Cumberlite - 2017 Summer

y Nancy Gerard
Aleyra Gonzalez received the “GCA Scholars
Award” in May.
Rising academic stars at Georgia-
Cumberland Academy now have
opportunities to excel like never
before. A new program, funded by
donors through our “Continuing the
Mission” initiative, will provide new
enrichment experiences for higher
achieving students.
Every GCA student needs to be
challenged and provided the support
needed to achieve academic success.
For some, that is an easier task than
for others. Recent conversations
with parents of former students
have resulted in an idea for
finding new ways to challenge
our higher achievers. From that,
discussions began about how to
find funding for such a program.
Serge Gariepy, vice principal,
has been tasked with developing
and overseeing this program.
“Our students are already well
prepared for the academics they
will face in college when they
graduate from GCA. However,
the GCA Scholars Program
is an intentional move toward
enhancing the way we prepare
our academically elite students
for standardized test preparation,
college admission, scholarship
search, and career planning.”
It is intended that the
GCA Scholars Program will
eventually provide opportunities
for students in all grade levels,
but for now the program will
focus primarily on upper classmen. It
should be noted, however, that some of
the proposed enhancements included
in the GCA Scholars Program will
benefit all students. These include
additional Advanced Placement course
offerings, the creation of a standardized
testing culture that provides additional
preparation opportunities, and more
use of data to drive curricular decisions.
Students who participate in the
GCA Scholars Program will receive
individualized advising to help them
utilize the new course offerings,
prepare college applications, and
direct them toward merit-based
scholarships for college. Quarterly,
students will participate in enrichment
opportunities that could include on or
off-campus learning experiences and
job shadowing.
Excitement is growing as parents
and students learn of these new
opportunities. Aleyra Gonzalez, a
rising junior, is looking forward to
participating in the GCA Scholars
Program. “After hearing the details of
this new program, I’m very eager to
become a part of it and benefit from
the opportunities provided by the
program.”
While we remain firmly
committed to meeting the needs of all
students, we believe the GCA Scholars
Program will help us better serve our
current students, as well as recruit
the brightest possible new students
to our campus. Greg Gerard, GCA
principal, affirms the benefits of this
new program. “We are grateful to
those who have helped cast a vision
for this program and have generously
given to make it possible. A program
of this nature helps us create new levels
of excellence at GCA and will bring
new opportunities for our students.
We look forward to seeing the impact
of the new GCA Scholars Program,
both now and in the future.”
2 CUMBERLITE SUMMER 2017