St. Thomas Aquinas Academy offers advisor-led, live high school courses for Catholic homeschooling families. These small-group Socratic seminars cover writing, reasoning, religion, literature, history, economics, government, fine arts, and the natural sciences. Students prepare offline during the week using the course plans in our STAA Study Guides, studying real books according to the weekly reading and assignment schedule; then they join an advisor-guided discussion to explore ideas from the readings, improve their understanding, sharpen their thinking, and develop strategies for upcoming writing assignments.
Class sizes are capped at ten students so that every meeting has room for genuine dialogue. Meetings take place over Zoom, but cameras are not used; meetings are entirely voice-based, with the advisor presenting the study guide, slideshows, and the Student Zone on screen while students follow along and share their ideas. The result is something closer to a tutorial than a lecture: an advisor who knows each student by name and by writing voice, guiding a conversation that picks up where the week’s reading and writing left off.
In addition to the guidance in the study guide and the live class meetings, weekly online quizzes on the STAA Student Zone help keep progress on track, and students can ask course- or assignment-related questions anytime through the Q&A Forums.
Ready to explore specific courses and meeting times? Visit the 2026–27 Course Catalog and Schedule for full course descriptions, pricing, and registration details. You may also download the printable brochure.
On This Page
Why Classical, Liberal Arts Education?
Our courses in the classical liberal arts help parents introduce their students to the great books of Western civilization. The focus is on developing the ability to read carefully, think critically, and grasp the great ideas in literature, theology, history, philosophy, art, and the physical sciences. Students learn to express their understanding through both written assignments and oral discussion.
Too often the trend in modern education is toward career training and early specialization at the expense of that liberal arts education in which theology is the crown. Our courses seek, rather, a wholesome traditional formation of the student as a person. To borrow from philosopher and educator Mortimer Adler, the ultimate goal of the educational process is to help human beings become educated persons. It is on that solid foundation that students can build the specialized training required for their college majors, careers, and vocations.
From the ancient Greeks and Romans to Sacred Scripture, the Church Fathers and Doctors, the Renaissance poets, and America’s founders, our courses trace the conversation of the ages. Through introductions to the great ideas and the cultural environments in which they arose, students connect with the past and better understand the present.
Integrated by Design
At St. Thomas Aquinas Academy, students do not study writing in one class and history in another as though the two had nothing to do with each other. Our courses are integrated: students learn to think and write well by applying those skills to reflections on some of Western civilization’s greatest writers, thinkers, and saints. A student who is learning to craft a thesis statement is doing so in response to a passage from Augustine or a chapter of American history, not a generic prompt. A student practicing the meeting of objections is working with the Summa Theologiae itself.
This integration shapes the entire curriculum. The writing and reasoning sequence, the content classes in history and literature and theology, and the science seminars are all designed to reinforce one another, so that the skills a student develops in one course deepen the work in every other.
A Formation, Not Just a Course
At the heart of STAA’s high school program is a six-semester sequence in Writing and Reasoning. It begins with the foundations of paragraph and essay composition. Over six semesters, students progress through essay writing, formal logic, and critical reading, each semester building on the last. Each course in the sequence includes a full English Mechanics component covering grammar, punctuation, usage, and critical thinking, so these essential skills are developed in context rather than studied in a separate class.
By the time a student reaches the senior year, the sequence has prepared him or her for our capstone courses: European History IA with Research Papers, Church History IIA, Government and Natural Law, and Moral Apologetics. The capstones are not surprises at the end of the road; they are the destination the entire arc has been pointing toward.
Students who participate in our Writing and Reasoning live classes meet every Tuesday for seventy-five minutes for an advisor-led discussion. Later in the week, students submit their writing assignments and English Mechanics exercises for evaluation and grading by the advisor. The advisor comments on reasoning and craft, returning detailed feedback that shapes the next week’s conversation.
Great Books as Living Conversations
While our live Writing and Reasoning classes meet weekly on Tuesdays, our content classes meet every other Thursday. Each ninety-minute session combines two courses from the same historical cycle into a single class period. The class period opens with a prayer, discusses the first course for about forty minutes, takes a brief break, and then spends about forty minutes on the second course. Because the two courses share a historical era, the readings illuminate one another: the literature deepens the history, and the history gives context to the literature or theology.
