How Does CA Work

Enabling Our Students
To Learn

Accreditation

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Center Academy is accredited by Cognia, the National Independent Private Schools Association and the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools. Students receive credit for each academic course completed. Graduating seniors receive a Standard Diploma recognized by the Florida Department of Education and accepted at all Colleges and Universities.

Our high school curriculum is aligned with Florida State Standards, and credits earned are recognized throughout the country. We offer a 24 credit minimum course load for graduation with a standard high school diploma.

Accreditation means that students have:

Assessment

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For each student at Center Academy, we gather comprehensive information regarding learning styles, experiences, and academic needs. When needed, we also administer further tests to determine the best teaching methods to work with an individual student. Our assessment process is designed to identify cognitive strengths and weaknesses in order to develop an individualized academic program for each student.

After administering the Stanford Achievement Tests to students for many years, Center Academy chartered a new course for the 2018-19 school year. We partnered with Step Up for Students and NWEA (Northwest Evaluation Association) to administer NWEA MAP® Growth. Because of the flexible administration format and shorter test length, we can administer NWEA MAP more frequently during the year in order to better understand student learning and achievement gains. This will help Center Academy teachers to continue to individualize and improve student learning.

Like the Stanford Achievement Tests, NWEA MAP is not a State of Florida test and does not determine school grades or have other “high-stakes” ramifications for students. MAP Growth measures what students know and informs what they’re ready to learn next. By dynamically adjusting to each student’s responses, MAP Growth creates a personalized assessment experience that accurately measures performance. Timely, easy-to-use reports help teachers teach, students learn, and administrators lead.

MAP Growth tests begin with a question appropriate for the student’s grade level, then dynamically adapt throughout the test in response to student performance. This progressive refinement allows MAP Growth to challenge top performers without overwhelming students whose skills are below grade level. This highly individualized approach makes NWEA MAP a great fit for our students at Center Academy.

We have never administered the FSA or FCAT at Center Academy. The FSA/FCAT is given in charter and other public schools in Florida.

Research

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Parent Survey Results

Center Academy parents were recently asked to rate their children on a five-point scale, indicating their present performance and their performance prior to entering Center Academy. This research shows statistically significant improvement in all ten measures.

“We expected to see significant growth, but these results are beyond even our expectations.”
-Dr. Eric Larson

Center Academy was one of a very few schools selected by NIMH to receive a $325,000 research grant to develop prescriptive learning programs designed to meet the needs of individual students.

Center Academy private schools do not give the FSA/FCAT. Because education is much broader than a single measure, we do not “teach to the test”. Nevertheless, our nationally-normed assessments consistently demonstrate that, on the whole, Center Academy students make learning gains greater than they had in their prior schooling.