The Educational Journey
Annunciation Catholic Academy offers students an immersive educational experience in a dynamic, intellectually stimulating, and nurturing setting. Our dedicated teachers actively foster both academic and social-emotional growth in each child, creating a powerful synergy that cultivates a love for learning, a lifelong pursuit of knowledge, and a strong connection to their Catholic faith.
Our Curriculum
The school’s curriculum follows that set forth by the Catholic Diocese of Orlando and the Florida Department of Education’s Sunshine State standards. The curriculum is solidly based in skills and competencies with a strong emphasis on the arts and humanities. Daily Religion instruction is required of all students, and Spanish is part of the core curriculum. Integrated throughout all content instruction and explicitly taught as a core content area are the teachings of the Catholic Faith, the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Critical Race Theory is not included in any of those documents and is not part of the instructional standards taught in any Diocese of Orlando Catholic School. Middle school students have a mandatory core curriculum but are also offered a wide variety of creative arts, technology, and athletic electives which enable the students to explore new subjects, to learn new skills, and to experience new activities which broaden their development. Examples of these programs include graphic design, chorus, drama, sports, and dance. Spanish is considered part of the core curriculum and is taught from kindergarten through eighth grade.
Nurturing the complete development of every child—mind, body, and spirit.
Nurturing Compassion, Discovery & Self-Assurance
As ACA students progress through the higher levels of education, they cultivate a strong belief in their abilities and talents. This self-confidence serves as a driving force for our students, encouraging them to actively pursue deep comprehension and persevere through the challenges that come with mastering new concepts. Learn more about each learning milestone by clicking the area of interest below.
EARLY CHILDHOOD
Our preschool curriculum nurtures children's learning, play, exploration, and imagination, prioritizing the five development domains: language, social, physical, cognitive, and social-emotional. Additionally, we introduce the liturgical calendar and age-appropriate elements of the Catholic religion into our curriculum to foster a foundation of faith in our young learners.
ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
Our classrooms employ Center-Based Learning, incorporating the use of technology. This approach combines teacher-led instruction and self-directed learning activities within our thoughtfully designed centers, fostering critical thinking skills in our students.
MIDDLE SCHOOL
At this stage, students experience significant physical, emotional, and intellectual development. These formative years play a crucial role in establishing the groundwork for future grade levels and their lives beyond our classrooms. Our academic programs prioritize differentiated instruction, leveraging each student's individual learning achievements as a foundation for further growth.
STREAM Education
Annunciation Catholic Academy is a STREAM accredited school. STREAM is the incorporation of science, technology, religion, engineering, art and mathematics applied to a wide variety of projects. STREAM challenges students to think critically and engage in imaginative designs. STREAM activities are used to solve real-world problems, which allow students to think critically about local and global issues. We strive to use technology to enhance the development of students, whether that development is spiritual, intellectual, moral, physical, social, emotional, or artistic.
Media Center
Our collection consists of over 10,000 books, over 1,000 audio-visual materials, teacher resources and parent resources. These materials are available for student, teacher, and parent check-out.
The media center is open from 7:30 AM until the end of the school day. Students can access some of these resources online. To learn how, click here.
Academic Support
Academic support is available to help students reach objectives. The school counselor works with individual students and through classroom instruction to offer guidance with social and learning strategies.
Assessment & 2022-2023 Standardized Test Scores
Student progress is monitored with frequent formative assessments and with summative quizzes/tests at the end of units. Our electronic information site, FACTS Family Portal, facilitates communication on assignments, grades, and special notifications to parents. During each year of middle school, students complete the TerraNova and InView Assessments, a nationwide standardized test that assesses student knowledge in reading, language arts, mathematics, science, and social studies. In addition, eighth-grade students complete the ACRE test in religion to gauge their understanding of key religious concepts. Test scores exceeded the Blue Ribbon School of Excellence minimum requirements in most categories. ACA consistently scores among the top schools in the state of Florida. ACA students’ test results rank in the top 15% nationwide.
Annunciation Catholic Academy campus is located on Jamestown Boulevard, west of Montgomery Road, in Altamonte Springs, Florida. Four two-story buildings comprising more than 65,000 sq. ft. are configured around a central courtyard featuring a statue of Our Lady. A separate, fully air-conditioned gymnasium is located adjacent to the school.
The school has 22 classrooms; each features a special work area for students to pursue independent projects, work in small groups, or be tutored by a volunteer or teaching assistant. The school features dedicated classrooms for art, music, and Spanish instruction. The science center has both an instructional classroom and a dedicated science laboratory.
The school’s media center has a fully automated management system and catalog, a centralized media retrieval system, a video and radio production room, and a central reading room. The school also contains a “cafetorium” – a multi-purpose room used as both a cafeteria and an auditorium.