GCA GLOSSARY

Ever wonder "What is that?" or "Where could I find info about that?" See below for explanations of terms frequently used around GCA. Many of the listings also contain links to other pages to provide additional details.

Activities Night: GCA holds an Activities Night for High School students during Fall Homecoming to build House bonds and provide early competition between the groups. See also House System.

After-School Care (ASC): GCA provides a consistent and quality childcare alternative for parents who are unavailable to pick up their children immediately after school. ASC is offered for $3 per half hour at the South campus from 3:30 p.m. until 5:30 p.m. Registration information can be on the Family Hub or at Back to School Night.  This service is available for Preschool-4th grade students.

All Pro Dads: The GCA chapter of this national group meets monthly for breakfast at the South campus. These gatherings allow dads to spend extra time with their kids and connect with other GCA dads.   

Association of Christian Schools International (ACSI): An organization that serves Christian schools around the world with support in educational resources, professional development, and legal affairs. GCA is accredited by the ACSI and is pursuing re-accreditation in the 2024/25 school year.

Athletics: The Cougar athletic program offers competitive team sports for 5-12th grade students. GCA is a member of the Indiana High School Athletic Association (IHSAA).

Awards Nights: Awards Nights are end of the year awards for Middle School and High School students for recognition of their achievements including: A and A/B Honor Roll, Cougar Award for students who exemplify the Core Values of GCA, and the Heart/Mind/Soul Awards for each subject. Lower School students have a separate awards day during the last week of school.

Back to School Night: GCA offers a few nights prior to the first day of school for students and parents to meet with teachers, receive important information, set up their lockers, and drop off school supplies.

Before School Care (BSC): GCA provides a consistent and quality childcare alternative for parents who need care prior to the start of the school day. BSC is offered at the South campus beginning at 7:00 a.m. Registration information can be found on the Family Hub.  This service is available up through 4th grade.

Bible Buddies: A program designed to help older and younger GCA students build relationships and community. Older students are paired with younger students and meet once a month to do activities, play games, connect, and learn.

Breakfast Days: At the South Campus, donuts are sold on most Fridays before school begins.

Book Fair Week: GCA hosts a mobile book fair at the South Campus for our LS and MS students for one week each September. Students and parents can purchase or pre-order popular children’s books and other fun items. 

Booster Club: The Booster Club provides GCA Athletics with support that is outside the scope of the school budget for the Athletic Department. Through volunteer hours and financial resources, Booster Club members assist in the quest for excellence for GCA’s teams and student-athletes.  

Bus Routes: GCA operates a daily bus route with a pick-up and drop-off location in Southport. Sign up information can be found on the Family Hub on GCA’s website.

Chapel: A weekly gathering of students with the goal of worship, learning, prayer, and fellowship with classmates and teachers. Lower School Chapel for Preschool - 1st Grade is held each Wednesday from 9:15 a.m. - 9:45 a.m., while Chapel for our 2nd - 4th graders is held each Wednesday from 9:50 a.m. - 10:20 a.m. Middle School Chapel occurs on Wednesdays from 8:30 a.m. - 9:10 a.m., and High School Chapel meets on Thursdays from 11 a.m. - 11:40 a.m.

Choice Scholarship (Voucher): A School Choice Scholarship (Voucher) is a state-funded scholarship provided to eligible Indiana students to offset tuition costs.

Chuck ‘N’ Duck: An annual dodgeball tournament held each fall in which teams of Middle School through High School students compete for a pair of coveted rubber ducky trophies.

Clubs: GCA students are encouraged to participate in any of the clubs offered by the school and also have the ability to start their own by recruiting a staff sponsor and other members.

Community Church of Greenwood (CCG): CCG is located next to GCA North. High School Chapel and some classes meet in the church’s worship center.

Community Service: Middle School and High School students are required to complete 10 hours (MS) or 20 hours (HS) of service each school year. Forms are available on the Family Hub. Bible teachers track these hours, which are due by the end of the school year and are represented by a test grade in Bible class. Hours cannot be performed for pay or for family members.  

