Yes, we will have course plans for you so you don't have to create your own.  We have weekly course plans for every student in our Academic Packets and semester guides with daily checklists for high school students in our STAA Study Guides.  Here is a link to the page on our site with previews of the the Academic Packets: https://staahomeschool.com/index.php/program/placement/academic-packets.  Under the Academic Packet previews you will also see a link to the page with previews of the STAA Study Guides.  In addition to the course plans, your academic advisor (or high school advisor, depending on the age of your students) is available throughout the year to help when you find yourself a little off track, behind, confused, or stressed.

Yes, we have outlined the requirements for earning high school diplomas in detail on our STAA Diploma Program page. There you will find answers to the questions asked most frequently about the requirements that apply to age of the student, enrollment, reporting, courses, credits, and testing.

The annual enrollment fees that are paid once per academic year are listed on the ANNUAL ENROLLMENT page.  These fees are due when you are ready to plan for the next grade level and submit the application to enroll your student for the academic year.  Renew your student's enrollment every June to keep your family's advisory services and access to the STAA Student Zone active.  See chart of enrollment fees for the upcoming school year. >>

You may add the Transcript Option to your student's annual enrollment if you are interested in developing transcripts with St. Thomas Aquinas Academy.  See the ANNUAL ENROLLMENT page for the current rate. >>

There is also an option to add advisor-grading or advisor-guidance services to select high school courses.  The fees for these special services are due per course, per semester.  Learn more about grading and guidance. >>

Looking to homeschool with a program that offers guidance and report cards showing that my children pass each grade.

We offer advisor planning and guidance support as part of enrollment.  We do not issue a certificate that states students have passed specific grade levels.  We do, however, have a Report Card/Transcript Option that can be added to your students' enrollment packages in order to develop a formal record of the subjects and materials studied each school year.  Also, our assessment test is taken annually to help to track student progress and determine placement in each subject for the upcoming school year.   

High School Options

Advisor-Grading and Advisor-Guided courses are available for students in grades 8 through 12 who are looking for regular assignment evaluations and guidance from their high school advisor during the school year:  Click here to learn more. >>

All of our course plans include introductory teaching notes, book and material ordering information, class period scheduling tips, and weekly or daily lesson plans if such plans are not already present in the textbook's teacher resources.  https://staahomeschool.com/index.php/program/placement/academic-packets.  

We recommend a books and materials budget of $350.00 per grammar school student, per school year.  The teacher's manuals include lists of necessary items for hands-on projects.  We always recommend that such project lists are used as a menu: engage in as many is comfortable for you and your students.  There is never an obligation to complete every project in every section.

Teaching-parent prep work for each school week consists of ten to thirty minutes at the beginning of each school week to consult the Academic Packet, make sure all of the materials for the week are organized and ready to grab up for each class period, and consider which optional, special projects will be added to the week's activity list.  Reading the teacher notes for new lessons before sitting down to work through the lesson material with the student is encouraged.

"Cycle- what cycle year will STAA be following next year. This year all of my boys have followed American History, we will cycle back to Ancients with our co-op (Catholic Schoolhouse) and hope to do that with our curriculum at home."    

Our cycles run Greek, Roman, Old World, then New World.  Then they repeat.  We like to sneak a year of Ancient history in for Grade 2, 3 or 4 for the young family when possible and then start the Greek, Roman, Old World, New World cycling after that.  At the grade levels you refer to, doing a Greek year wouldn't be a problem (but we will move your Gr. 9 students to the New World/US cycle, note).   I don't believe our history cycles coincide with Catholic Schoolhouse.  History is a per-family endeavor, not a school-wide endeavor.

"History- I see that each grade level is designated a history focus (online under the grammar tab of the website). I will have an 8th, 7th, 5th, 4th, and K student and would like to group teach them as many lessons as possible. I typically try to do this with History, Science, and Religion."

