Grace Community Classical School kindergartener Camden Bohl, 5, has his photo taken on the first day of school on Tuesday Aug. 27, 2019. Students at Grace Community Classical School attend classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays and are homeschooled the rest of the week. It is a part of Grace Community School, and the certified teachers teach a core Christian classical curriculum and supply lesson plans for parents to teach at home on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. (Sarah A. Miller/Tyler Morning Telegraph)

More families than ever are taking advantage of the opportunity to customize their children’s education with a hybrid program through Grace Community School.

Dozens of students arrived for the first day of class at Grace Community Classical School, which allows parents to blend home school with on-site classes two days per week.

The school, now in its third year, offers parents the flexibility and control of home school with the benefits of attending Grace, including the opportunity to participate in extracurricular activities. Students benefit from a full day of instruction on Tuesdays and Thursday, and parents continue with curriculum at home the rest of the week.

For parent Leslie Moore, the classical campus allows her to adjust her work schedule to fit the classes and spend more time together as a family. One of the biggest selling points was being able to keep her fifth grade triplets within the Grace Community School system when moving them to home school this year.

“We’re just happy to be here and thanking God for this opportunity in our community,” she said. “We’re still part of the overall Grace family and I think it’s wonderful that grace is offering a more traditional school.”

Headmaster Jay Ferguson said many families are making the same decision as the Moores.

“One of the things that’s interesting about this is that we thought it was primarily going to be a partnership with the home school community,” Ferguson said. “It’s not just home school families; it’s families who want more flexibility with their kids.”

Ferguson said parents are excited to still get the high quality curriculum, while also lending an individual focus to students.

“Younger families like to be able to customize and individualize the education of their children,” he said. “We’re excited to be able to continue our mission of teaching Jesus, and doing it in a new context.”

Co-Principal Kayla Foreman said that for many students, this hybrid format is less stressful and gives them the attention they need to thrive.

“I think they’ve experienced the right amount of academic growth and it’s less stressful for them,” she said. “Families like the margin that it gets them in their life to be home with family more. It also is a way for families to have a really great Christian classical education with a little more affordability.”

Foreman said the teachers also benefit from all of the same professional development and resources that Grace staff have at their disposal.

“We couldn’t do this without that infrastructure,” she said. “It provides a lot of benefits for our teachers.”

Aside from Tuesday and Thursday classes, students can get more math tutoring on Wednesdays and families arrange field trips throughout the year.

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Visit https://www.gracetyler.org/academics/grace-community-classical-school/ for more information.