Cougar Dens: Small groups that High School students participate in on a weekly basis to discuss the chapel message and build relationships with peers and a teacher. Dens include multiple grade levels but are matched up by gender and led by a staff member.  

Cougar Time: The daily half hour in the High School schedule where students participate in clubs, chapel, and Cougar Dens.  

Donuts with Dads: Annual gathering of dads or father figures with their students before school to eat breakfast and hear a devotion about families. See also Muffins with Moms.

Early Release Days: Every Wednesday of the year (except the first and last week of the school year), both campuses dismiss exactly one hour early to allow teachers to attend professional development opportunities and plan together as a staff. After School Care begins an hour earlier to match the schedule and continues until its normal end time. 

Elementary Christmas Store: Each December, elementary students are able to purchase gifts for loved ones in a Christmas store at GCA. They love being able to buy for their family on their own (with teacher guidance).

Eventlink: Sports management software that provides access to athletic and extracurricular dates, times, and location information.

FACTS: The online provider that houses GCA’s student information and billing systems.

Family Portal: The FACTS Family Portal provides access to resources such as school calendars, class schedules, grades, behavior reports, lunch orders, attendance, and more.

Father-Daughter Dance: Girls in Preschool through 4th grade are invited to dress up for an evening of dancing, photos, and fellowship with their dads/father figures and each other.  

Field Trips: Some classes at GCA follow the traditions of signature trips away from school, while field trip activities for other grades vary each year. These outings allow students to apply classroom knowledge to real life situations and also provide opportunities for fun and fellowship.

Financial Aid: Financial Assistance is made available to qualifying families through FACTS Grant & Aid. The amount of aid is dependent on the calculated need of each family. Applications for Financial Aid open on March 1st of each year. Funds can be limited, so families are encouraged to apply early each year.

Gala: An annual event each April during which the GCA family, alumni, and local community members come together to help raise money and awareness for GCA and its mission. The semi-formal event includes a reception, dinner, silent auction, and a program.

Gathering Place/The GP: Longtime name of the recreational and outreach facility owned by Community Church of Greenwood. The building now houses GCA High School.

GCA North: Nickname for the High School campus located at 1495 West Main Street.

GCA South: Nickname for the Preschool-8th Grade campus located at 835 West Worthsville Road.

Golf Outing: The Cougar Classic golf outing is an annual fundraiser for GCA’s Athletic Department. All of the funds raised directly benefit our student athletes.

Gone Boarding: This cross-curricular class, involving Physical Education, Mathematics, and Design, teaches high school upperclassmen to design, construct, and learn to ride multiple types of boards, including snowboards, longboards, and surfboards/paddle boards. GCA is one of only a few schools in Indiana that offers Gone Boarding curriculum.

Google Classroom: Educational tool and information delivery system available to all students and families. Teachers post homework assignments, videos, deadlines, quiz and test information, and other resources in their virtual classrooms. Parents can join their student’s Classroom by asking the teacher for access or having the student go into each Classroom, click on the People tab, and click Invite Guardians.  

Grandparents Night: Each September, Lower School students may invite their grandparents to GCA for an evening of tours, activities and refreshments.

Helping Hands: An organization available to all GCA Families that provides resources (financial or otherwise) to families in need within our community. Families can join the group at will by emailing kjackson@gcak12.org; membership provides the opportunity to help if able. Families in need of assistance can request support by also emailing kjackson@gcak12.org.  

House System:  All HS students are split into 4 different Houses containing students from every grade level.  These Houses compete for an entire school year to earn points through a variety of ways (showing respect, integrity, compassion, excellence; serving; avoiding rule violations, etc.) with the winning House earning bragging rights, a trophy, and a reward event at the end of each school year.  GCA HS holds an Activities Night during Fall Homecoming to build House bonds and provide early competition between the groups.  

Literacy Night: Once a year, families spend an evening at GCA with their Lower School students promoting reading and community.

