PA Cyber School Honors Program

The Commonwealth Charter Academy (CCA) Honors program is customized to meet students’ advanced educational needs.

Table of Contents:

• Benefits of Enrolling With CCA
• Honors Courses for CCA Online Education Students
• Cyber School Teachers for Gifted Students
• Invest in Your Child’s Future at CCA

Our cyber school’s Honors program provides unique opportunities for high-achieving CCA students in grades 3-12 seeking to participate in a rigorous and challenging online school experience. The high school Honors program expands to include Advanced Placement (AP) courses and dual enrollment with post-secondary institutions.

While many programs for gifted online school students often focus only on numbers and performance, we are committed to identifying students who exhibit the characteristics of gifted and advanced students and designing learning experiences to meet their needs. Students within the Honors program, which incorporates project-based learning, must participate regularly in class discussion and problem-solving. Students in the Honors program can expect courses that accelerate and customize their learning around areas of interest, deep exploration of topics, and challenging discourse with their Honors program teachers and classmates.

Students who believe they can meet the expectations and rigor of an Honors or AP course and would like to add it to their school experience can apply for program placement. We consider students for one or more of the Honors courses at their grade level. Based on academic performance and additional screenings, the CCA Honors program staff can identify Honors and AP students during initial placement or after enrollment. Input from learning coaches is an important part of identifying and serving students for the Honors program.

CCA strives to meet or exceed standards the National Association for Gifted Learners set forth for its online Honors program.

Benefits of Enrolling With CCA

While you may be considering an online school for gifted children, CCA is the only cyber charter school fully ready to give your child a customized and challenging school experience at their pace on whatever schedule suits the family the best.

That’s because, at CCA, we know our profoundly gifted students learn best at their own pace. Our teachers are prepared to offer challenging subjects, hands-on learning, and real-world applications for newfound knowledge so our learners of today can lead in their fields tomorrow, whether in continued education, right into the job market, or in military service.

At our cyber charter school, we work with families to help students develop an academic experience that is challenging and customized to their interests and skill levels. Best of all, students can choose when and how they learn. They can take part in real-time virtual class sessions or watch the recordings later when it suits their schedule better and access the gifted course lessons and resources online anytime. That sort of autonomy gives our accelerated and gifted students the time to explore a subject of interest, join clubs to expand their horizons, or even pursue internships in fields they have uncovered at CCA. We encourage exploration and intellectual experimentation, so trying something new and failing is perfectly fine. That’s part of the learning process, and it’s a cherished component of our customized curriculum for gifted and accelerated students.

Also, CCA knows that even if your child is gifted or excels in several areas, there may be challenges in a different subject. Our state-certified teachers can meet our students wherever they are in their educational journey. If they need extra help to master a course, they will receive it. If they need wings to fly in a subject they know well, they will get that, too.

We provide challenging courses for students seeking a more advanced arts, science, or technical education. If you’re looking for a school for the gifted student, look at CCA’s Honors program. It’s the right fit for your family.

Honors Courses for CCA Online Education Students

Like any school curriculum for the gifted, CCA Honors courses in grades 3-12 allow students to dive deep into enrichment projects and self-guided topics. The term honors refers to more challenging subjects — students who enroll in honors courses can use this to help them gain university scholarships.

CCA Elementary School

Our elementary school gives students the support and resources they need for success. Elementary school students need support from teachers, parents, and coaches to progress through the years. In our comprehensive online curriculum, students work through a mix of online multimedia, print, and digital resources. Honors elementary students can enroll in the following subjects:

• In CCA’s elementary grades, Honors math students explore advanced math concepts and engage in real-world problem-solving as a main component of instruction to develop deep conceptual understanding.
• Honors language arts for grades 3-5 explores a diverse collection of literature, which builds reading and writing fluency.
• Elementary Honors Science explores advanced topics. The courses challenge students through experiments and assignments focused on critical thinking, collaborative discussion, and deep content exploration, including in the student’s areas of interest.
• In Honors social studies, elementary students learn how to be good digital citizens and learn information about their home state. The Honors classes feature hands-on learning, from designing brochures and maps to analyzing artifacts.

CCA Middle School

As children enter middle school, they progress towards more independence in online learning. As a parent, we encourage you to transition into more of a support role so your child can take more responsibility for their education. In middle school, we build upon the skills that your child gained in elementary honors. When your child is in middle school, they can enroll in the following Honors subjects:

• The middle school Honors social studies courses branch out to the world past and present, covering ancient civilizations and current cultures worldwide.
• Middle school Honors science courses focus on inquiry-based investigations through projects in STEM and hands-on and online activities that help students master core science concepts.
• In middle school Honors language arts, students build on their literary fluency skills and develop and improve their ability to write and interpret different writing styles.
• Middle school math courses focus on laying a path for higher mathematics coursework in high school students. Honors courses are available for grades six and seven, and students can take alegbra in eighth grade to lay this foundation.

CCA High School

Our high school students can also enroll in AP classes. The main difference between AP and honors is the resulting college credits. Most colleges expect students to pass the AP exam with a score of four or higher. AP courses are demanding, but the great news is that students who perform well get credit for each course that they can transfer to the college of their choice. We offer the following subjects to high school honors students:

• Honors courses in the high school language arts curriculum allow accelerated and gifted students to become immersed in enrichment projects and self-guided topics. Courses focus on different periods of literature, with opportunities for meaningful discussion, deep analysis, and critical writing.
• Students enrolled in Honors math courses can start with algebra and work through statistics and calculus.
• Like language arts, the Honors science courses include real-time online conversations stimulating development. Gifted science classes allow students to explore each lesson intensively with extended lesson labs. The courses hone in on advanced topics from marine biology and chemistry to physics and real-world applications.
• High school honors social studies courses cover American and world history, government and politics, human geography, and psychology.
• The Honors arts and humanities courses include art history and computer science.

If you have a gifted child, you may want to sign them up for as many honors classes as possible, but it’s also important to be realistic. Colleges are impressed by students who excel in Honors and AP classes, but they also want to see that your child knows their limitations and will only take on what they can handle. It’s better to take only a few courses and excel than to take too many and get substandard grades.

Cyber School Teachers for Gifted Students

CCA’s teachers for our accelerated and gifted students provide process monitoring throughout the Honors courses and end-of-year assessments. A spring-semester cross-curricular project is a program feature in which cyber school students use what they’ve learned in multiple subjects to develop a major project that extends their learning.

The Honors program in our K-12 school seeks to foster students’ academic enrichment and personal development at a comfortable pace. Gifted and accelerated online students are encouraged to work above grade level with a rigorous curriculum that challenges and promotes the academic growth of each student. Advanced courses are available pending a school counselor’s and principal’s approval.

Invest in Your Child’s Future at CCA

Our online courses for gifted students give learners the opportunity to customize a challenging curriculum that allows them to learn at their own pace. At CCA, our Honors courses provide an environment for children to excel in academics while regularly participating in class discussions and project-based learning.

We offer a range of honors subjects in the arts, social studies, and sciences. Students can customize their curriculum to match their interests and skill levels. Invest in your child’s future by enrolling them in our online honors program. To learn more about our programs, request more information or enroll your child in our school today!