Grace Acaemy is a Christian University-Model School located in the First Baptist Church in Matthews, North Carolina. The school started back in 2002 and has grown from about 50 students to over 450 students stretching from Kindergarten-12th grade. Often described as a "home-school school", this is partly the truth because the majority of students take a few classes at Grace and take a few other classes at home or at other schools, such as Central Peidmont Community College. The format of the school is different from traditional schools, at Grace Academy students choose up to 4 classes a day, and take those classes on Mondays and Wednesdays. Students can also choose a different set of up to 4 classes which they will attend Tuesdays and Thursdays. So all together one student can take anywhere from 1 to 8 courses. There is no school on Fridays. Another big difference in Grace Academy is that the school day lasts only about 4 hours, from 8:15 to 12:15. This is so students who are taking classes at home may have plenty of time to do so. Grace Academy students only attend the school 120 days in a year, which is another big change from a traditional private or public school.