VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — The learning environment at Tidewater Collegiate Academy is designed for each student to succeed in their own way.
The preK-12 institution for homeschooled students sits on Virginia Wesleyan University's campus and serves as its laboratory school. It also challenges some of the traditional concepts of homeschooling.
"Some people think homeschooling is like something that's happening at the kitchen table, but homeschooling is happening here," said Dr. Wendy Scott. She founded the academy in 2014 with just four students after ending her career as a public school teacher.
"There were some gaps in the traditional system that some of our students, I felt like, were really missing what they needed, especially students that were coming from traditionally marginalized backgrounds," Dr. Scott said.
One of those gaps was the exploration of students' passions and the discovery of their purpose.
"Are you excited about music? Are you excited about video games? Are you excited about butterflies and ladybugs? Like, what is it that you're excited about? What fuels you?" Dr. Scott said. "And so many young people were really struggling to know that [be]cause I don't think very many people are asking them."
When opening TCA, Dr. Scott said her goal was to provide "personalized and meaningful and authentic education to students that felt like they didn't fit in a traditional model."
"Our learning model is a student-directed or a learning-directed model," Dr. Scott said. "Instead of a teacher kind of telling kids what to do and what to learn and how to learn it, it's flipped, so that the student is really guiding their own process. They're choosing what to do and how to do it. And the adults and the teachers, the tutors and the mentors are coming alongside and really guiding them."
The academy offers on-campus and online classes, as well as academic summer camps for kids ages 8-14 on VWU's campus.
Students and families can build their desired curriculum based on their needs, including core subjects and extracurricular activities.
"We want them to know their math and be ready to do algebra and to be great readers," Dr. Scott said, "but we're hoping that they're taking that knowledge to really be agents of change in their communities."
Students set their own goals and determine what they will learn each day.
"Parents have total authority to decide the way that they want to homeschool," Dr. Scott said. "Most of our families are using TCA as their education."
The school also regularly involves students in community service projects.
"What we're marinating in, hopefully, is this attitude that you have power to make the world better and that the world needs us to contribute," Dr. Scott said. "That means you should, you know, pick up the trash around your table, that means you should help our garden grow."
The academy also offers a pre-college program and partnership with VWU called Project Amplify. Juniors and seniors can take dual enrollment classes with the university.
"One of our 2023 graduates graduated with 28 college credits and went into college as a junior out of high school and [got] a full-ride scholarship," Dr. Scott said.
But the institution doesn't just offer customized learning. Dr. Scott said teachers help shape students into leaders.
Student ambassadors within the school help plan events and activities, and the school awards the Lincoln Leadership Seal of Excellence to children who show initiative as problem solvers.
"We're a place for all different types of families from all different types of backgrounds... everybody's coming together in one learning community to be equipped to be the best global citizen that they can possibly be," Dr. Scott said. "It's not about them being ready for the future. It's about them being ready now. Whether you're 12 or 24, today, the world needs you."
Registration for the fall semester is now open. There are still spots available for pre-K through third-grade students.
You can also donate to the TCA Foundation. The scholarship program was established "so that any student that is really looking for a personalized, meaningful educational experience has that opportunity, regardless of a financial barrier," Dr. Scott said.
TCA is a nonprofit institution. Dr. Scott said about 40% of its students live below the poverty line and pay little to no tuition.