This is a resounding, “YES!” Apostolic Christian Academy will remain a private Christian school with opportunity and ability to present all academic fields of study in a Christian worldview, using vetted Christian curriculum (Abeka). Not only this, but ACA will continue to enjoy daily Bible classes for each grade and weekly chapel services for all students.

The only standard policy and procedure the charter requires that ACA does not already meet is an annual standardized test for all students. This testing is required of all charter schools at the end of the year to certify that academic goals and minimum competencies are being reached. At this point, ACA plans to fulfill this requirement by way of Terra Nova standardized testing resources.

Not at all! For any parents concerned the charter will limit our ability to teach, live, speak, and set policy standards based on Biblical truth – be at peace! ACA will not be forced to abandon any moral beliefs or standards to qualify as a chartered school. We will still use our current Christian curriculum and will still be able to enforce standards made clear in our student and staff handbooks concerning behavior and beliefs.

One of our non-negotiable terms in deciding to charter ACA was that we would be able to move forward with our amazing and God-given staff. This has been the plan from the beginning and remains so! In addition to this, chartering introduces the opportunity for many avenues of teacher training and personal development. Our teachers will have a much greater field of resources to choose from concerning professional growth.

Chartering will enable ACA to codify the method and means that best suits student academic growth and development as standard policy. Specifically, chartering will allow for the return to traditional instruction methods (live teacher, textbooks, classroom) to all grades K-12. Hybrid methods that are currently in use for grades 5-12 (Chromebook, video lectures, digital assignments) will still be available as resources, but they will not be the central method for teaching in any grade.

Private education is a tremendous sacrifice! Many families would love the opportunity to take advantage of private education, but with the rising cost-of-living and many other economic circumstances, it is a sacrifice beyond reach for most. Chartering will put ACA in a place to cater to such families by way of accepting the school choice voucher offered in Ohio – EdChoice.

The EdChoice Scholarship is a program that awards students tuition vouchers in the amount of $6166 (for grades K-6) and $8,408 (for grades 7-12). These full voucher amounts are made available to students from families at or below 450% of the federal poverty level, while students in higher income brackets receive progressively reduced voucher amounts.

For example, a family of 4 can receive full tuition voucher amounts for all students as long as the total home income is $140,400 or less. Reduced voucher amounts would be awarded to families for which the total income is greater than $140,400.

Check out the following website to determine the eligibility of your household:

https://www.fplcalculator.com/

The chartering process requires certification of ACA policies and procedures by the Ohio Department of Education, including two site-visits. This process involves verification of ACA’s vision & mission, curriculum use, standard policies, staff certifications, and even building certifications. While we cannot definitively guarantee that all of these will fall into place, our goal is to be provisionally chartered by the beginning of the 2025-2026 school year, which will allow enrolled families to take advantage of the EdChoice program as early as next school year!

It is impossible to include all of the detail of the charter in a FAQ like this, but we do plan to release relevant information to parents as the process unfolds, including curriculum allocation, staff updates, and more! However, for anyone that has questions or needs clarifications on the process, please do not hesitate to contact the school office. We would love to hear from you and explain what the future holds!