Reasons for 8

A child's education doesn't end after the 8th grade, so you may wonder why First Baptist Academy stops there. The eight statements below illustrate how ending at the 8th grade level benefits students during their years at FBA and prepares them for the high school years ahead.

1. Children between the ages of 5 and 14 have different needs from high school students – academically, emotionally, socially, and spiritually.

2. Teacher selection, curriculum development, and age-appropriate activities have a narrower and more targeted focus.

3. Lower-school students have a stronger sense of "place" and personal value with only the middle school students ahead of them.

4. Middle school students are not in the "middle," but at the top, which gives them more opportunities for positions of leadership in extra-curricular activities, community service, and athletics as well as being strong role models for the younger students.

5. Within the smaller community, all the students feel significant with the knowledge that they have a "voice" and are personally known by each teacher.

6. The middle school students do not have the pressure from or the influence of high school students, but, instead, are free to be who they are with many still enjoying being children and not working so hard trying to be "grown up."

7. "Graduating" 8th graders become part of the family unit along with the assistance of the Director of High School Guidance and Academic Placement high school guidance director in choosing the most appropriate high school to attend instead of simply moving forward in the usual K-12 environment where they have been for nine years or more.

8. Feeling a part of the choice made for high school, 8th graders take ownership of that choice and step into the future with excitement and a fresh commitment to success in their new school as they transition into the young-adult world ready for the challenges ahead.