We are delighted to partner with you in pursuit of restful classical education for your students. This handbook outlines the structure of our online academy, the philosophy of education we embrace, and the policies we have set in place to facilitate a smooth and fruitful experience. You confirm your commitment to these policies by enrolling your student in a Scholé Academy course.
The word scholé (pronounced skoh-LAY) comes from a Greek word meaning “restful learning,” with connotations of reflection, contemplation, and leisure. Put simply, scholé means undistracted time to study the things that are most worthwhile. As our name implies, we value learning that is restful rather than frenetic.
Modern, progressive education is largely an education in anxiety—students often take eight or more courses at a time, are graded numerically by instructors driven to “teach to the test,” and learn to cram, pass, and then forget. By contrast, our courses cultivate unrushed learning with meaningful, deep engagement of fewer books and concepts, so that learning becomes memorable, enjoyable, and permanent.
Scholé Academy instructors create an atmosphere of restful learning by modeling peace, tranquility, and love of the subject, and they assess understanding and mastery rather than the mere input and output of facts. Even in an online classroom, our instructors foster engaged discussion, build relationships among students, and wed truth to beauty in their teaching.
All Scholé Academy instructors are given access to ClassicalU and other resources that define our philosophy and provide ongoing professional development. If you would like to explore the concept of scholé further, we recommend:
In pursuit of scholé, we employ two key pedagogies: the development of virtues in our students, and patterns of “liturgical learning.”
“. . . there is little enthusiasm for the patient acquisition of virtue, little inclination to sign up for a long apprenticeship in what earlier generations of Christians called holiness.” — Eugene Peterson, A Long Obedience in the Same Direction
Augustine described education as teaching students to “love that which is lovely.” The classical and Christian traditions emphasize modeling love for the true, good, and beautiful. The word student itself derives from the Latin studium—“zeal,” “fondness,” “affection.” Great instructors cultivate this zeal in their students, and parents play the most vital role in its development. The key virtues we seek to cultivate—and the vices to overcome—are described below.
Virtues are cultivated and modeled more than taught. We make students aware of them, occasionally teach them directly, and above all encourage students to hunger for them and ask God for virtue and wisdom (Proverbs 2; James 1).
“Liturgical learning” describes using the embodied patterns of church worship to shape how we order time, space, and language in our classes. We believe a liturgical pattern helps recover reflection and contemplation as part of learning. The pattern below is a guide—not followed to the letter—and its embodiment varies by instructor and class:
Our community is a patchwork stitched together by the common threads of classical education, serving a variety of Christian traditions. In our Great Hall, families find courses like Latin, logic, science, mathematics, grammar, and writing; within our Houses of Studies—St. Raphael School, the Canterbury House of Studies, and the Aquinas House of Studies—students may seek deeper knowledge of God. Great Hall classes are taught by instructors from Protestant, Orthodox, and Catholic traditions, all of whom engage students with patience, rationality, and open inquiry.
Scholé Academy instructors affirm the dogmas of the Nicene Creed without exception, and our community affirms traditional moral teachings of the faith, including:
Our instructors respect and seek familiarity with the multi-faceted Common Tradition (“Canonical Theism”), including the centrality of Scripture, the liturgy and Eucharist, spiritual disciplines, the Seven Ecumenical Councils, religious art, the witness of the church fathers, and the historic view of the saints.
Scholé Academy instructors will: regularly attend Christian worship, pray, and study Scripture; defer to parents and clergy on controversial issues; uphold the Faith and Culture convictions; refrain from advocating personal religious or political views outside the Common Tradition; treat those who sin with compassion and grace; abstain from behaviors that would hinder their role as models; and, out of pastoral concern, feel free to offer timely life wisdom relevant to the course.
We provide upper-school students (grades 7–12) tools for critically examining cultural trends through the lens of orthodox Christian belief. Confident in the truth revealed in creation, Scripture, and the tradition of the church, we are not afraid to follow the truth or to address error—while remaining open to learning from those outside the faith through respectful conversation and healthy academic discourse guided by the great teachers of the church.
For our live online classes, we use Zoom, a video-conference platform. Students join instructors for real-time, face-to-face sessions that mimic in-person learning—participants see and hear one another, and instructors can share their screens, use a virtual whiteboard, and let students share their own work. Because real, personal interaction cannot be achieved without video, students are expected to use video in each class (except in rare circumstances approved by the instructor).