We tinker with our Religion/History/Literature/Science/Fine Arts units (they resemble a unit study format) per family, except in our high school diploma program where the years build on themselves in study skills and study methods.  Our high school diploma program is more structured to accomplish the Catholic classical liberal arts college prep model.

"Literature - Because I have a few boys who really struggle with Language Arts, I would like to better understand the Literature portion of the STAA curriculum. [The advisor] mentioned a Great Book's preparation. Is there any information you can provide that will help me understand this component of the program?"    

Language arts and literature are separate courses in our program.  Language Arts develops and crafts reading, spelling, formal composition, logic, formal grammar, punctuation, and cursive.  Literature trains the students in literary analysis, critical thinking, moral reasoning, and note-taking.  Mortimer Adler has several books out about a lifetime reading plan that works through the Great Books.  We especially recommend his The Paideia Program: An Educational Syllabus for parents interested in learning more about introducing young people to the Great Books.

Yes, of course, you are very welcome to join St. Thomas Aquinas Academy. A number of our families are non-Catholic. We caution the non-Catholic family strongly, though, that the goal of our program is to produce beautiful Catholic character in the student. Texts and materials are chosen to accomplish that end—and do so beautifully. Also keep in mind that we cannot issue grades and credits for anti-Catholic content and non-Catholic religion units, and 30 credits (six semesters) of religion are required to satisfy the high school diploma requirements.  Twenty of the required credits are one semester of each of the following courses: Moral Apologetics, Church History I, Old Testament I, and Catholic Apologetics.  The other 10 credits may be completed by selecting two other Catholic religion courses from our course list or completing appropriate studies at a co-op or college.

All enrollment services are offered over the telephone, mail, and internet so you do not need to be in Nevada to enroll.  We have families from most states and a number of foreign countries and have experienced no problems. 

Individual state laws vary, but basic expectations for academic accomplishment and even subject placement are very similar everywhere. Too, we encourage you to get in touch with your local homeschool support group and/or join Home School Legal Defense Association to become aware of the particular laws of your state (STAA member families are given a group discount code to apply to their HSLDA membership).

"Do you provide help on how to find home schooling groups for social purpose; faith support; etc. since this is one of the reasons that my husband is somewhat reluctant to homeschool our children?"

Ask the parishes in your area if there are any Catholic homeschool support groups nearby.  You may need to ask around a few times as the support groups are not usually formal parish ministries so they may not be listed in the parish office.

St. Thomas Aquinas Academy does have a club called the STAA Inklings that meets twice per month via telephone/web conference that serves as an informal homeschool "literature-coursework questions-support group" for students in Grades 8 through 12.

It is very important to establish connections in your community, though.  So always start with the inquiries at your local parishes and then encourage your teens to participate in STAA's offerings.

My state has some very invasive end-of-year paperwork requirements for homeschoolers.  I want to know if the fact that PA wants a licensed teacher to write once a year evaluation if that could be done through your organization?

St. Thomas Aquinas Academy does educational planning, homeschool mentoring, and, if you select the Transcript Option, will work with you to maintain a record of academic progress (transcripts).  Our staff does not prepare or submit state or district paperwork.  To satisfy the laws and codes that apply to your school district you will want to contact Home School Legal Defense Association (www.hslda.org) or a similar organization.  We encourage you to also reach out to the local homeschool support groups that meet at parishes near your home to discuss the types of paperwork, testing, reports, or notifications other homeschool families have been submitting to your local school district.

Member Families

We encourage homeschooling families to maintain active membership in Home School Legal Defense Association (www.hslda.org) or a similar organization.  See the welcome letter in your welcome/assessment packet for St. Thomas Aquinas Academy's HSLDA group discount code to apply a discount to your HSLDA membership.

How does the school year run for this program? Do we have to follow the typical school year of August-May/June? Can we adjust this to fit our needs? One reason homeschooling is attractive to us is the flexibility.