The conversations follow the arc of Western civilization across four cycles: U.S. Studies, Greek Studies, Roman Studies, and European Studies. A sophomore in the Greek Studies cycle encounters the power of persuasive speech in Homer’s Iliad and in Pericles’ Funeral Oration, discovering how the Greeks understood the relationship between eloquence and civic life. A junior in Roman Studies reads Augustine’s Confessions, Cicero, and Virgil’s Aeneid alongside Roman history, preparing for a writing project on friendship and duty. A senior in European Studies works with St. Thomas Aquinas’ Summa Theologiae alongside European history, studying the careful meeting of objections while writing two research papers of his or her own.
Students may register for one or both courses in a paired session. If registering for just one, the student joins at the start or at the break and leaves when that course’s discussion concludes. As with Writing and Reasoning, class sizes are capped at ten.
Science at the Seminar Table
STAA’s science classes bring the same small-group, discussion-based approach to the natural sciences. Biology and astronomy each meet on the biweekly Thursday schedule as standalone sessions. These courses are open to students in any year of the four-year cycle.
How It Works
Time Commitment
The time commitment for each full-time high school course in the St. Thomas Aquinas Academy catalog is about five hours per week. The live classes are no different; they simply add extra layers of support and feedback to the student’s educational journey. Most of the coursework for the school week is completed offline, even when a student is registered for a live class.
The Study Guide: A Student’s Weekly Anchor
During the week, students follow weekly course plans (which also include daily pacing recommendations) printed in the spiral-bound STAA Study Guide. The study guide also includes assignment directions, reflection topics, important terms, study questions, and a course-specific gradebook.
All of St. Thomas Aquinas Academy’s high school courses revolve around learning to think, write, and speak well, and to develop an attachment to virtue, so each study guide week includes a “Scheduled Discussion” in the key assignments area. Students who are not registered for a live class complete those discussions with their teaching-parents; students who are registered for live classes prepare for and participate in the live conversation with their advisor instead.
Preparing for the Live Meeting
Students confirm their preparation for each live meeting by sharing an informal discussion prep post on the class forum the day before (or a few days before) the Socratic discussion. The advisor reads these posts and uses them to shape the upcoming conversation, so each meeting is tailored to what the students are noticing, questioning, and connecting in their reading.
The Live Meeting
When class day arrives, the meeting is conducted via Zoom in an entirely voice-based format: the advisor presents the study guide, slideshows, reading selections, and the Student Zone on screen while students follow along and join the discussion. Cameras are not used. A headset with a boom microphone, a reliable internet connection, and a decent-sized computer screen (a laptop or a large tablet with a connected keyboard) are all a student needs to participate.
After the Meeting: A Full Circle of Support
Feedback is provided on the discussion prep posts and on the student’s participation in the live conversation. Weekly online quizzes on the STAA Student Zone keep reading comprehension on track. Students can ask course or assignment questions anytime through the Q&A Forums.
Students have at all times not only the plan for the discussion in their hands in the STAA Study Guide, but regular insight about reading comprehension through the online quiz system, reminders about due dates on the Student Zone, intriguing discussions about their studies, brainstorming and insights offered about upcoming assignments, and regular feedback about what they are doing well and what to keep in mind for next time. It is a full circle of accountability with encouragement, personalized guidance, clearly expressed timeframes and expectations, and inspiring ideas.
Advisor Grading Beyond the Live Class
For families who want an experienced set of eyes on their student’s content-course assignments, STAA offers an advisor grading service. The advisor evaluates selected assignments each quarter, providing specific comments on strengths, inaccuracies, reasoning, and English mechanics, along with a completed rubric and suggestions for improvement. This service is available as a standalone option for many of our content courses, whether or not the student is registered for a live class.