Students join live sessions by clicking the link on their Canvas course page, which launches Zoom automatically. In exceptional circumstances (power outages, technical difficulties, loss of Canvas access), students may join using the meeting ID or a call-in phone number provided by the instructor.
All sessions (classes, tutoring, office hours, clubs, etc.) are recorded. Recordings are not standardly accessible but can be made available when necessary (e.g., an excused absence), provided students comply with attendance and participation policies. On occasion, we may use clips or screenshots from recordings for promotional purposes; if you do not wish your student’s class to be shared this way, please notify us at the time of enrollment.
As our name implies, we seek to present all teaching and learning restfully with scholé. Our instructors teach from within the Christian faith and relate class concepts to it when pertinent. Scholé Academy instructors affirm the dogmas of the Nicene Creed without exception and affirm the traditional moral teachings of the faith. We provide upper-school students (grades 7–12) tools for critically examining cultural trends through the lens of orthodox Christian belief. You may read more about our approach to healthy dialogue on our Faith & Culture page.
The placement process is critical to student success and begins with parents carefully reading course descriptions, which convey each instructor’s vision, objectives, target grade range, and the skills and virtues students should possess. Before registering, consider:
Once you have considered these questions and determined the course is a good fit, go ahead and register.
After registration, administrators and instructors verify placement by reviewing your enrollment information. Math and Latin classes have a specific placement process. Depending on the course, an instructor may require a placement evaluation, which may include:
Evaluations should be completed by students without outside help unless otherwise stated. Registration is not finalized until placement has been confirmed. Scholé Academy reserves the right to deny admission to a student for any reason.
We are proud to offer services via the Scholé Academy Center for Students with Learning Differences (CSLD). Special Needs Instructors (SNIs) help parents navigate curricular decisions and support academic goals, working alongside—but independently from—the course instructor, who remains the authority in the classroom. Parents are the point of contact for any accommodations.
Course instructors are not required to be trained to serve students with learning differences, but many students participate fully with outside assistance. Please contact us before registration if your student has unique learning challenges or a diagnosed learning disability; a medical diagnosis is not required to discuss accommodations with the instructor, who ultimately decides whether an accommodation plan can be met. Students with learning differences are enrolled provisionally; if within the first three weeks a course proves not well-suited, the parent or instructor may request a withdrawal for a full refund.
Class size is generally capped at 15 students. Instructors may lower this to facilitate engagement, or raise it as high as 18 with approval. No course will exceed 18 students (including auditors).
Purchases may be made online or by calling 866-730-0711. Tuition is listed on each course page and at checkout. At checkout you may choose Shop Pay to pay in full or split your purchase into installments (powered by Affirm).
A $75 deposit is built into the cost of each course.
After the drop/add date, a ½ refund is only given if parents initiated a substantive conversation with the instructor about withdrawal before the end of the second week of class. Conversations begun after that point yield no refund. (For once-weekly courses, the add/drop period extends to three weeks.) Withdrawn families are not entitled to any course materials or recordings, and the student is removed from Canvas. Email the registrar to request a withdrawal; all withdrawals are final.
If a course is “full with waiting list,” use the waiting-list link on the course page or send us your and your student’s details. Seats that open before the end of add/drop are offered in the order requests were received. Waiting lists close at the end of the add/drop period, and Scholé Academy may open an additional section if a course fills quickly.
Scholé Academy may allow students to enroll in in-progress courses throughout the year, case-by-case and only with instructor approval. Late enrollments begin with a parent-instructor interview and a transition plan. Payment is made by phone (full price through the first semester; 60% of tuition if secured at mid-year or later). All late-enrollment purchases are final, with no withdrawal window.
Auditing is permitted case-by-case with instructor approval at 70% of tuition. Auditors have Canvas access but do not take exams or complete assignments and receive no grades or grade report. If a course fills and a fully participating student wishes to enroll, an auditor may be withdrawn (with a full refund, including deposit).
A transfer is a move to another section of the same course, permitted only before the end of the second week of class and if space is available. Moving to a different course is a change in enrollment requiring withdrawal (with any applicable refund) and a new purchase. Scholé Academy does not allow transfers from course enrollment to tutoring enrollment.
One week before a course begins, the instructor holds a brief orientation for parents and students to introduce themselves, test the technology, and ensure everything works for the first day. Parent and student participation is required; details come from the instructor by email.
