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School in Session at Tidewater Collegiate Academy at VWU
Innovative laboratory for teaching and learning now a resource for VWU students and future teachers
Featured News | October 17, 2017
On a September afternoon, small groups of middle and high school-age students are gathered around circular tables pouring over the short story "Sound of Thunder" by Ray Bradbury. In the adjacent pre-school room, young ones are little bundles of energy on colorful floor mats doing hands-on learning activities.
Welcome to the Tidewater Collegiate Academy (TCA) at Virginia Wesleyan University (VWU), an innovative laboratory for teaching and learning that extends from the primary grades through high school with early college, dual enrollment opportunities housed in the brand-new Frank Blocker Youth Center on the VWU campus.
TCA currently serves approximately 30 fulltime students ranging from pre-K to 12th grade. Through a newly established partnership with Virginia Wesleyan, TCA is not only housed on the VWU campus but provides mutual opportunities for VWU and TCA students.
“We are thrilled to have Tidewater Collegiate Academy on the Virginia Wesleyan campus," says VWU President Scott D. Miller. "This unique educational partnership, part of our early-enrollment program, provides a learning environment that maximizes young students' potential intellectually, socially, physically and emotionally. At the same time, it creates laboratory-school opportunities for our education majors, enabling them to turn theoretical concepts into practical application.”
Founder Wendy Scott established TCA as a private homeschool that would “help students uncover their full potential” with a curriculum emphasizing “individual potential, global citizenship, 21st century skills and service.” TCA’s mission to “facilitate the development of global citizens equipped with 21st-century skills ready to make the world a better place” aligns with that of Virginia Wesleyan University.
VWU students who are pre-service teachers like Elementary Education major Elise Herring ’21 have the chance to learn in an authentic teaching environment working alongside TCA students and staff.
“I was so excited to learn that I could be in the classroom with students as early as the second week of my freshman year,” says Herring. “I felt right at home on my first trip. I've made it part of my routine to go twice a week to work with the lower school students, and I volunteered to be a mentor. I can honestly say that the best part of my day is going to TCA and making connections with the students and staff there.”
This laboratory school opportunity is particularly helpful for VWU freshman and sophomores who are able to gain valuable classroom experience without having to travel off campus.
“We believe strongly that getting our students working with kids right away is really important,” notes Hilve Firek, Associate Professor of Education at VWU. “Our students are able to be involved with TCA in a number of ways—as volunteers, mentors or interns. They can then build on their skills as they prepare to complete their field requirements at community schools during their junior and senior years.”
As part of the partnership, TCA juniors and seniors can also take dual enrollment classes at the University alongside VWU students with VWU professors to receive a real-world college experience. One current TCA student is enrolled in a history course at VWU, and a variety of course options are available. Upon successful completion of the course work, students receive a college transcript reflecting their achievement.
TCA’s location in the Blocker Youth Center provides an intimate, flexible learning space in a beautiful setting with easy access to the rest of the VWU campus. As the fall leaves are just beginning to change in the adjacent Wilson Arboretum, students and faculty are settling in to a new year, a new space and a new partnership that will provide unprecedented learning opportunities for years to come.