The 2012-13 school year brought several big changes for Sophia Academy — one being the addition of the school’s first ninth-grade class. With 13 years experience in small class size and multisensory instruction, the school will provide a college prep experience with personalized attention, according to a news release.

Marie Corrigan, founding director, touted several projects taking place within the school this year.

“We have three major initiatives this year, the first being to retain Catholic status, the second is the implementation of Curriculum 21, which will be our version of the common core with a much deeper multisensory approach and collaboration among the teachers and also the launch of the high school,” said Corrigan.

The school, which has an enrollment of 100-plus students, was established in 1999 with the focus on students with learning differences.

In conjunction with the new grade level offering, the academy also became affiliated with the Society of Mary/Marist school to be an independent Catholic school. Sophia Academy will be able to receive the exchange of information from administration and teaching professionals and have several benefits by being in the community of a larger school.

“It’s exciting to be starting the ninth-grade at the same time we are becoming a Marist-sponsored school with their 112 years of expertise to help us,” said Carrie Cooper, lead teacher.

Cooper, who will also teach several of the core classes for the new freshmen class, said she is also working to implement a missionary trip and eventually a cultural exchange program for the academy.

The ninth-grade curriculum will be a blend of teacher-guided curriculum as well as teacher-guided online instruction, said Corrigan. She added they anticipate the online component will be extremely successful because it will be done at school and supervised by the teacher.

“Sophia Academy has recently completed its capital campaign, which is a strong indicator of community support,” said Corrigan. “The creation of the ninth-grade for students who need a smaller learning environment and a faith-based community has been a great need for Atlanta for a long time. We are pleased to take on this challenge backed by the success of our students and the support of the community.”