Madagascar Christian Academy (MCA)

MCA is a small interdenominational, evangelical Christian school located 10 km north of the city center of Antananarivo, the capital of Madagascar. MCA was formed in 2001 by the missionary community of Madagascar with the primary aim of meeting the educational needs of missonary kids. MCA is staffed predominantly by trained teachers from the missionary community who are committed to encouraging each child to become a devoted follower of Jesus Christ through example, prayer and teaching.

School Building
The school has six classrooms, a well-stocked library and a redecorated multi-purpose room for all-school events and activities. Two computers for student-use were recently acquired and hopefully a permanent internet connection will be installed soon. For staff, there is an office with computer access and a kitchen/staffroom. The Parents' Task Group has spent time, effort and money making improvements to the school building.

Staff
There are eleven people on staff at MCA, of which five are full-time teachers. As well as teachers, there is also a learning support assistant for special needs students. Seven of the teaching staff, including myself, are missionaries of various nationalities and work at the school on a voluntary basis through missionary organizations such as AIM. The school also employs local Malagasy teachers.

Students
Currently there are 15 full-time and 4 part-time pupils at MCA. They are divided up into grades (as used in the U.S.). There are children in grades K, 2, 5, 6, 7 and 8. The majority of the pupils at MCA come from missionary homes. It is a multi-national school with pupils from Brazil, the United States, Madagascar, Mauritius, South Africa, Zambia and South Korea.

Curriculum
MCA uses the American “A Beka Book” curriculum. This Christian curriculum is versatile and can be used for home schooling or in a school setting. It includes workbooks for the students, teacher’s manuals, detailed lesson plans, plus textbooks used by staff and students. The Beka system is used to teach the core subjects of English, math, and science in a Christian context. Additional subjects include French (taught to all students every day), Art, P.E., Geography, Computing, Bible and Music.

Extra-Curricular Activities
The students have just begun to compete against the local American school in sports such as soccer and baseball. They had a losing record this year in baseball so will appreciate Daniel's expertise in this area. There are also art lessons offered for those who are interested.