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    Together We Serve - Keystone State ChalleNGe Academy

    Academic Excellence At Keystone State Challenge Academy

    The Keystone State Challenge Academy (KSCA) is a program, not a school. There are eight core components to the program; one of which, is academic excellence. The partnership between KSCA and the Capital Area Intermediate Unit (CAIU) continues to create robust, targeted and meaningful academic opportunities for the cadets. The CAIU teachers are highly qualified, Pennsylvania certified teachers in math, language arts, science, social studies and special education. Through the support of the highly dedicated teaching staff, cadets receive individualized instruction, academic intervention, general educational development (GED) preparation, credit recovery to successfully return to their home school district and guidance toward post-secondary success.

    Oversight and support of the teaching staff comes from Dr. John Thompson, lead educator, who works closely with the KSCA staff on behalf of all cadets, and Dr. Andrea Saia, executive director, CAIU, who has been a strong KSCA advocate since its inception. A strong example of this commitment is Josh Danna, KSCA math teacher and recent recipient of the Teacher of the Cycle award. This class also supported a cadet enrolled in Advanced Placement (AP ) Statistics, marking the first AP course completed by a cadet. KSCA academic excellence success highlights include:

    • More than 300 full core content area credits earned by cadets to date.
    • An additional two-and-a-half to three elective credits per cadet transferred back to local high schools through National Guard Youth ChalleNGe core component programming.
    • More than 90 GEDs earned by KSCA cadets to date.
    • Ongoing Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) preparation groups led collaboratively by CAIU teachers and KSCA staff to support Act 158 graduation pathways, post-residential plans, military enlistment goals and Military Occupational Specialty (MOS) Selection success.
    • Sixty-one graduates received high school diplomas after returning to their home school district.
    • Eighty-five to 90% of graduates went on to graduate from high school.