from 9:30 to 6 on most weekdays (and some selective Saturdays), Pacific Standard Time. It is always good to CC Solus and Scelestus on questions and concerns about exams and the Shadow Academy in case I am unable to get to them in the time allotment you need.

Don't worry - I still have a 24-hour turnaround time. I just won't be as quick on my feet as I used to be. That's what happens when you become a responsible adult.

Of course, no Headmaster report would be complete without another educational Star Wars joke. Before the school year starts again, we turn back to the one overpriced object that students love to have: The yearbook.

I guess Jabba really let himself go after high school.

Have a great rest of the summer, guys, and I'll be talking with you again in the fall!

Cheers, Ronovi Tavisaen Dupar Headmaster of the Shadow Academy