TCA College and Career Counseling Philosophy
The Classical Academy intends to maneuver each student and family through a five-year developmental model of college counseling and vocation identification. We believe each child is independent, autonomous, unique, authentic, and best served through careful evaluation of personal, academic, socio-emotional, and character development variables.
The Classical Academy is invested in discovering the best competitive fit for each student pursuing post-secondary education. We also believe in the pursuit of time-managed outcomes, including strategic gap years, post-secondary school internships, volunteer/service commitments, and employment based on intrinsic passions and interests.
The Classical Academy believes each student should be met at their learning needs level and pursue that which is most beneficial to their innate passions, identities, interests, and culture.
The TCA College Counseling Program Paradigm
TCA’s college counseling program is developmental and begins in middle school. We believe in deconstructing what has become not a complicated process but one that is complex with many moving pieces for each family. We sense families desire college counseling and college admissions information earlier so they can make a more informed decision. We discuss college counseling-related content in grades 8-10 (curriculum, course sequencing, degree of rigor, grade stratification, testing, interest inventory, extracurricular involvements, leadership development, and family financial status). We then move to college admissions-related content in grades 11-12 (identifying appropriate colleges, completing applications, creating a college resume, essay development, gap year options, Bright Futures application, merit scholarship identification, completing all financial aid forms, interview process, college visit protocol, teacher recommendation requests, and outcomes). It is paramount to educate and empower all TCA families to be inordinately informed as they navigate this most important decision.