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Our mission is to provide our students with equitable learning opportunities, high expectations mindsets, supportive learning teaching, and tools, real-world active and collaborative learning experiences, progress monitoring, and performance improvement-driven feedback they need to succeed within a digital learning environment.
Meridian Academy exists to assist students in achieving their educational and career goals by providing rigorous, relevant, cutting-edge, technology-based education and instruction within a unique digital learning environment tailored to deliver individualized engaging instruct ion under the direction of dedicated and highly qualified and experienced administrators, staff, educators, and teachers. Meridian Academy was founded as St. Michael`s Academy in Texas in December 2008.
St. Michael`s was accredited by Cognia in 2011 and the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Council on Accreditation and School Improvement SACS CASI on February 9, 2012. In 2020, we changed the name of our school to Meridian Academy and decided to pursue Cognia accreditation as a digital learning environment.
Our school is a Texas Private School Accreditation Commission (101-106-001). Educational Programs: Meridian Academy offers both 26-credit Recommended High School Program (RHSP) path and 22-credit Minimum High School Program (MHSP) paths to high school graduation.
We also offer credit recovery and accelerated high school graduation programs.
Our Ownership: Christine Aboud governs meridian Academy, Co-Founder, Chief Executive Officer, and Managing Director, Meridian Academy Principal, with her husband, Zack Zakhem, Co-Founder, Operations Manager, and Director of Instructional Programs.
Our leadership staff is supplemented by Dr. Jennie Larry Johnson, Quality Matters Specialist. Our Vision Statement: Meridian Academy`s culture and digital learning platform are founded on Vygotsky's theory that meaning and knowledge are socially created. We implement our beliefs by creating a culture where our 9th through 12th-grade students have the opportunity to feel a sense of social presence, cognitive presence, and place/teacher presence during their online learning and engagement. Our Curriculum: Meridian Academy`s curriculum is focused on preparing students for college, career, or military readiness (CCMR).
We achieve this purpose by using a proprietary innovative pedagogical model we call "The Meridian Way." The approach integrates our Canvas digital learning environment with TEKS-aligned McGraw-Hill content.
We also embed scaffolding, learner supports, social-emotional learning, and peer asynchronous and synchronous collaborative learning.
Students complete research-based higher-order thinking and critical reflections assignments.
Through a partnership with Lone Star College, we offer dual credit courses to qualified 9th 12th-grade students toward future CCMR readiness. Our Student Assessment System: Meridian Academy`s Student Learning Assessment System begins with completing the required Texas Success Initiative Assessment (TSIA) exam, which provides the diagnostic assessment.
Students complete weekly embedded formative assessments (quizzes, learning game activities, critical reflections, etc.).Our summative assessment includes both a post-TSIA2 exam and a portfolio.
Data gathered from assessments are used to monitor student learning progressively and improve our curriculum and pedagogical approaches.
Meridian Academy by the Numbers: 10 Years in Business Over 1,000 Students Graduated 85% Graduation Rate.
Club or Organization: IT apprentiships, Vocational/ Apprenticeship Mentoring
Arts and Music Programs: Art Program
School Notes
Meridian Academy is a rapidly growing private school
based in Houston, Texas. Our school was initially founded as St.
Michael`s Academy in Texas in December 2008. St. Michael`s was
accredited by Cognia in 2011 and by the Southern Association of
Colleges and Schools Council on Accreditation and School
Improvement SACS CASI on February 9, 2012. In 2020, we
changed the name of our school to Meridian Academy and decided to
pursue Cognia accreditation as a digital learning environment. Our
school is a member of the Texas Private School Accreditation
Commission (101-106-001)
Our school offers innovative and rigorous Texas Knowledge and
Skills (TEKS) aligned 9th through 12th-grade Mathematics, English,
Social Studies, and Science courses (primarily McGraw-Hill
connectED and ALEKS).
Through partnerships with Lonestar College and Edgenuity, we
offer advanced career placement and counseling online information
technology and business management TEKS-aligned electives. We also
offer Physical Education, Contemporary Health, and Art
courses.
