Middle School Academics
The middle school curriculum at Desert Christian Academy is intended to be rigorous to prepare students for success in our college preparatory program at Desert Christian Academy. We offer 6 core subjects including: Bible, English, History, Mathematics, Physical Education, and Science. We also offer a selection of elective courses to fill the seventh period of each student’s day.
Academic Preparation for High School
Although most high schools offer the study of physical science to their freshman students, we offer it to our eighth grade students only. All of our high school sciences are lab sciences (Biology, Chemistry, Physiology, Physics, etc.). In order to prepare our 8th grade students for high school level science courses, we have them study physical science in Science 8.
Likewise, our mathematics curriculum is designed to help middle school students make an easy transition to high school math courses. Our 7th grade students are placed on 1 of 2 “math tracks”, according to their mathematical ability. Students performing at the middle school level are placed on track 1 and are offered Math 7 in 7th grade and Pre-Algebra in 8th grade. Students performing at an advanced level are placed on track 2 and are offered Pre-Algebra in 7th grade and Algebra I in 8th grade. Middle school students on track 2 receive high school credit for passing Algebra I during their 8th grade year, as well as Spanish 1 if they take that as their elective in 8th grade.
Test Score Information:
Our middle school students perform at an advanced academic level. Take a look at our Stanford Achievement Test (SAT10) scores from the 2007-2008 school year. Our average middle school student scored at the 72nd percentile in reading, and at the 73rd percentile in mathematics. This compares with the national average of 50th percentile for both. The average Coachella Valley middle school student scores significantly below the national average on comparable standardized achievement tests.