Yes, you can adjust your school calendar to fit with your family's schedule.  We recommend developing a school year calendar with 180 school days, but whether that calendar is a "traditional" calendar, year-round, or alternative is very much your choice. 

The sample academic calendar we publish each year starts mid-August and ends mid-June.  Instructions and an academic calendar year template are made available to member families so they can create their own school calendar.  The recommended format consists of 180 school days: two school weeks of first-semester preparation, sixteen academic weeks, two school weeks of second-semester preparation, and sixteen academic weeks (36 total school weeks).

No matter what academic calendar you put in place in your home, just keep in mind that student enrollment must be renewed for the next academic year by June 30th of each year to renew access to advisor support services and the STAA Student Zone resources.

Member Families

The STAA Student Zone courses reset every July.  Let your advisor know in July if your junior high or high school student needs a course extension because of your family's unique schedule.  Course extensions are free for students with active enrollment and $25.00 per month for students whose enrollment has expired.

The assessment process can take as little as four weeks if the assessments are completed and returned within the week you receive them. The later in the homeschool high season (May to September), the longer it can take. It is best to return your assessments to STAA eight to ten weeks before you want to order books.

You will be invited to schedule the telephone review of the assessment results once your completed assessments are delivered to the St. Thomas Aquinas Academy office.  Your academic advisor will email you your students' Academic Packets prior to that appointment so you have them on hand for the conversation.

"I was also going through the website, and saw there was a skills assessment test.  Can I just sign my children up for the grades that they are going into?"  

The skills assessments give advisors the information needed to personalize the course of study for each student and each family.  The skills assessments are an essential part of the planning process since St. Thomas Aquinas Academy is not a school-in-a-box, one-size-fits-all program, especially when it comes to weaving multiple siblings into the same or related study cycles.

Yes, and it is important to St. Thomas Aquinas Academy that the texts used for catechism, apologetics, Church history, and Scripture study are soundly Catholic. Most of the books for our religion courses come from TAN Books, Ignatius Press, and Midwest Theological Forum.  Furthermore, our academic advisors are practicing Catholics and attend parishes that are in full compliance with the Church.

To review the books used or mentioned in our Religion courses, follow this link: http://staahomeschool.com/index.php/books-by-subject/344-religion. Families that look at our course materials and have questions about individual texts or families that are enrolled and wish to discuss the content of specific texts are encouraged to schedule an appointment with a St. Thomas Aquinas Academy advisor so we can discuss your concerns at length.

No, we are not Common Core aligned. Our program has always been, and will remain, classical in content and methodology.  Our materials meet and exceed the standard public school educational fare.  St. Thomas Aquinas Academy does not receive any state or federal monies.  We are funded entirely by the enrollment fees from the individual families that enroll in the program.

For more about why St. Thomas Aquinas Academy does not participate in Common Core, please visit the Cardinal Newman Society site and the Home School Legal Defense Association site.

While we do not expect that parents are experts in classical education models and content prior to enrolling, we do recommend bringing home the first two titles on the following list and exploring the last five resources as time allows over the years. 

1. The Paideia Program: An Educational Syllabus by Mortimer Adler
2. A Landscape With Dragons: The Battle for Your Child’s Mind by Michael O’Brien
3. Designing Your Own Classical Curriculum: A Guide to Catholic Home Education by Laura M. Berquist
4. A Student's Guide to Liberal Learning (ISI Guides to the Major Disciplines) by James Schall
5. Articles about classical studies from Memoria Press.
6. The Trivium: The Liberal Arts of Logic, Grammar, and Rhetoric by Sister Mariam Joseph
7. Teaching the Classics by Andrew and Missy Andrews

We also recommend . . .

• Our mission here at St. Thomas Aquinas Academy >>

"I am wondering what is your policy on substitutions and supplements to your philosophy and religion texts. I don't dislike what you have chosen, I just have other books/materials I would want to use in place of or in addition to."

