Remember the last time you packed all of your belongings into boxes, filled a moving truck, drove a number of miles, unloaded the trucks, and unpacked all of your boxes? It was likely a bittersweet time filled with a mixture of sadness for things you were leaving behind, anxiety for the things you were to face in the future, and anticipation of the benefits of the move.
The beginning of July was a similar time at ICA. While we did not pack boxes and move to another location, we did make a monumental move in the academy. In the interest of better serving all of our students, we restructured our faculty in such a way that students now have access to their own personal teachers (whether on-site or remote), as well as the core faculty on-site.
Here at the academy we have a group of on-site core faculty. These faculty members are available to assist you in any subject area through phone support and online office hours from Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. through 4:30 p.m. (CT) each week. Some of our on-site faculty are personal teachers and do have assigned students, but most are focused on assisting all students within the academy.
We also now have a group of remote, personal teachers. These teachers grade student work, provide quality feedback to their assigned students, and are available through open office hours for a limited time each day. You should try to communicate with your personal teacher at least once a month through these open office hours. Please note your student has access both to core faculty for occasional assistance and personal teachers for more direct instruction.
With the restructuring in our faculty, we spent all of July 2 and 3 moving students from their "old teacher" to their "new teacher." Many of you kept your original teachers, but the majority of you moved from one to another. Although your student's teacher may have changed, parents can still contact their student's personal teacher for any questions that arise.
We appreciate your patience with us during this moving time. There will still be a few small moves over the next couple of months as we hire additional teachers in some areas. As with any move, you may face some anxiety at the changes that are taking place at the academy, but please know that we are making these changes to accommodate our growth.
We appreciate you all, and we are excited about improving your experience at ICA and giving you an increased availability of your teachers to you!
Dr. Secord
Director, Ignite Christian Academy