STEM

COGNIA STEM Standards

https://www.christianacademysaints.org/editoruploads/files/STEM%20Standards%202024.pdf

Follow the Saints on Instagram @ca_saints and Facebook under Christian Academy of Myrtle Beach 

CA in the News...STEM Media Coverage

https://www.wbtw.com/news/christian-academy-earns-stem-certification-recognized-for-innovation-in-education/

Christian Academy of Myrtle Beach
STEM Program Narrative

Christian Academy is an interdenominational discipleship school, governed by an independent Board of Trustees.   Christian Academy experiences success today, in large part, due to the diligent prayer and efforts by a group of local individuals who answered a “call” in the early 1990s to open a school that would provide “academic excellence in a Christ-centered environment” for the Myrtle Beach area.  The vision of Christian Academy of Myrtle Beach is to graduate spiritually and intellectually equipped young men and women to profoundly impact the world and lead it to Christ.

In the fall of 1996, the families of twenty-nine students, in Grades 1-5, along with five staff members, embraced the vision that had been conceived and nurtured by only a few.  In the 2024-2025 school year, approximately 500 students in grades K-12 and their families are being served by Christian Academy.
During the past 27 years, Christian Academy has developed in a myriad of ways with biblical worldview integration as a unifying theme across academic and extracurricular programs.  In the 1996-97 inaugural school year, the five core subjects plus music were provided. The school’s curriculum has been continuously studied, refined and expanded through the years to include additional academic and arts offerings with cross-curricular STEM emphasis and technology utilized across grade levels as a supporting resource. It is hard to quantify the dimension that adding high school grades, beginning in 2004-2005, brought to school life. The school is excited and grateful to offer continued opportunities for growth of the heart, soul, mind, body and spirit throughout the college preparatory years. Faith with Feet, the school’s mission emphasis, provides service and learning opportunities for students in grades K-12.  Service opportunities such as these have naturally integrated STEM skills in ways that are relevant and long-lasting.

From the earliest days of school life, Christian Academy was committed to process as well as content learning, active engagement, to developing higher-order thinking skills, to encouraging cross-curricular collaboration among the faculty and students, to both traditional and non-traditional methods of assessment and to providing hands-on learning experiences in the classroom and in the field.  Interestingly, throughout the school’s history, support from the community in a wide variety of ways has been paramount, thus the notion of formal, expanded community STEM partnerships was in alignment with school goals. The school’s instructional philosophies supported STEM learning from the earliest days, thus the school decided to formalize its STEM program and in 2016, to study the school’s instructional practices and how closely they aligned with AdvancEd/Cognia STEM standards, in relation to learners, educators and experiences.  Strategic planning for 2024-2029 indicates a continued commitment to “improve the quality of instruction for all students through emphasis on STEM curriculum, adding authentic problem-solving challenges for students and enhancing community partnerships to aid in the process.”  Ongoing commitments include the use of innovative instructional strategies, prioritizing STEM-related resources to enhance instruction providing professional development, and strengthening community partnerships.

Christian Academy is committed to the development of the whole child, each uniquely gifted by God. The school offers a diverse array of student activities focused on leadership, academics and the arts through the South Carolina Independent School Association (SCISA). The school was recognized for its high level of participation in the recent years. Christian Academy’s athletic program includes a variety of middle school, junior varsity and varsity teams, with more than 60% of upper school students participating. In many ways we see the STEM mindset and culture permeate these student activities, making them relevant and long lasting.
Christian Academy, through God’s faithfulness, has achieved many goals in its relatively short history. From its inception, every effort has been made to keep tuition affordable to as many families as possible.  Though some students still receive private scholarships from individuals, Christian Academy also offers a financial assistance program so that finances are a lesser obstacle for families seeking “academic excellence in a Christ-centered environment.”  Tuition at this time still remains less than the cost of each child’s education. This presents one of the school’s greatest challenges, but also one of our greatest opportunities. The socioeconomic diversity of the school’s student population adds in beautiful ways to the tapestry of the school.  STEM education is a vital part of school life and is available to all students across all grade levels.
God has blessed Christian Academy over its young life in many ways and always with a home “just right” for the school during that season of its history. Each of the first three homes included renovation projects and shared use agreements. From 1996-2001, the school was housed in an old funeral home in central Myrtle Beach. From 2001- 2007, the school was housed at Myrtle Beach Community Church.  From 2007- 2013, the school was housed at First Baptist Church of Myrtle Beach.  In 2013, God’s faithfulness to this ministry was realized in the provision of a much-needed new approximately 50,000 square feet facility for school use.  In the fall of 2017, an addition of 16,000 square feet was completed. Despite any perceived limitations along the way, each location included the spaces and resources needed to advance the school’s mission to provide excellence in all areas, including STEM learning.  Today, the school is facing an important opportunity as it seeks to explore best options for expansion on the current property or neighboring properties as it strives to improve its ministry and to best serve the school’s students and families.

Christian Academy acknowledges with incredible gratitude the generosity of many that has allowed for a home for the school throughout its history. God’s provision of outstanding faculty and staff, however, is truly what has made the pursuit of excellence viable. Creating a learning community committed to continuous school improvement is essential when striving for excellence, thus attaining and maintaining ACSI accreditation was among the original goals for Christian Academy of Myrtle Beach. Christian Academy received its initial accreditation in 2001, having accreditation standards as a plumb-line for decision-making from its earliest days.  In the fall of 2024, the visiting team for re-accreditation included a major commendation related to STEM in their final report, noting that the “faculty’s commitment to STEM education is highly effective for student learning.” They further noted that “the faculty works diligently and effectively to integrate STEM content across curriculum and across grade levels.  The content and instruction has exceptionally high quality elements engaging students in open-ended problem-solving and designing and prototyping solutions.”  

Christian Academy looks ahead to develop a more robust STEM scope and sequence to include STEM skills and competencies and to include a K-12 continuum of the many field experiences, projects and utilization of community partnerships in order to better scaffold learning activities across K-12.  The school also plans to further develop ways to measure STEM competencies and literacy, while working to enhance the STEM mindset that contributes to quality experiences for teachers and students. Christian Academy continues to anticipate with gratitude an improving and expanding ministry in the months and years ahead, one that will be an agent of change for young people on the Grand Strand and ultimately in the places where these same young people live, love and serve.  To God be the glory!