Christa McAuliffe Academy

Founder/President/Principal: Christopher Geis

School Type: Online

Founded: 1987

Ages/Grades: K-12

School Size: 160

Classroom Size: 30

Student/Teacher Ratio: 20/2

Tuition: $3895 - $4740

Financial Aid: No

Departments:

Director of Admissions Sharon Parrish sharon.parrish@achieveonline.org

Director of Education Christopher Geis christopher.geis@cmacademy.org

Director of Curriculum and Instructional Design:
Tamra Excell tamra.excell@cmacademy.org

Counselor Heidi Fox heidi.fox@cmacademy.org

Curriculum:

Online
Christa McAuliffe Academy offers an online elementary, middle and high school program that spans kindergarten through 12th grades. The early grades, especially kindergarten, require more offline supplementation and active parent participation, such as for handwriting instruction. The middle school program begins to move towards the more independent, sophisticated style found at the high school level. All courses are aligned to National standards.

Offline
Offline, project-based instruction is available at all grade levels. Sometimes a class requires offline work, as in the handwriting instruction example mentioned above. At other times, the offline instruction is a choice made by the student and educational facilitator, either to develop a deeper understanding of the material or to provide an alternate approach to learning a concept.

The common thread for our students is that they have made a choice for a 21st Century education and complete a portion of their schedule online utilizing today’s technology to enhance their educational experience.

Personalized Learning
The unifying element of CMA's program is to strive towards personalizing each student's program. Upon enrollment, students take a learning styles inventory. The results of this inventory, combined with other information such as a student's personal interests and the family's needs, are taken into consideration when designing a student's program.

Customized Pacing
Students have the option of focusing on one class at a time, a feature beneficial for many high school students. Most students have a few classes at any give time: PE or a foreign language and either a core or elective course of choice. Through the focused option, a course can typically be completed in a month. Other courses, such as PE, and foreign language tend to take an entire semester to complete.

Mastery Learning
Students may test out of lessons or entire courses if they are able to demonstrate mastery of the material. Students also must show continuous mastery of their lessons, and they are given the opportunity to revisit lessons or to approach learning a concept in new way to help them meet this goal. This is especially important for classes requiring sequential skills, as is often seen in mathematics; a student mastering the material at one level allows for greater success at the next level

Instructional Design

Certificated Teachers
All teachers are certified, and they are serving in their areas of certification and/or where they are deemed highly qualified. The two types of teachers are Educational Facilitators and Course Instructors.

Educational Facilitators (EFs)
The Educational Facilitator or “Mentor” certified teachers who take care of the “whole child” and can serve students K – 12. EFs provide guidance and instruction, document student learning, provide weekly homeroom eClasses (plus additional sessions as needed by appointment), connect with students each week regarding progress, and communicate with parents regarding student progress, among other duties.

EF Weekly Homeroom
Homeroom is a weekly, hour-long, online, interactive learning session. For the elementary program, homeroom is set up for both the student and the parent. The main purpose of homeroom is to provide for the student a sense of belonging and a way to socialize and collaborate with peers and their Educational facilitator. homeroom also provides guidance to the parent who is serving as direct teacher to the child. In these sessions, the educational facilitator answers questions in regard to curriculum and CMA in general. This is also an opportunity for CMA to touch base with families and for families to touch base with each other. Attendance in homeroom is essential. Students are graded on attendance, preparation, and participation. Attendance during a homeroom session is not mandatory, but is encouraged. EFs will email/call students who did not attend to connect with those students about their progress.

EFs (Educational Facilitator, formally known as “mentor”) will hold weekly homeroom sessions; most will be on Mondays, but some on Tuesdays. The first ten minutes or so are for announcements and other points of business (i.e. reminding kids to complete their attendance log). These announcements can also be sent out via email to students and families. The rest of the homeroom hour is meant for student socializing, sharing, and such. This is also a time where students can, through the private message option, connect with their EF regarding their progress.

Course Instructors
Course Instructors are certified teachers who are highly qualified in their subject areas for students in grades 9-12 and for a few courses in grades 7-8. They provide assistance to students working through a course, and instructors also coordinate with EFs to modify courses or even create custom courses designed specifically for a student’s learning styles and interests. Course instructors have set eClass office hours where students can drop in, and they are also available by appointment. They can also offer help via email and phone.

Course Instructor Office Hours
Course instructors will each hold a set office hour each week where kids can drop in for group instruction and help with a topic, and instructors will also be available for additional time by appointment. High school students (and younger students in foreign language, advanced math, or similar classes) will now have regular access to highly qualified teachers in addition to their EF, increasing student success.

