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Curriculum taught in North American Division Seventh-day Adventist Schools is based on the Word of God, is rooted in the belief that God created us with minds that can grasp spiritual and intellectual truths, and places first leading the student to accept Christ as his personal Lord and Savior. The curriculum stresses educating students for a life of worship, growth and service, places a high estimate on the worth of the individual student, and dictates that Seventh-day Adventist Christian values be developed in every subject at all grade levels. (North American Division, Department of Education, 2005) 

 
Forest Lake Distance Learning Academy

How, why, and when did Forest Lake Distance Learning Academy (FLDLA) begin? In 1993, a curriculum initiative from the Potomac Conference (Mid-Atlantic area of the United States) asked some fundamental questions about what should be expected from Seventh-day Adventist education. "How can we prepare our students for the 21st century in a uniquely Seventh-day Adventist setting?" was one of the driving questions. The "Futures Commission" issued a FACT21 document articulating the goals, philosophy, and essential elements of the curriculum in K-12 Adventist schools. As an outgrowth of these two curriculum initiatives, FLDLA was born. Leadership, service, and outreach are cornerstones of the integrated curriculum, and cutting-edge educational technology creates cords of community that bind together teacher, student, and quality education. 

An education gained through use of the FLDLA curriculum provides students with leadership training, an emphasis on lifelong service, and the technological skills that will give them an edge in today's competitive job market. FLDLA Program Description. FLDLA operates an 11th & 12th grade high school program for TCA. FLDLA provides a complete, fully accredited curriculum for TCA's grades 11 & 12, including two years of English, Bible, and history, foreign languages, math, and sciences (including lab sciences), as well as a number of one-year or one-semester courses like art appreciation. Credits are issued through Forest Lake Academy and are recognized by Home Study International, as well as nearly every school throughout the U.S. FLDLA keeps our youth connected to the church, to Adventist education, and encourages more Adventist high school graduates to seek church-sponsored higher education. 

FLDLA is an educational service that is primarily sponsored by the Florida Conference of Seventh-day Adventists and its management is overseen by the Florida Conference Office of Education and K-12 Board of Education. Through a consortium arrangement with Forest Lake Academy, and the Southern Union Office of Education, secondary students receive credits from Forest Lake Academy and seniors in the program graduate with a Forest Lake Academy diploma. 

Course work is taught via web-based technologies and class discussion is enabled by real time interactive videoconferencing. Off-camera student contact with the teacher is maintained through a website, instant messaging, e-mail, and the telephone. Local facilitators link with teachers and parents to support class work and management issues at the local site. Aside from its technological format, FLDLA operates with a distinctive curriculum built around the tenets of the North American Division FACT 21 document. This curriculum strives to bring several key beliefs into reality for its students: God has created each individual with a specific set of gifts, traits, and talents that He wishes to use for mankind's benefit. Each student needs to develop these gifts so that he or she can be ready for God's eventual calling.
Each of us is a member of a world community and as such, we should develop an appreciation and immersion in cultures other than our own. Because of this, we should be literate and fluent in at least one non-birth language. Service should be an active, ongoing part of our every day living, and we should look for ways to serve others in need. Mission trips are scheduled twice a year for students to develop their service skills. Integrated curriculum maintains a higher relevance and application value for students. Student work receives summative as well as formative evaluation and is assessed primarily through the production of student portfolios. Students develop a value for life-long learning and realize that in the work world of their future, they will frequently retrain for additional skills in an ever-changing work place. Principles are non-negotiable. For more information and application procedures, visit the FLDLA website at www.fldla.org