Frequently Asked Questions

Can we visit the school before we apply? Yes! We encourage you to visit the school. Because our school is small and visitors can be distracting, we only schedule visits for students who have attended an initial informational interview to make sure our school matches up to what they’re looking for academically and personally.

Can I sit in on a class? We encourage students who are interested in the Academy to schedule a time to visit a class. (You do have to set this up in advance, so please don’t just drop in.)

Do you offer financial aid? We have tried to make our tuition costs reasonable, and at this time, we don't offer an official financial aid program. However, we're willing to work with families of exceptional students to help them reduce the cost of tuition, typically through tuition discounts. Financial assistance must be coordinated before official registration paperwork is submitted.

Is the Academy an accredited school? The Academy is NOT an accredited school. Over the years, we’ve talked to scores of college admissions officers about homeschool admissions, and there is no advantage for homeschoolers applying with an accredited diploma. We believe that the best education is personalized and self-directed, and our many conversations with college admissions officers suggest that a transcript that reflects these qualities is superior to an accredited diploma. Very few schools even require accredited diplomas from applicants. If you have your heart set on one that does, all of our classes meet the criteria for accreditation, and we’re happy to help you through the process of having an enrolled student’s individual diploma accredited. (This is a long-term process that we recommend initiating in the fall of your student’s junior year, and while we are happy to assist with the process, individual accreditation is managed by a student’s parents and not by the Academy.)

What about transfer credits? It is easy enough to transfer from a traditional school to homeschooling, but it can be difficult to transfer from homeschool to a traditional high school after 9th grade. Schools don't always accept homeschool credits, and whether they choose to do so or not is at their discretion. (You can learn more about Georgia’s laws governing transfer credits here.) If you know you want to try a traditional high school experience, do it for 9th grade! If you love it, you'll be able to keep going; if you don't, it's easy to switch to homeschooling after your freshman year. We accept transfer credits from homeschoolers and most other institutions.

Is the Academy a school? The Academy is a hybrid high school for homeschoolers who want the freedom and flexibility of homeschooling but the structure and rigor of a traditional high school education. The Academy offers a full academic curriculum for homeschooled high school students, but it’s set up to allow students time and space to pursue other interests and activities. Full-time students attend classes two days per week and (optional) Friday enrichment sessions. Students can also take one or more a la carte classes as part of their homeschool studies, and we give students credit for classes they take outside the Academy. All students must register as homeschoolers with the state of Georgia by submitting an annual Letter of Intent. 

How does the schedule work? Students attend classes two days a week, similar to university model classes. Class days are intensive, hands-on, and depend on students who have prepared for class on their days away from school. 

The work you do at home is essential to your success, and while classes only meet two days a week, you should expect to put in an additional 14+ hours of focused work time at home. Assignments ask students to do substantial reading and thinking, and many students have a learning curve as they adjust to this new way of working and managing their time. You may need to experiment with different ways of scheduling and managing your time — we’re here to help you with lots of hands-on support and tools.

Optionally, students can attend extracurricular sessions on Fridays, which include everything from movie days and book club to study skills workshops and test prep sessions to credit-bearing courses and intensive seminars on special topics.

What will I learn? The Academy follows a fairly classical liberal arts curriculum with a heavy emphasis on critical thinking, reading, and writing. The High School, the Junior High follows a four-year history cycle (Ancient History, World History, U.S. History, and Asian History) which focuses closely on a few specific topics. A typical schedule includes: Critical Thinking and Debate, Humanities (which includes literature, philosophy, theoretical science, and history in an integrated study), Latin, Spanish, and Mathematics. Optional Friday Enrichment options include short-term classes on topics such as World Religions, Social Activism, Feminism, and Creative Writing as well as study skills workshops, test preparation, and more.

Humanities classes at the Academy are based around great books, and students will be reading classics of literature, philosophy, and history. As you’d expect, this is challenging, meaningful work, and students will be stretching their thinking in new ways. We think it’s okay for work to be hard because the learning payoff for hard work is so great, and we’re looking for students who feel the same way.

What about social activities and extracurriculars? Most of our current extracurricular and social activities—including drama club, the D&D team, Latin Club, prom, yearbook, movie days, etc.—came about through student initiative, so if you have a great idea for an activity, we'll be all in to help you make it a reality. Students also have built in social time every day, including a lunch break that's set up so that you can bond with your fellow students outside the classroom.

Is this the right school for me? Maybe! Motivated students with a genuine passion for learning thrive here. Because you’re not at school more days a week than you’re here, it’s important for students to be willing to do schoolwork on non-school days. Students who want to get beyond simple multiple-choice or true-or-false learning conditions will appreciate the open-ended discussion and projects in Academy classes. Our best students quickly learn to actively engage in their own educations, taking responsibility for their work and for communicating with their teachers and mentors. Students who love reading and writing, who want to set their own learning pace, and who appreciate putting their critical thinking skills to work across the curriculum will find plenty to make them happy at the Academy.

It's not the right fit for everyone, though. If you’re just interested in coasting through high school doing the minimum, there’s nothing wrong with that, but this probably isn’t the best place to do it. Because we keep our classes small, this isn’t a great school for people who view social opportunities as a major priority. (Our students have great camaraderie, but there are only 12 of them!) If you hate reading and writing, if you dislike discussion heavy classes, if you’re not fond of critical thinking, you may be happier at another school.