students and it continued to expand.”
In the fall of 2015, they started a new school year
thinking they would hit a “home run” with 36 students
enrolled. Actually, the school enrolled 60 students. By
2016, they started a new campus in Lipan.
“We have a lot of families in Lipan, Brock and
Stephenville who go to this school. We built our building
on the main campus and expanded more and currently
have about 150 students. We keep growing and grow-
ing,” McGlothlin said.
GCA is a fully accredited private school for preschool
through 12th grade, using the Christian Abeka curricu-
lum. Following a traditional school year, GCA oper-
ates on a four-day workweek, opening Monday through
Thursday. Fridays are what they call “flex” days for
additional tutoring. The program breaks down the week
with two days of classroom instruction and assessment
and two days of homeschool with provided lesson plans.
Their classroom size is between 12 and 15 students,
giving children more one-on-one teacher time.
“We also have an education program for parents who
want to exclusively homeschool. We approve the lesson
plans and do all the grading, along with lesson plans with
online instructions. We also offer dual-credit classes as
early as 9 th grade,” McGlothin said.
Students participating in the dual-credit program with
Weatherford College can fulfill their high school course
requirements while earning college credit. Students who
are enrolled in the college course and GCA will honor
their completion of that course for a high school credit.
These credits are transferable to other colleges, saving
parents money and enabling students to graduate from
college faster while introducing them to the standard
college courses.
For students with dyslexia, GCA has a program that is
certified through Otron Gillingham, providing a dyslexia
diagnostician for your child. If you’re interested in extra-
curricular activities, GCA provides their students with a
wide variety of before-, after- or in-school activities.
“Even though we are a small school, we still have
events like a Christmas program, graduation and prom.
We have a wonderful art and music program that offers
guitar lessons and theater opportunities. We had an art
show at Vintage in the beginning of May and had 95
pieces. We are NCAA-approved, so all students have the
opportunity to be on an NCAA team and apply for schol-
arships. We also have our own 4-H program,” McGlothin
said.
GCA currently has open enrollment with the school
year starting on Aug. 20, and with their free placement
testing prior to the start of school. Any child would bene-
fit from the top-notch school.
Add Saving for Education
to Your Back-to-School List
To learn more about your education savings
options, call or visit a fi nancial advisor today.
.
300 South Main Street Ste 200
Weatherford, TX 76086
817-596-5841
Financial Advisor
www.edwardjones.com
Member SIPC
Donna J Alberts, CFP®
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