System Requirements:

Minimum Hardware Requirements:
1.6 GHz or Faster Computer
At least 512 MB Ram (if running Windows XP)
At least 1 GB Ram (if running Windows Vista)
At least 10 GB available hard drive space

Minimum Internet Requirements:
40kB Internet Connection or Faster (good dial-up)
DSL or Cable Highly Recommended
Operating System Requirements:
Microsoft Windows 2000 or Higher
Macintosh OS X or Higher

Browser Requirements:
Mozilla Firefox 3 (browser)
Adobe Flash Player 10 or Higher (plug-in)
Adobe Shockwave Player 11 or Higher (plug-in)
Java Runtime Environment 6 or Higher (plug-in)

Office Software (one of the following):
Microsoft Office 2000 or Higher
OpenOffice 3 or Higher

Media Player Requirements (at least one of the following):
QuickTime Player 7 or Higher
RealPlayer 11 or Higher
Windows Media Player 11 or Higher
SPAM Disclaimer: None of our curriculum applications have advertisements of any kind. We do not promote or encourage the use of SPAM E-Mail, Banner Ads, or Pop-Up Advertisements within our products.

Mission Statement: Christa McAuliffe Academy provides Personalized Learning opportunities that improve students learning using innovative teaching methods for all students in grades k-12. Christa McAuliffe Academy’s online learning instructional model depends on research – based, 21st century learning skills in order to create self-motivated, competent, life-long learners who participate effectively in society. Christa McAuliffe Academy students will be prepared to be effective members of the 21st century through innovative, flexible, and student-focused education. We provide an innovative educational alternative for k-12-school-age students worldwide who may benefit from a non-traditional school setting. As a result, students graduating from Christa McAuliffe Academy will have the following characteristics of an educated person in the 21st century: 1. Solid foundations in core academic subjects: Students will demonstrate grade level course-work knowledge and performance that are consistent with National and Washington State Standards. 2. 21st Century learning skills: Students will demonstrate the following: Information and communication skills, Thinking and problem solving skills, and Interpersonal and self-directional skills. 3. Mastery of 21st Century Tools: Students will appropriately use digital technology and communication tools to access, manage, integrate, and evaluate information; construct new knowledge; and effectively communicate with others.

Philosophy/Belief Statement:

The guiding principle’s around which CMA is designed begins with:
All students – as individuals – should be celebrated
• Traditional schools are not for every student.
• Different students may need to take a different path to achieve academic proficiency and to achieve their goals.
• Education should be supportive of differences in Learning Styles, interests, abilities, and goals.

Online delivery meets student needs that are not met in a classroom
• Technology in education enables the delivery of educational content that can be efficiently personalized to multiple learning styles, interests, and capabilities.
• Online delivery leverages the power of the information age through deep, varied content made available through the Internet.
• Technology allows students to be educated efficiently and effectively through a flexible schedule where they can learn at the time, pace, and place of their choosing.

Personalized learning helps k-12 school students build life skills
• Lessons learned through independent work is retained better than if learned via lecture and tends to remain with the learner longer than knowledge gained through a classroom lecture.
• Students in a personalized learning program develop more effective time-management skills, self-discipline, and self-direction.
• Maturity, time-management, and self-direction aid in college and/or career success.
• We believe that today’s students are capable of building successful educational and social relationships even though they work independently. However, we also believe that supplementing the online k-12 school experience with community-based interactions will provide powerful social and academic benefits for students.

Expected School-wide Learning Results (ESLRs)

At Christa McAuliffe Academy we seek to prepare students for college and beyond who are:

Communicators,

Motivated Independent Learners,
And Achievers!

School History: Christa McAuliffe Academy, founded in 1987 by Glen Blomgren, has grown from its rather humble beginnings to a thriving worldwide organization headquartered in Yakima, Washington. CMA operates under Personalized Education Group, Inc. an educational management organization. Long-time associates serving as administrators, office staff, and teacher/educational facilitators foster a sense of community and an atmosphere of harmony where new ideas can take root and grow more easily… where innovation is welcomed and applauded. CMA went through a transformation in 2008, improving curricular options while adding a host of tools to help students succeed. A learning styles assessment, diagnostic assessment, and highly qualified instructors were all added over the past year to help bring a more personalized approach to learning for each student.

Testimonials:

July 2008 – Barry – Parent of recent CMA graduate

“I recall the research that I did in the fall of 2006 when I was looking for schools for my son. I thought (and hoped) at the time that CMA would be the right program for him. Our experience with CMA since then has not only confirmed our hopes, but exceeded our expectations. Thank you for everything. You’ve got a great school!”

January 2009 – Ronda – Parent
Internet based learning is a wonderful alternative for kids. Your school is the best one we have tried. It is a wonderful program! Thank you for everything. Keep up the good work!

Notes/School Information:

CMA operates 12 months a year, thus students can work at their own pace and graduate in less than four years.