Meridian Academy offers students two options for attaining
their Texas high school diploma. We offer the 26-credit hours
Recommended High School Program (RHSP) path and 22 credit-hours
Minimum High School Program (MHSP) with a parental/guardian opt-in
agreement. Our students must research and prepare a College,
Career, and Military Readiness Plan for both graduation
paths.DescriptionLeadership: Meridian is governed by Christine
Aboud, Co-Founder, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director,
Meridian Academy Principal, and Zack Zakem, Co-Founder, Operations
Manager, and Director of Instructional Programs. Our leadership
staff is supplemented by Dr. Jennie Larry Johnson, Head of
School.Regulatory Requirements: Meridian adheres to the Texas
Administrative Code, Title 19, Part 2, Texas Education Agency
(TEA), and the Texas Private School Accreditation Commission
(TEPSAC) requirements.Staffing: Meridian`s current staff includes
Cindy Campos, Enrollment Coordinator, and five part-time teachers
(English, Mathematics, Science, U.S. History/World History &
Geography, U.S. Government/Economics, and Art).
Location: Meridian shares office space and administrative
resources with St. Michael`s Academy, a Texas Workforce Commission
licensed career and technical school located at 6220 Westpark
Drive, Suite 180, Houston, TX 77057. The location lies within
Greater Southwest Houston's Gulfton neighborhood just outside of
Loop 610 and Highway 59 (Southwest Freeway) within the shadows of
Downtown Houston. In 2019, the Gufton community was home to 47,961
residents within 10,209 family households, 74% of which were
Hispanic, and 32% of Gulfton residents were below the age of 17
years. The median household income was $32,578. In 2019, 39% of
Gulfton residents did not have a high school diploma, 16% had a
high school diploma, 13% had some college, and 16% had a bachelor`s
degree or higher. The unemployment rate at the time was 4%.
Current Student Profile: Historically, Meridian Academy has
served non-traditional students. These are low-income youth who age
out of Houston schools or drop out. We enrolled 32 students at the
beginning of our Spring 2022 semester. However, after students were
denied tuition assistance, our enrollment dropped to 13
majority-minority students (84% Hispanic, 16% Black/African
American). Most of our students are economically disadvantaged
(90%) and rely on scholarships or federal subsidies to cover the
cost of our below-market tuition.
Unique Features: Meridian Academy applies a proprietary
innovative pedagogical approach to Texas Education Agency`s
College, Career, and Military Readiness initiative. We call it "The
Meridian Way". The blended approach combines asynchronous (80%) and
synchronous (20%) teacher/student/group web-based Teams
meetings, instruction, and assessments within a unique hybrid TPACK
model.
"The Meridian Way" includes research-based instructional
designs within the Canvas Learning Management System (Technological
knowledge), research-based and TEKS-aligned McGraw-Hill connectED
courses with embedded scaffolding and learner supports (Content
knowledge), and emotionally intelligent teachers especially and
uniquely trained to teach our way (Pedagogical knowledge.) Because
we serve non-traditional students, our curriculum includes embedded
social and emotional health assignments, project-based individual
and group activities, and critical and higher-order thinking
reflections differentiated by each student's self-assessed learning
styles. We also cover digital citizenship using CommonSense.org`s
research-based strategies, approaches, lesson plans, and
content.
What is also unique about "The Meridian Way" is our Student
Learning Assessment System. Our system begins with the
diagnostic Texas Success Initiative Assessment (TSIA) exam
for all students. We use TSIA results to benchmark our students'
college, career, or military readiness to mark the gaps between
where they are and should be by graduation. We then administer
weekly formative assessments (quizzes, Kahoots, critical
reflections, etc.) embedded within Canvas, McGraw-Hill, and ALEKS
courses. We use a two-step summative assessment process. The first
step, a qualitative assessment, requires all students to compile a
portfolio at the end of each course to reflect upon their
knowledge. The second step is readministering the TSIA exam to
evaluate student learning progress using quantitative measures.
Data from the assessments are used to monitor student learning
progressively.
Sample of notable school alumni/alumnae:
Ariel Escobedo - Class of 2022 Student will be joining United States Airforce.
Jessica Pierre - Class of 2016 Student will be joining HCC
Javier Rayo - Class of 2013 Student joined Tulsa Welding School.
Grace Zavala - Class of 2022 Student will be pursuing her career at Elite Art of Phlebotomy
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