Academic Support Program
The Academic Support Program at Concord Christian School began in the fall of 2019 with a desire to help struggling students become successful. Over the last 4 years, the program has helped a significant number of students make gains and meet goals. The Academic Support Program is rapidly expanding, and recently, a few revisions have been made.
Academic Support serves students from Kindergarten through 12th grade. Beginning in the fall of 2023, students will only be eligible for support services if they have had an outside educational evaluation by an educational psychologist. The academic support staff use the psychoeducational evaluation to determine intervention needs and appropriate classroom and testing accommodations. An exception to this guideline would be very young students, typically grades K-1st, that may not be old enough to have diagnostic testing. If a Kindergarten or 1st grade student is struggling significantly, the classroom teacher, academic support teacher, and parents will meet to determine if the child is eligible for support and will come up with a plan moving forward. Educational evaluations must be completed every 3 years to be considered current.
Students who qualify for academic support will receive a support plan created by the director of academic support. The support plan will document the student’s diagnosis, current areas of concern, a service plan (days/times of pull-out intervention), and classroom and testing accommodations. The support plan will be updated annually and will travel with the student from grade to grade.
Students with medical diagnosis such as ADHD, autism spectrum disorder, epilepsy, visual impairment, deafness, and other health impairments that impact learning may qualify for a support plan without a full educational evaluation. However, the academic support staff will communicate and recommend testing on an as needed basis. Some students with other health impairments, such as those listed, may receive a support plan with documented accommodations, but might not require pull-out intervention.
Since Academic Support at Concord Christian School is an additional service, it has an additional cost. The director of academic support will suggest the level of support that is needed on an individual basis.
Academic Support Faculty
MARGARET BURGIN is the Academic Support Teacher for 2nd - 4th grades. She earned a B.S. degree in Human Growth and Development from Tusculum University in 2009. She began teaching in the Academic Support Program at CCS in 2023. Her teaching experience includes teaching 4th grade at Farragut Intermediate School, instructing 2nd grade as part of a homeschool tutorial program, and homeschooling her children.
Jamie Hall is the Academic Support teacher for 5th and 6th grades. She earned an M.A. in Special Education and will be joining the Academic Support Team at Concord Christian School in Fall of 2024. She has experience teaching Special Education for the last ten years in both Texas and Alabama.
DAWN MCGUIRE is the Academic Support teacher for 7th and 8th grades. She earned an M.Ed. in Reading Education from the State University of New York at Buffalo and a B.A. in Elementary Education and Psychology from Nazareth College of Rochester. She joined the CCS faculty in 2014. After teaching 5th grade at CCS for 7 years, she moved to middle school academic support where she enjoys the one on one interaction with students.
VALARIE MILLS is the Academic Support teacher for 9th - 12th grades. She graduated from the University of Tennessee with a B.A. in English Literature and an M.A. in English Education. She co-taught with a Special Education teacher to support 9th grade students with diverse learning needs for seven years before joining CCS this coming Fall 2024. She states that developing strategies to help these students experience success and confidence in learning was a rewarding part of her teaching career.
ANGELA THALLER is the Director of Academic Support. She earned a B.S. in Elementary, Early Childhood, and Special Education from the University of Wisconsin. She has been teaching since 2006 and joined the CCS faculty in 2018. She became the Director of Academic Support in 2020. She completed Orton Gillingham training in 2023. Her desire for the Academic Support Program at Concord is to help struggling students become successful by implementing appropriate strategies that meet each student's specific needs.