Academics

Classes offer a small student to teacher ratio. Personalized instruction encourages a greater awareness and confidence in student’s God-given gifts and talents.

Curriculum

The basic curriculum used is A Beka Book Publications. It is a Christ-centered curriculum that provides a Biblical perspective on the various subject areas that are taught. It is built upon the firm foundation of Scriptural truth and written by dedicated and talented Christian scholars who are well grounded in the practical aspects of classroom teaching.

Biblical Curriculum

All students in grades 2-8 must have a New International Version Bible for Bible class. The Bible curriculum used is Positive Action for Christ and BJU Press.

The curriculum:

• Focuses on life changes not just head knowledge
• Places a strong emphasis on character development
• Surveys all major sections of Scripture
• Recognizes the various levels of thinking skills

Grace Fellowship Academy participates in the annual Association of Christian Schools International (ACSI) achievement testing program. See calendar for testing dates. In order to evaluate the student’s capabilities to learn and his/her progress, the following standardized tests are used:

• Stanford 10 Achievement Test (Grade 1-8)
• Bible Assessment Subtest (Grade 1-8)

Honor Roll & Principal’s List

The Honor Roll and Principal’s List begin in the 2nd Grade. Honor Rolls are published at the end of each quarter. To recognize students and provide an incentive for achievement in academics, the following criteria applies:

Principal’s List: Students must obtain all A’s in core subjects with no unsatisfactory conduct marks.

Honor Roll: Students must obtain all A’s and B’s in all subjects with no unsatisfactory conducts marks.

We do not have the Principal’s List/Honor Roll for Kindergarten and 1st Grade because:

• Most of the work is done by the class as a whole as they follow the step-by-step instructions given by the teacher.
• The emphasis is on the learning of concepts with material being reviewed over and over until the student has completed the assignment correctly.
• Learning the material in these grades is of greater importance than making a “good grade” since this will be the basis for all future academic progress.

Physical Education

All students K-8th grade participate in Physical Education classes. Grades K-3 place a special emphasis on muscular development and movement. Grades 4-8 begin to develop the skills necessary for various organized sports.

Chapel & Devotions

All grades have prayer and Bible lessons in their own classrooms. All grades have a weekly chapel service on Wednesday at 1 p.m. Chapels may be led by teachers, students, and guest speakers. Parents are encouraged to attend. A chapel schedule will be provided in the monthly newsletter.

Music

All grades will have regular music class. The various grades give music programs throughout the year for parents and guests. Students in grades 4-8 may participate in GFA’s Student Choir.

Library/Media Center

A centralized library is provided for the convenience of all students. Students will have the opportunity of going to the library once each week to check out books. A maximum of five books will be checked out for two weeks at a time.

Accelerated Reader is the computerized reading management software that GFA uses as an essential practice component of our core reading curriculum. There are three easy steps involved in the process:

1. Students choose AR tagged books to read at their appropriate reading levels.
2. At computers in the classroom, the computer lab, or the library, students take comprehension quizzes on material contained within the books.
3. Students receive immediate information on their performance, with correct responses to questions provided for quizzes which are passed.

Teachers consistently receive data pertaining to quizzes passed, average book levels, and comprehension percentages. This feedback allows teachers to personalize instruction and thus enables students to achieve maximum growth. Research has proven that schools which use AR are schools in which state standards are mastered and test scores show improvement.

Our school currently has 1686 AR quizzes in our database from which students in Kindergarten through 8th grade may select. Approximately every quarter, quizzes are purchased that meet one or more of the following criteria: curriculum support, teacher request, recommended and award winning literature, Christian emphasis, and favorite authors.

Non-fiction as well as fiction titles are included in our listing. The school library has over 1500 books from which AR quiz titles are acquired on a rotating basis.

Parent-Teacher Conferences

A formal parent-teacher conference is held each fall at the end of the first nine-week quarter. The report card is given to the parents at the conference and the student’s grades, conduct and progress are discussed. Other conferences may be arranged between parents and teachers as desired.