.Non-traditional school Providence Preparatory Academy proud of growth StoryComments Image (4)Print Create a hardcopy of this page Font Size: Default font size Larger font size 2.Previous Next Providence Preparatory Academy Jacob Giddens asks his teacher Elizabeth Palopoli a question during science class at Providence Preparatory Academy. (Kristina Wilder / Rome News) Providence Preparatory Academy Stephen Peppers (left) and Elizabeth Baggerly listen to the teacher in the third grade science class at Providence Preparatory Academy. (Kristina Wilder / Rome News) Providence Preparatory Academy Anna Rose Reid (left) hands a jellyfish cutout to Elizabeth Baggerly during science class at Providence Preparatory Academy. (Kristina Wilder / Rome News) Providence Preparatory Academy .. Location Map DataMap data ©2014 GoogleMap DataMap data ©2014 Google Map data ©2014 Google Terms of UseReport a map errorMap TerrainSatellite 45°LabelsPosted: Thursday, March 27, 2014 12:00 pm Non-traditional school Providence Preparatory Academy proud of growth Posted on Mar 27, 2014 by Kristina Wilder After three years in Rome, Providence Preparatory Academy is growing steadily and is getting noticed for its innovative approach to teaching. Providence Preparatory is a five-day school, but it takes the non-traditional approach of having students in school for two days a week in grades kindergarten through sixth and three days a week for seventh through ninth grades. Classes are taught at Chapel Hill United Meth o dist Church, 1818 Kingston Highway. During the other days of the week, the students work at home as a sort of satellite campus arrangement. Providence Prep is a University Model School which stresses a partnership with parents and gives families more control over their child’s education. Providence is one of only four University Model Schools in Georgia. Certified teachers at the school set lesson plans for the students and parents to work on from home, and students spend at least two days on the campus working with the teachers in classroom settings. The school’s officials are very excited about adding a grade for next year. “We currently go through ninth grade,” said Pam Finnegan, administrator. “But we are adding 10th grade next year and plan to add a year every year until we are a full kindergarten through 12th grade school.” Finnegan and Peggy Decker, the school’s academic dean, are confident that the school has many advantages over traditional school. “Well, the role the parents are able to play is bigger,” said Finnegan. “The parents have guidance from the teachers to help with lesson plans but still have more time to spend with their children than at a traditional five days at school. The family remains the biggest influence in the child’s life. We see it as the best of the traditional education and the best of a homeschool education combined.” One advantage many students may see is the complete lack of after-school homework. “We are able to do that because when the students are in the classroom, we have fewer disciplinary issues so the teachers are able to focus 100 percent of their class time on instruction,” said Decker. “We also do not have a lot of red tape for the teachers to work through.” When students leave for the day from the campus or when they finish their lesson plans at home, homework is just not needed, Decker said. The experience of the school is very much like a traditional school as far as the school hours and general classroom setup. “When they are here, they experience a very normal school day,” Finnegan said. “We do have class from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.” The classes are small, ranging from 5 to 10 students, and the administrators have no plans to increase that by much, setting limits of a maximum of 16 students for elementary level classes, 17 for middle school levels and 18 for high school levels. The school is Christian oriented but is not affiliated with a specific church. Anyone who works at the school or any family that has children attend the school signs a statement of faith. “We have a great relationship with Chapel Hill, but we are not affiliated with them specifically,” said Finnegan. “Our families attend churches across the community.” The school is accredited through the Georgia Accrediting Commission Inc. and the Georgia Independent Christian Athletic Association, so the school is allowed to participate in sport or academic events and compete against other schools. Providence Preparatory recently won a regional literary meet and continued on to the state level as well. “Our students are also eligible for the HOPE scholarship,” said Finne gan. The administrators are also very proud of the wide variety of classes they offer. “Of course, we have the normal subjects, math, language arts, science and history,” said Finnegan. “But we have a wide range of electives we offer, too and we try to listen to our parents’ suggestions. We’ve offered Lego building classes, art classes, music classes, missions classes, physical education and for our older students, we offer yearbook and our poverty outreach class” The poverty outreach class is a special project that a teacher started this year. Julie Dees, a teacher at the school began the program because she read “Framework for Understanding Poverty” and was trying to instruct the students about helping others. “The students began discussing a scripture verse about feeding the hungry and it just grew from there,” said Dees. “We began inviting speakers in and we took field trips to various organizations around town to learn about what they did to help those in need.” Students brought donations in to school and delivered the items to various places, including a nursing home, the Open Door Home and the Davies Shelter. They also worked at the Community Kitchen, the local food pantry, the Salvation Army and the Habitat for Humanity store. “It was life changing for me and for the students,” said Dees. “The students assembled notebooks discussing what they learned and talking about the different ways they helped. It is a great thing to have to look back on for them. I think the class really made them think and it really dispelled a lot of misconceptions. It is really about feeding a spiritual hunger as well.”
Posted on: Fri, 28 Mar 2014 01:14:17 +0000
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