All assignments are submitted through dedicated assignment submission spaces on the STAA Student Zone as either Microsoft Word documents or, for handwritten assignments and prewriting, PDF files. Students will need access to Microsoft Word, Apple Pages, or Google Docs near the end of each week that an assignment is due to type up their final, polished assignments and export them as .docx files. Free scanning apps such as CamScanner can be used on smartphones or tablets to scan handwritten submissions and convert them to PDF files.
Parent Authority over Grades: In all courses, the teaching-parent retains final authority over the course grade. The advisor provides an evaluation, written feedback, and percentage-grade suggestions. Parents review evaluations, may choose to work through revisions with the student, may offer their student make-up work opportunities, may add extra credit points, and may adjust the grade to reflect those additional efforts.
Who Can Join
Live classes are an add-on to the student’s existing St. Thomas Aquinas Academy services and require weekly access to the STAA Student Zone. To establish access for the duration of the live class, enroll your students in the full St. Thomas Aquinas Academy program or activate an Independent Study Option subscription.
Many classes have prerequisites or courses that are best studied concurrently with the other courses in the cycle. Meet with our high school advisor to discuss placement and course selection. The classes are intended for high school students; advanced Grade 8 students who wish to start their high school studies early are welcome in the Composition I and II and American Literature courses.
Services at a Glance
| Full STAA Enrollment (enrolled students) |
Independent Study Subscription (ISO students) |
|
|---|---|---|
| Payment | Family enrollment package paid annually | Monthly subscription per student (or pay in full for the semester or year for a discount) |
| Assessment and Placement | Full academic skills assessment and advisor evaluation; advisor consultation for student and family academic placement and course selection | Quick, informal evaluation of a writing sample to help with academic placement and course selection |
| Course Load | May study more than six courses at a time | May study up to six STAA courses at a time |
| Advisor Consultations | Included as part of the family enrollment package; additional consultations available for purchase as desired | One-on-one advisor consultations available for purchase as desired |
| Transcripts and Diploma | May add the Transcript track and participate in semester reporting to develop transcripts and earn an STAA diploma | Not available |
| Email and Phone Support | Parents may leave messages by email or voicemail in advance of advisor appointments. Parents may also reach out about technical issues or billing matters by email or voicemail. | Parents may reach out about technical issues or billing matters by email or voicemail. |
Course Plans (applies to all students—enrolled and ISO):
- Included: An Academic Packet (overview of courses, books, and materials ordering information prepared by the advisor for the teaching-parent). Purchased separately: STAA Study Guides (weekly course plans, study tools, assignment directions, and gradebook for the student). Our courses guide students through the study of real books; books and materials are purchased separately through your favorite or our recommended suppliers.
STAA Student Zone (applies to all students—enrolled and ISO):
- Included: Q&A Forums for course and assignment questions; weekly online reading comprehension quizzes (computer-graded); forms, trackers, slideshows, templates, rubrics for parents, and articles; the STAA Handbook, Part 2: High School Orientation; and the entire catalog of STAA Study Guides available to view online.
Add-Ons (available to all students—enrolled and ISO):
- Live Classes: Register per student, per class, per semester for live, online, advisor-led Socratic discussions. Writing and Reasoning courses meet every Tuesday and include advisor grading and feedback for all writing assignments, meeting preparation, meeting participation, and English Mechanics exercises. Content courses meet every other Thursday; discounts are available for registering for both classes in a paired set. Live class students receive a 10% discount on STAA Study Guide orders.
- Advisor Assignment Grading: Register per student, per class, per semester for advisor evaluation and grading of assignments. May be added to a live class registration or purchased as a standalone grading service.
Take the Next Step
Ready to see what is available for the 2026–27 school year? Browse the full list of courses, meeting times, and pricing on our Course Catalog and Schedule page, or download the printable brochure to review at the kitchen table.
A free consultation with an experienced advisor is the best way to discuss which classes fit your student’s academic plan, talk through placement, and ask questions about the registration process.
Browse the 2026–27 Course Catalog » Download 2026–27 Brochure » Schedule a Free Consultation »
About the Art on This Page: The Virgin and Child or The Madonna of the Book (c. 1480), Sandro Botticelli. Museo Poldi Pezzoli, Milan.