Classes are live and highly interactive. Students attend with video on, function as full participants, minimize distractions, and avoid multitasking. Students who do not turn on their video may be removed from the Zoom classroom and marked absent (the instructor uses judgment for legitimate technical issues). Etiquette includes timely arrival, staying muted unless speaking, raising hands, and dressing appropriately.
Whenever possible, alert your instructor of an absence in advance; we generally provide a recording of the missed session. Recordings are helpful but not guaranteed and are not a substitute for live participation—we do not offer asynchronous courses. Maximum absences:
As absences approach the maximum, the instructor will reach out to parents and involve the principal. If the maximum is reached or exceeded and no resolution is found, enrollment may be suspended and, without resolution, the student withdrawn without refund. We accommodate natural disasters and religious observance (absences on the holy days of Pascha and Nativity are not counted toward the maximum).
We believe earning a specific grade should not overshadow the goal of mastering and delighting in a discipline. At the same time, we provide quantifiable grades for families preparing transcripts.
Instructors assign mastery-based grades: magna cum laude (with great praise), cum laude (with praise), satis (sufficient, satisfactory), and non satis (not sufficient). Ideally, every diligent average student earns cum laude; those who excel earn magna cum laude.
Scholé Academy does not provide official transcripts; we affirm homeschooling parents’ right to prepare them. Student grade records are available in Canvas to download and print. Parents are the ultimate authority on a student’s grade. Only students who complete the required work at a satisfactory level receive a grade report. If you require a traditional numeric or letter grade, notify the instructor; middle- and upper-school instructors post numeric grades along with narrative feedback.
Occasionally a student’s behavior necessitates academic probation, a change in enrollment status, or withdrawal. These situations are handled with compassion and case-by-case, in consultation with the principal. In cases of poor performance (excessive absences, missing homework, refusal to participate or turn on video, egregious behavior), the instructor first reaches out to parents for help resolving the concern.
If behavior continues, the principal may become involved and the student and family may be placed on academic probation for a set period, with an individualized plan. Probation typically asks parents to take a more active role and students to attend faithfully, submit work on time, communicate well, and achieve satisfactory work. If probation succeeds, requirements may be lifted; if not, withdrawal or a change to audit status (without refund) may follow.
We define plagiarism as dishonestly representing another’s work as one’s own, whether deliberate or unintentional; students must properly cite their sources. For younger students, plagiarism is often due to unfamiliarity with citation rules, and instructors respond with grace and instruction.
Because AI can make dishonesty simple and largely undetectable, we characterize the undisclosed use of generative AI as plagiarism. We expect students will not use generative AI to enhance, supplement, or complete their coursework. When a concern arises, the instructor reserves judgment, gathers the relevant facts, and contacts the parents and student.
We encourage our community to operate under the Matthew 18 Principle (Matthew 18:15–17): first address a concern directly and privately. If a parent has a concern about their student or the course, contact the instructor directly and promptly—ideally by phone or video rather than email. If a conversation with the instructor does not resolve the issue, contact the principal; for a principal, policy, or school-wide issue, contact the Director. We ask all parties to communicate with proper etiquette and Christian charity.
We purposefully create a space for personal, distraction-free education. When cultural issues are not part of the learning topic, we ask instructors and students to honor the classroom’s intended focus and limit distractions—not as punishment, but to cultivate purposeful learning. If distractions arise, the instructor redirects the discussion and follows up afterward; a student who will not cooperate may be dismissed from class for the day until a follow-up conversation occurs.
We encourage families to build relationships across our community. Note that Scholé Academy does not monitor students’ individual Zoom rooms, chats, or interactions on social platforms outside of class. It is the responsibility of parents to monitor the relationships their students form and the tools they use. We hope these relationships reflect the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22–23).
Throughout the year, Scholé Academy and its Houses offer online community events; parent and student attendance is welcome but not required. One special event is a surprise “Snow Day”—each instructor may declare one surprise Snow Day for his classes during the winter months. Shhh…it’s a secret!
“In the essentials unity, in the nonessentials liberty, in all things charity.” — St. Augustine
Parents confirm this agreement by enrolling their student in a Scholé Academy course. Because hiring someone to teach your child touches your finances, your faith and life philosophy, and the soul of your child, we clarify what each party expects and commit to treat one another with respect and charity.
For any questions or concerns, please reach out to us. We look forward to a successful partnership, serving one another for the education of the next generation.