Julie Dion

School is out of session, but that doesn’t mean the learning has to stop! Summer vacation is for relaxation, but it can also be a period of significant learning loss. At ICA, we want to help you prevent learning loss by keeping your kids engaged and learning during the summer to ensure they retain the knowledge and skills they’ve worked hard to acquire throughout the school year.

You may have a few questions: What is significant learning loss? Is this something that I should be concerned about with my child? The answer is yes – children tend to lose significant knowledge in reading and math over summer break. Children from low-income families can fall behind by as much as three months, which can affect them years into their education.

To ensure our students remain academically engaged, ICA has implemented required summer assignments in Language Arts and Math. These assignments are designed to reinforce the skills and knowledge acquired during the school year and to prepare students for the upcoming academic challenges. Assignments are due on August 6th – don’t wait until the last minute, work on your assignments now!

Here are some additional ways to maintain your child’s academic skills during the summer:

What Can Parents Do to Help? 

Make reading fun 

Incorporate reading that your children pick out and find enjoyable. Kids should have access to a wide variety of books that they enjoy reading and fully comprehend. Visit your local library and find fun reading challenges where you can earn exciting rewards. This will help keep them engaged and excited to read.

Make time for smart play

Fun games and puzzles are a great way to keep the mind sharp. Consider activities like crossword puzzles, board games, or education apps that challenge their thinking skills.

Family Activities 

Get out of the house and visit museums, historical sites, or nature reserves. These trips can provide practical learning experiences and stimulate curiosity. They off a hands-on approach to learning that can be both fun and educational.

Creative Projects 

Encourage your child to engage in creative projects, such as writing stories, building models, or conducting fun science experiments. These activities can foster creativity and critical thinking skills.

We are committed to supporting our students’ educational journeys year-round! By keeping kids engaged and learning over the summer, we can help prevent learning loss and set them up for success in the upcoming school year! Through ICA’s required summer assignments and various engaging activities, you can help ensure your child stays on track and continues to develop their skills and knowledge. Let’s work together to make this summer a time of growth, discovery, and joy in learning.

For more information on our summer assignments visit our website.

Are you a passionate educator seeking a rewarding career where you can make a profound difference in the lives of students while nurturing their spiritual growth? Look no further than teaching at a private Christian school like Impact Christian Academy. As we think about our 2024-2025 school year, we’re excited to welcome dedicated individuals who are ready to embrace the benefits of teaching in this enriching environment.

One of the standout benefits of private Christian schools is our smaller class sizes. This allows teachers at ICA to provide personalized attention to each student, fostering a supportive and engaging learning environment where every child can thrive academically and personally. With smaller classes, educators have the opportunity to connect with their students, understand their individual needs, and tailor their teaching approach accordingly.

Another advantage of teaching in this environment is the greater freedom to create lesson plans. Teachers at ICA have the autonomy to develop innovative and creative curriculum strategies that cater to the unique interests and multiple different learning styles of their students. This freedom allows educators to cultivate a dynamic and stimulating educational experience that inspires a love for learning and encourages intellectual curiosity among the students.

Additionally, private Christian schools like ICA often have a higher level of parental involvement. Our students’ parents are valued partners in their children’s education journey, actively participating in school activities, volunteering, and supporting classroom initiatives. This collaborative partnership between teachers, parents, and students creates a strong sense of community and a supportive network that promotes student success and well-being.

At ICA we instill an inclusive environment, where every student is valued and treated with respect. Our dedicated staff members work hard to create a warm and welcoming atmosphere that celebrates diversity and individual differences. This inclusive culture encourages students to feel comfortable exploring their faith and educational pursuits without fear of judgment, discrimination, or bullying.

Our teachers have the unique opportunity to be role models for Jacksonville’s future leaders, focusing on four core areas: academics, arts, altruism, and athletics. By integrating Christian values into every aspect of education, educators at ICA play a vital role in guiding students toward a deeper understanding of faith and compassion.

If you’re passionate about making a difference in the lives of students and are interested in joining our dedicated team at Impact Christian Academy, we encourage you to explore our current job opportunities on our website for the 2024-2025 school year. Together, let’s empower the next generation of leaders and inspire positive change in our community.

Impact Christian Academy operates on four main pillars to develop their scholars. These foundational principles include academics, altruism, arts, and athletics. When you enroll your child at Impact Christian Academy, they will become immersed in an outstanding educational environment with faculty that operate with Christlike leadership to impact student’s homes, churches, and communities.

Other than prioritizing academics, it is imperative to consider the extracurricular program offerings at the school you are looking to enroll your student in. Whether your student is passionate about participating in sports or arts programs, Impact Christian academy has premiere extracurricular activities that extend beyond the classroom for students to learn and grow.

Let’s explore the extracurricular activities centered on altruism, arts, and athletics that are offered at Impact Christian Academy.

Altruism:

Teaching our students the compassion of Christ is of utmost importance at Impact Christian Academy. Within our altruism pillar at ICA, we have a school-wide community service program that emphasizes the importance of making a difference in our community. Students build character through participating in community service because they get to serve others through selfless acts of kindness.

Arts:

We believe that providing students with a creative outlet is valuable because it allows them to build their personal and social skills which is beneficial for development. At impact Christian Academy we strive to encourage collaboration, self-confidence, and self-expression through providing creative venues. As we recognize our incredibly creative and talented students, we promote art culture by providing extracurricular activities in performance, visual, musical, and culinary arts.

