Tampa Bay Christian Academy (TBCA) and TEL Library Announce Affordable College-Credit Courses for TBCA students
Tampa Bay Christian Academy in Tampa, Florida and and TELLibrary of Oklahoma are partnering to make dual-enrollment affordable, safe and attainable for students from diverse backgrounds - especially underserved and low-socio-economic backgrounds.
- Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL (1888PressRelease) April 09, 2019 - Tampa Bay Christian Academy of Florida, Inc (TBCA) and TEL Library, a non-profit educational organization based in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma have announced a new dual-enrollment initiative to provide affordable general education courses for college credit to students at TBCA.
“More than half of all TBCA’s students come from underserved populations and fall under or just at the government poverty level,” said Rob Reynolds, Executive Director of TEL Library. “TBCA was looking for flexible options for providing advanced learning opportunities for their students and we were honored to provide it.”
Reynolds explained that TEL is working with Excelsior College, a regionally accredited non-profit college, to provide transcripted, transferable college credit for its courses. “Excelsior helps us to lower the entry-barriers to college study for rural high school students,” he said.
As part of the organization’s efforts to encourage college study for underserved students, TEL made it incredibly easy for TBCA to adopt its dual-enrollment program. TEL offers schools a catalog of courses that are available for college credit and fulfill many graduation requirements. In addition, the organization provides all course materials, course instruction and grading, course administration and recordkeeping, and both course and technical support.
Natasha Sherwood, TBCA Head of School said, “It’s such a blessing. At first, I thought it was almost too good to be true. Accessibility and affordability are the two biggest deterrents for many of our students. TEL Library takes care of both of those issues.”
TBCA offered a small pilot program to four students this spring in preparation for a full offering in fall 2019.The inaugural students started courses Monday, April 2, 2019 and are enjoying the challenge and rigor of the courses. “The information is interesting. I am enjoying my current American Government class,” said 15-year-old sophomore Isabella. “The online design is easy to follow; the work is hard and is opening my eyes to what I can expect when I graduate. And the instructor is good and not boring.”
Isabella said she was looking for advanced opportunities, because although she is only a sophomore, she will have completed almost all high school requirements at the end of this school year – including Pre-Calculus, Senior English, Chemistry, Anatomy, Spanish 2 and much more. “I was wondering what I was going to take next year that would challenge me,” said Isabella. “This dual enrollment opportunity is exciting because I can finish my high school requirements, challenge myself and explore some neat courses like Latin, Quantitative Analysis, Psychology and much more! I can’t wait for next year.”
“Our goal,” Reynolds said, “is to make it truly affordable and easy for TBCA’s students to take their first college courses. We believe the best way to accomplish this is by having them begin college studies without having to leave the familiar context of their high schools. This allows them to take advantage of existing resources and to achieve significant savings for a college education.”
Sherwood echoed this desire. “If I can show my students that they CAN do college by exposing them to the courses in our upper school, I can inspire them to continue college after they graduate. Many of our students don’t have the financial or transportation resources to go to a local college campus. Being able to offer these rigorous courses on our campus opens up a whole new world for them without leaving our campus.”
“I can’t wait for all of our students to have the opportunity to take these courses in the Fall,” said Sherwood. “This enables us to challenge our most advanced students. They will have the opportunity to enter college with numerous college credits, great experience and the knowledge they CAN do hard things!”
ABOUT TEL LIBRARY
TEL Library is a non-profit organization committed to facilitating equitable access to high-quality, affordable learning in the U.S. TEL offers its library of general education courses to high schools, colleges and universities, and homeschool parents and organizations. As part of its mission to support affordable life-learning, TEL also maintains a free reference library and offers low-cost certificate courses. For more information, please visit www.tellibrary.org.
ABOUT TAMPA BAY CHRISTIAN ACADEMY OF FLORIDA, INC. (TBCA)
Tampa Bay Christian Academy of Florida, Inc. is accredited by the Christian Schools of Florida and the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools and serves students from infants to 12th grade. TBCA is committed to challenging students who already excel academically, helping those who are challenged academically and encouraging all students to try hard things. TBCA educates students of all religious, economic, racial, and academic backgrounds. TBCA accepts Step Up For Students, McKay, AAA, Gardiner, Hope and FTC scholarships and provides military and pastoral financial aid. If you don’t think you can afford private school, give TBCA a call. They are currently enrolling for the 2019-2020 school year and have a few seats left in most grades. For more information or to schedule a tour visit tbcarams.org, email nsherwood ( @ ) tbcarams dot org or call (813) 343-0600 and set up a tour and interview dot
Natasha Sherwood
(813) 343-0600
nsherwood ( @ ) tbcarams dot org
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