The Academy for Character Education (ACE) is a public home-school-support-school right here in Cottage Grove. The students attend the school only once a week, receive their home-linked-assignments, and are kept accountable to complete the work by the following school day. ACE is celebrating the completion of its fifth year, and is excited that its numbers increase yearly.
The ACE curriculum is based on classical literature and the studies cover history from the oldest archaeological finds to modern day. Excellence in all parts of the students’ schoolwork is encouraged. They are proud of their relatively small classes, which allow close relationships between kids & teachers with an average ratio of 1 teacher per 10 students. Laziness is not an option, and those who fall behind are sent to a homework-club, where kind teachers will eagerly help them wherever they need it.
Community School Days are busy, as students from Pre-readers (Kindergarten) through high school attend a full day of classes. These classes include Character, where a charismatic teacher educates her pupils on how to be persons of integrity. The Academy works diligently to help the students realize the importance of character traits, such as punctuality, attentiveness, and obedience, and applauds those who show their growth in those areas.
Science goes through a four year cycle before repeating topics. This year was the study of Biology, and the following years will include, Chemistry, Physics, and Earth Science respectively. This allows all the students (from every grade) to be studying the same subject age-appropriately, thus aiding – by simplification – the parents’ lives.
At ACE, the Language Arts program sharpens the minds of its students with college preparatory focus. It instructs the importance of phonics and grammar at early ages. Students learn even in elementary school how to write paragraphs and essays, so by the time they are in high school, they can carry on logical debates and compose college-level papers. The Rhetoric (high school) students take AP classes for Language Arts, such as AP Literature and AP Composition.
The Humanities, which include world history, geography, economics, etc, are a wonderful look into the incredible events and works of past ages. This thoroughly combines a number of classes into one, without losing the quality of its work. This class, like Science, is split into four years. The first concentrates on Ancient History, from early archeology through the rise and fall of the Greek and Roman empires. The following years include the Renaissance, the Reformation, and other major events around the world, with the fourth year dedicated to American History and Modern events. Here, ACE will be integrating more AP classes, such as AP Geography and AP Music Theory, in the future.
In both the Language Arts and the Humanities, inspiring literature, focused on the mastery of the classics and the understanding of world history and other cultures, is provided. Famous books such as Homer's Odyssey, Virgil's Aeneid, and Ben-Hur have been read this year, along with a number of Shakespearean plays.
The classical language of Latin is the only foreign language offered at ACE. Though a dead language, it has many advantages, since all the Romance languages (English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Romanian, etc) evolved directly from it. It has been proven to improve spelling and the understanding of the English language. It also makes learning other languages easier, since it was the basis for many of them. There is even an AP Latin class available for those who are ready to take it on.
Personal tutors are fabulous and unique opportunities at ACE. They are sent weekly to the students' homes to aid them one-on-one with their math. Math classes are not available on school community days, due to the shortage of time. Tutors may also be available to help in other subjects, if the students need their aid.
Another great advantage to this school is the incredible field trips. The most recent trip was a luncheon cruise on the Willamette River in Portland followed by an afternoon at the Portland Zoo. Other trips have included white water rafting on the McKenzie River, and visits to Newport for the Hatfield Marine Science Center and the Oregon Coast Aquarium.
The Academy for Character Education is a fabulous opportunity for any family who wants to blend college-prep classes with a home-schooling flare.
All this information and more is available at “aceclassicaled.org”.
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