Belvoir Christian Academy Adopts Blended Middle School Program

Belvoir Christian Academy (BCA) in Chattanooga, TN plans to implement a new blended middle school program for students in grades seven and eight beginning this fall.

According to Frank Streufert, principal of BCA, the school decided to offer an online education program to its seventh and eighth grade students "based on today's growing necessity for digital literacy, in both the academic and professional world," he said in a prepared statement. He said he believes the online courses will help prepare the students for higher education.

Students in the program will take online courses through Fuel Education's personalized learning platform, PEAK. The on-campus program will take place during school hours. FuelEd certified instructors will teach the courses and interact with students through email, videoconference, text and phone. Belvoir Christian Academy's mentor teachers will monitor the students and provide assistance in the classroom. Students in the program will also participate in physical education, art and bible courses taught by BCA teachers.

The online program will focus on core academic subjects, such as math, language arts and science, but it will also provide students with a wide variety of elective and foreign language course options. Students will also be able to take part in BCA's on campus sports and extracurricular activities.

According to FuelEd, the online courses for middle school are aligned with with the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) goals and practices and prepare students for Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) and Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium (SBAC) assessments. Teachers can customize the courses using the PEAK library, which includes more than 5,500 lessons and assessments as well as content from third parties such as Britannica School, Khan Academy and YouTube Education. FuelEd is compatible with various platforms and mobile devices, including the iPad, Chromebook and Android.

Belvoir Christian Academy is a private school for students in pre-kindergarten through eighth grade in Chattanooga, TN.

About the Author

Leila Meyer is a technology writer based in British Columbia. She can be reached at [email protected].

Featured