Whether your child is coming from a large public school, attended a small Christian school, or was homeschooled, freshman year comes with numerous adjustments. There is a new campus to navigate, new teachers to meet, classmates to befriend, coursework and extracurriculars to balance.
Like you, we know how important these next four years are, and we want your son or daughter to have every opportunity to build their academic portfolio, develop their character, and nourish their relationship with Christ. We want them ready to move forward after graduation and have fun in the process!
At Concordia Academy, we strive to make your teen’s transition into high school as smooth as possible, with our small class sizes, relational community, and caring teachers; we also offer continuous guidance throughout the year to our freshmen class.
As a Beacon, your teen will engage with robust, comprehensive academics, stimulating extracurriculars, and competitive athletics. Like you, we want your teen to develop their God-given potential, which is why Christ is at the center of all we do. Your teen will be able to grow in their walk with Christ through chapel, theology classes, and our Family Life Groups that encourage students to seek God in an intimate setting with students across all grade levels.
Your teen will have time to grow, develop, and thrive at Concordia Academy. We want to make high school memorable in all the right ways by connecting your teen with the right people and the right opportunities. Contact admissions to schedule a tour.
About Concordia’s Freshman Experience
As one of the new kids on campus, we want to get your teen connected and off to a solid start. Freshman Seminar is a class designed to meet the needs of our incoming freshmen. Your teen will learn about study skills, career exploration, personal learning styles, and more during this seminar. As a Beacon, we want your child to know how to make the most of their next four years at Concordia.
Additionally, our guidance team will meet with our freshman class six to eight times throughout the year to offer any support needed. Freshmen are also encouraged to meet one-on-one with our guidance team as needed.
We don’t want to overwhelm your teen; we want to challenge them to grow. Our faculty and staff will get to know your child, celebrate their strengths, and nurture their growth as they overcome gaps. To do this, we keep classes small and offer college-prep and honors classes so your teen has the right balance of rigor and support.
In addition to our 9th-grade coursework, we offer our ICE Lab — a high-tech learning environment built for students to engage imagination with fabrication as they collaborate with peers in a creative atmosphere.
Concordia offers ample opportunities for your teen to delve into their passions, likes, and interests. Many of our freshmen find our fall play or spring musical a fun place to jump in and see how the stage suits them. Your teen will also be able to enjoy music, art classes, intramural teams, and more.
Our freshmen have the opportunity to connect quickly to Concordia’s student body by participating in the Student Activities Board. This is a group of students who volunteer to advise and assist in the organization of school social, service, and spirit events, including homecoming assemblies, charitable fundraising, and dances.
75% of our student body competes in one of our 17 sports teams, allowing your teen to grow athletically. In addition, Concordia has competed at State tournaments for boys basketball, girls basketball, softball, track, and dance, and won the State Championship for volleyball and individual player championships in track.
First-year students have the opportunity to participate in strength and conditioning, specified field trips dependent on the class your teen takes, and a unique retreat early in the year geared solely for our freshmen. We know this year can be hard, which is why creating numerous opportunities for them to build friendships and garnish new experience is important to us.
College and Career Prep:
Freshman Year
Although college is still a few years away for your teen, we want to get the conversation started. At Concordia Academy, your teen will have the opportunity to take different assessments that will help them set goals for their future. These include career aptitude, strengths, and personality tests. Additionally, freshmen will write an essay on “Learning Is Your First Job.” We want our first-year students to begin thinking about what the road to college could look like, so they understand what they need to do to get there.
Concordia Cohorts
Starting junior year, your teen will be able to join Concordia Cohorts, where they will come together with like-minded peers to pursue their passion in the areas of STEM, Arts, and Humanities. As a freshman, your teen is encouraged to explore our Cohort Conversations; take STEM, fine arts, and humanities classes; and attend special cohort activities, which might include field trips, group discussions, or book studies.
ICE Lab
In our ICE Lab, your teen will join other creative and analytical minds to Imagine. Create. Explore. With access to the right equipment, they will work with various materials, including acrylic, steel, aluminum, wood, and more. Our ICE Lab contains a 3D FDM printer, 100-watt CO2 industrial laser, benchtop waterjet, and CNC mill. Students who are independent workers, responsible self-starters, and desire to gain hard skills are encouraged to create, explore, and tinker.
Christ-Centered Approach
The heartbeat of Concordia Academy is our Christ-centered approach to all that we do. Whether your teen is in their classroom, on the athletic field, on a field trip, or using their abilities and giftings to explore, we seek to inspire our entire school body to honor God through excellence.
College on Campus
Starting junior year, your teen has the unique opportunity to earn 100 college credits through 25 college classes, all taught on campus. Professors from Concordia University, St Paul, travel to CA daily to teach students in person. When your teen graduates, they will receive a college transcript, which can be transferred to any university accepting college transfer credits.
At Concordia, Our Spiritual Life Sets Us Apart
Your teen will be able to attend chapel, take Scripture and Life classes, and join weekly boys and girls bible studies, all of which help students know how to apply their faith in everyday life. Freshmen will also be able to listen to guest seminar speakers during Vision4Life. This program nurtures spiritual development through service, worship, seminars, reflection, and celebration. Our Family Life Groups foster spiritual growth in smaller, more intimate settings among diverse grade levels. Community is vital to everything we do at Concordia. We would be thrilled to have your teen become a part of it and join our family of Beacons!