Math Night: Once a year, families spend an evening at GCA with their Lower School students promoting math and community.

Muffins with Moms: Annual gathering of moms or mother figures with their students before school to eat breakfast and hear a devotion about families. See also Donuts with Dads.

Newsletter: GCA distributes a weekly e-newsletter that highlights upcoming events and important information for students and families.  New families are automatically subscribed. 

NHS: GCA has a chapter of the National Honor Society for students who show excellence in academics, character, leadership, and service. Students are eligible for admittance during the fall of their junior year and also can be admitted as a senior. Eligible students will receive an invitation to apply for membership. 

NWEA: The NorthWest Evaluation Association is a non-profit organization that provides a way to measure an individual student’s academic level and growth and then uses the resulting data as a transformational teaching tool made available to teachers. These occur at the beginning and end of each school year for many grade levels. The tests have no academic impact on student grades and are not used for state testing; they simply provide feedback to teachers, students, and families about progress throughout the school year.

Parent-Teacher Conferences: These meetings occur each October and allow parents and teachers to discuss student performance during the first quarter and to share questions, concerns, or feedback. Other conferences with teachers are available throughout the year upon request.

Pet Day: Each spring, parents of Lower School students may bring a family pet to campus for an outdoor event on a school day. Classes visit the animals and contribute coins to vote on their favorite pets. These funds are donated to a local non-profit organization that serves animals.

Prayer Team: The GCA Prayer Team volunteers to pray on a daily basis at certain time frames and for needs shared periodically.

Prom: Formerly known as “Soiree”, the GCA Prom takes place every spring at a venue in the Indy metro area. The evening includes dinner, dancing (including both a DJ and dance instructors), and an official After-Prom gathering. This event is for Juniors and Seniors; underclassmen may attend upon invitation only.

PSAT: Students in 10th and 11th grade take the PSAT during the school day in October to measure readiness for college, access scholarships, and practice for the SAT.

RaiseRight (formerly ShopWithScrip): A fundraising program where families are able to purchase gift cards to most major retailers. By using the RaiseRight program, families receive a portion of their purchases back as a credit to their FACTS account and a portion is donated to GCA. The school’s enrollment code is B4BD25FB8168.

Read Across America Week: Each year, National Read Across America Day is celebrated on March 2nd, the birthday of Dr. Seuss. GCA Lower School classes celebrate with reading theme days and special reading activities during the first week of March.

Red Carpet Event: To celebrate their last year before entering high school, 8th graders are invited to a semi-formal event that includes dinner, games, and dancing.

RICE: An acronym for GCA’s Core Values: Respect, Integrity, Compassion, and Excellence.  

RTI: Response to Intervention is a program at GCA designed to ensure all students have access to high quality education at their level. RTI is a tier based program facilitated by our interventionists, both in and outside of the general education classroom.

School Supply List: The school supply lists are provided to help prepare students for the school year with a list of all the supplies needed from your child’s classroom teacher(s).

See You at the Pole: See You at the Pole is a global day of student prayer where students meet at the school flagpole before school to lift up their friends, families, teachers, school, and nation to God. It is a student-initiated, student-organized, and student-led event.

SERVE: SERVE is a group of parent volunteers whose purpose and mission is to care for the teachers, staff and students of GCA.  

SGO: GCA partners with the Sagamore Institute to offer Scholarship Granting Organization (SGO) scholarships to eligible students. These funds are made available through private donations that are designated to GCA. Eligibility is based on household size and income.

Shuttle Bus: A bus transports high school students from GCA South to North before school each morning and from North to South each afternoon. There is no charge or signup required for this.

Statement of Faith: A snapshot summary of GCA’s core Biblical beliefs. All families are provided with this before enrollment and agree to support these beliefs and practices.  

Veterans’ Day Celebration: A yearly chapel program that honors members of the GCA family who have served in the military.  

Winter Carnival: An annual event hosted by SERVE that involves family fun, food, and games and raises money for SERVE projects; typically held in February.