Southern Maryland Christian Academy

Southern Maryland Christian Academy (SMCA) is a Christian school with its campus on Faith Baptist Church Road in White Plains, Maryland. Its stated mission is to create a nurturing environment that encourages academic achievement and a lifelong commitment to Christ. The school has early education, elementary, middle school and high school levels, and its staff includes a college counsellor.

Signature programmes include:

• Technology integration, with a Bring Your Own Device programme, Google Classroom in all classes and a computer lab with laptops, tablets and virtual reality devices
• Project Lead the Way (PLTW) pathways in computer science, engineering and biomedical science
• A dual credit programme with Colorado Christian University, where one high school credit can also earn three college credits
• A Senior Capstone project, with a service or an argument option, required for graduation
• The Foundations and Frameworks reading programme up to sixth grade

Dual credit courses are taught by SMCA teachers, and students enrol directly with Colorado Christian University. The Senior Capstone includes a proposal, thesis paper, implementation project, professional interview, portfolio and presentation, guided by an advisor teacher.