For example, in performing arts our students are enriched through the highest quality dance training while they are exposed to world-class dancers from all over the United States.  In addition, in our performing arts program students can learn multiple disciplines such as Cecchetti classical ballet, tap, jazz, lyrical, drama, hip-hop, contemporary, and musical theatre.

If your child has a desire to express their artistic talents, Impact Christian Academy is the perfect educational institution in Jacksonville for your child to thrive academically and artistically.

Athletics:

Lastly, the Impact Christian Academy’s Athletic Program offers a range of extracurricular sports activities to enrich students. The ICA Athletic Program is a highly competitive sports program that enhances the development of positive student habits. Also, at ICA we have an established athletics program as our sports teams are recognized statewide as they have won at the district and regional levels. The Impact Christian Academy Lions have a variety of sports teams which include Varsity Football, Boys and Girls Varsity Basketball, Varsity Volleyball, Boys JV Basketball, Middle School Soccer, Middle School Basketball, and Mini Lions Cheer team. We understand that being an athlete is a serious time commitment, so we can assure you that your student athlete is held to a high academic standard because they are required to keep up to date on their academic work. Additionally, student athletes at Impact Christian Academy learn lessons in teamwork, sportsmanship, competition, and how to win and lose gracefully. Our coaches strive to produce well-rounded student athletes, so when your child participates in our extracurricular sports programs, they will learn valuable skills that they can translate to their future careers.

These distinguished extracurricular activities are an extension of the educational excellence that Impact Christian Academy provides to its scholars. Focusing on the four key areas of academics, altruism, art, and athletics, ICA strives to empower students to fulfill their purpose while making an impact. Impact Christian Academy is a prominent educational institution that is perfect to guide your child through his or her educational journey. Open enrollment for the 2024-2025 school year is now open. Learn more about the admissions process here: https://icajax.com/admissions-process/.

Established in 2015, Impact Christian Academy was created for students in Jacksonville with the mission to help students to embrace biblical truth, strive for academic excellence, and model Christlike leadership to impact their community. ICA is a top choice of educational institutions in Jacksonville. Impact Christian Academy operates around four developmental areas which include academics, arts, altruism, and athletics.

One quality that sets ICA apart from other educational institutions is the incredible programs that they offer. One program that they provide is their Chick-fil-A Leader Academy. This is a national High School Leadership program that is focused on impact through action. Another featured program at Impact Christian Academy is the Reverse Inclusion Club which partners with the School for the Blind and Deaf. For this club, students from the School for the Blind and Deaf come to ICA once a week to learn and interact with the students at Impact Christian Academy. The other distinguishing feature of the Impact Christian Academy is each grade level attends Chapel weekly which allows students and staff to receive the message together to enhance unity.

Impact Christian Academy has five academies of education based on grade levels. These academies all center around the main vision to provide a Christ-centered education in an outstanding educational environment.

IMPACT Early Learning Center (PK2 – PK4)

This center has a curriculum that supports children’s learning through integrating biblical worldview and principles into each content area. Each classroom has a vibrant atmosphere where learning is fun, and students can play and interact with each other.

Primary Academy (K – 2^nd Grade)

The academic focus in this academy includes Bible, Phonemic Awareness, an innovative reading comprehension program, English, math, science, social studies, language, handwriting, and spelling. Student learning is enriched through music, physical education, art, library skills, computer instruction, Chapel, and time to play with classmates.

Elementary Academy (3^rd – 5^th Grade)

In this academy, students have an innovative curriculum that includes Bible, a reading program, math, science, social studies, spelling, and creative writing. Like the primary academy, this Elementary academy is enriched with music, art, Spanish, physical education, and library and computer skills. Plus, opportunities for differentiated enrichment are available and they include a challenging Investigations and Explorations program, math compacting within classrooms, and advanced math placement in sixth grade.

Middle Academy (6^th – 8^th Grade)

An amazing learning environment is created by incorporating Christian- Faith based education with biblical integration and the Impact Christian Academy’s motivation for academic excellence. The extraordinary curriculum offered for students in 6^th– 8^th grade includes Bible, English, math, American history, world history, geography, science, and physical education. This education is also supplemented by Impact Christian Academy’s state-of-the-art fine arts program. The ICA also has a remarkable STEM Lab and math and English departments that highly enhance each student’s educational knowledge and skillset.

High School

Through a rigorous curriculum, the students in this upper-level school receive a Christian- Faith based education for college readiness. In addition, the Impact Christian Academy provides dual enrollment opportunities for its scholars to excel in their studies and become immersed in collegiate levels of education. The Impact Christian Academy also provides year-round college counseling as their students select a college or university. The ICA also helps students with career planning and effective leadership preparation, so they are well equipped to be successful.

A contributing factor as to why the Impact Christian Academy is a top educational institution is because the high school has a 100% graduation rate. This significant accomplishment is a testament of the Impact Christian Academy and its success in providing an exceptional educational environment for its students.

Impact Christian Academy can provide your scholar with a world-class educational experience. The Impact Christian Academy empowers its students to fulfill their purpose and impact the community through focusing on the four core developmental areas of academics, art, altruism, and athletics. If you are looking for a private Christian school, the Impact Christian Academy is an excellent choice for your child.

Open enrollment for the 2024-2025 school year is now open. Learn more about the admissions process here: https://icajax.com/admissions-process/