FAQs

CAM is independent of any specific church.  A school board oversees the school’s progress. 

Our students and faculty come from a variety of church denominations with differing opinions and preferences in the “gray areas” of the Bible, but as evangelical Christians, we also have many doctrinal issues that are the same.  Therefore, the focus of our Bible classes and chapels is on those common areas, including the gospel of salvation by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, risen and coming again.  We also focus on Bible stories, the lives of great missionaries, and on the Biblical values and morals that guide children to live as responsible Christian young men and women.

Every CAM student participates in a daily Bible class, in which they study characters of the Bible and memorize passages of Scripture.  Students also participate in a weekly chapel service led by local pastors and youth pastors.  The curriculum and textbooks our teachers use integrate the Bible into every subject area, allowing students to learn each subject from God’s perspective.  Further, all of CAM’s teachers are caring, Christian teachers who are excited to share their love for God with their students.

It is the endeavor of the administrator to hire fully state-certified teachers and/or teachers who are degreed and highly qualified in their teaching field.

CAM uses a “lock down” system, where students can exit the building as necessary, but no individual can enter the building without the school secretary verifying the visitor’s purpose via an intercom and then “buzzing” the door’s lock to open for that visitor.  The school also uses both exterior and interior security cameras to monitor student safety.  Finally, any volunteer at CAM, including parents, must complete a background and/or BMV check.

Parents set up an auto withdrawal payment plan in FACTS when enrolling their student.  They must add a credit card or bank account to this plan.   A common payment plan is to divide the amount into twelve monthly payments (June – May).   There are late fees and consequences for not paying a tuition bill on time!

The application fee, which costs $75 per a new student, is due when parents interested in enrolling their child at CAM complete an online application. The application fee is non-refundable unless the school is unable to accept the enrollment of a child.  Returning students do not pay an application fee.

The tuition covers the cost of books and basic supplies.  Some classes have the choice of a regular text or etext. Students that want both will have an additional fee.

In accordance with the Indiana Department of Education, CAM abides by the August 1 cut-off date for kindergarten; we also use this date as a measure for students enrolling in K3 and K4. 

The administrator may choose to test a child who has completed kindergarten or any other grade at another school or through home school for placement purposes.  Using curriculum from the most recently completed grade level, she tests students in mathematics, language arts, and oral reading.

Of course, this all depends upon enrollment.  Most CAM classes have between 10-15 students at this time, though some are smaller.  We believe that a low student-teacher ratio improves the quality of education, meeting the needs of every student.

We at CAM desire to train students to manifest the following Biblical principles in their lives, both inside the classroom and out: honesty, order, respect, a joyful spirit, obedience, responsibility, and self-control.  Students who behave in a way that does not reflect these areas may require loving, biblical discipline.

Ultimately, we desire that students take responsibility for their own sinful behavior and rectify it.  This may mean writing an apology letter to parents, a teacher, or another student for inappropriate behavior.  It may also mean working through the steps of biblical conflict resolution with a classmate. 

Methods of discipline may include a simple reprimand, sitting in a “think-about-it” chair, losing recess, a writing assignment (such as the aforementioned apology note), detention, a parent-teacher or parent-administrator conference, suspension, expulsion, etc.

CAM’s prekindergarten class is a structured, curriculum-based program in which students learn basic letter and number recognition, Bible stories, and language and skills development.   However, we are careful to ensure that their learning time is full of songs, games, stories, and adequate play time that is appropriate for three/four-year-old children.

The hours of the school day are from 8 a.m. — 3 p.m.  Students may arrive at the school no earlier than 7:30 a.m.  Students will not be considered tardy until 8:01 a.m.  Students not picked up within fifteen minutes of their dismissal time will receive an unexcused afternoon tardy. 
 

Before and after school care is available but must be prearranged.  Students may be dropped off as early as 6:30 a.m. for before care and must be picked up no later than 5:00 p.m. for after care.  There is no charge for before or after care for prekindergarten students.  All other students will be charged $7/day.

Generally, CAM’s vacation days are the same as Madison Consolidated School Corporation.  Occasionally, our calendar days are different but our Christmas Break and Spring Break are usually the same.

The Christian Academy of Madison does not provide a hot lunch program because it does not have a cafeteria as part of its facility.  Therefore, we encourage families to pack healthy snacks and lunches for their children each day.  With the volunteer assistance of parents, local restaurants will provide, for a fee, hot meals for students several days a week.  Students who choose not to participate in the lunch program will need to bring their snack, lunch, and drink with them each day.   Microwave ovens are available only to students in middle school and/or high school to heat lunches, so please send items accordingly.

The Christian Academy of Madison does not provide transportation for its students.  The responsibility of transportation to and from the CAM campus is that of the parents or legal guardian of each student.  CAM does have a working relationship with the Madison Consolidated School Corporation for the transportation of students through their bus route system.  Parents should contact the school office during the summer if they are interested in participating in this opportunity.  Any questions regarding specific bus routes and pick-up times should be directed to the Madison Consolidated School Corporation’s Transportation Office.

Students will participate in field trips at least twice per year.  Because we do not have a bus at this time, we rely on parents to help transport students to and from those locations.

The curricula we use have been used in Christian schools world-wide for decades; most importantly, they use high academic standards, while fully integrating Biblical truth into every content area.