You are encouraged to supplement as often as your time, interest and opportunity allow, though it is never required. We also welcome some course substitutions, but recommend that you discuss them with your advisor in order to set academic goals and reasonable time investment plans.

Our policy regarding course substitutions can be found here: Personalizing the Course of Study. The policy is mainly directed towards high school students that wish to complete the diploma program.  The St. Thomas Aquinas Academy high school diploma program has been carefully balanced and outlined to achieve maximum efficiency in acquiring quality study skills, Catholic formation, liberal arts literacy, and a good measure of student independence.  Trading out large blocks of our recommended materials leads to weaker integration of the subjects and more planning, preparation, and supervision on the teaching-parent's part, as you can imagine.  

There is a great deal of flexibility in materials for Grades K - 8.  But be aware that we are very persuasive.  We chose the materials and methods of presentation very specifically, book by book.  When trying to decide if your own selections would be a good fit for you, our advisors will clearly outline the general goals of the course and how our materials work with those goals.  The final decision is up to you, of course.  Just keep in mind that if you are participating in the semester reporting and transcript process, the materials must be of appropriate academic rigor for the grade level (identified special needs excepted), the religion courses must be Catholic, and materials with overwhelming anti-Catholic bias will not be eligible to appear on a St. Thomas Aquinas Academy transcript.

To open the conversation about materials you have on hand and are eager to use in the upcoming school year, attach a short note to your student's assessment test when you return it.  Your advisor will keep your preferences in mind during the initial Course of Study proposal and discuss the substitutions with you during the evaluation/planning appointment.   

Once the enrollment fees and application are submitted, we mail a welcome packet that includes a student skills assessment for each of your students. This is a set of very informal tests addressing reading, grammar, composition and math, and we advise you to take two or three days at your kitchen table at an easy pace to complete them.

When we receive your completed assessments, we sketch out written remarks about each child’s academic strengths and weaknesses and basic learning style and make recommendations for starting points in subject areas. We send our written remarks to you in a personalized Academic Packet which includes our recommendations for organizing your year, records and daily routines, weekly pacing, weekly course plans*, and a simple questionnaire to help you start focusing on academic goals for each child in general and the coming year in particular.  

Next, we work with you over the phone to personalize our program to your family, then to each of your students. We move skill levels up or down per subject, organize the whole family into the same science, history and religion cycle, combine the students into the same or compatible texts, help you find central focuses for each of the students in each of the subjects according to their academic needs and styles, make recommendations and comments on alternative choices, and the like.

After the telephone appointment, you will be ready to order your books, using the ordering worksheet attached to the course plans in the Academic Packet that lists the easiest to use source for each book or program, its estimated price and order code. Books take two to eight weeks to arrive, depending on the time of year and—voila!—you are ready to school, with confidence and competence (or at the least with a firm starting point, a clear set of goals and a friend to help you along the way!)

Following the planning appointment you are welcome to set appointments with your advisor throughout the year, using first the advisor support sessions included with your student's enrollment and then purchasing as many additional appointments as you desire throughout the school year.  Between appointments advisors answer quick questions by email and general questions through the Member Family forums.

*The Academic Packet includes simple, weekly course outlines for some courses for Grades 7-8 and most courses for Grades 9-12.  The full, detailed weekly lesson plans for such courses are found in the STAA Study Guides.

Yes, course plans, book ordering worksheets, and more are included in each student's Academic Packet.

The St. Thomas Aquinas Academy Academic Packets

From your returned completed assessments, your advisor sketches out remarks about each child’s academic strengths and weaknesses and basic learning styles and makes recommendations for starting points in subject areas.  These remarks and recommendations are included in your student's Academic Packet, which is emailed to you as soon as your advisor puts the finishing touches on it.  The Academic Packet suggests which courses and books to use, why to use them, how to use them, and how often and how long to use them.  During the annual Course of Study Planning appointment, your advisor will review each of your student's assessment results with you, and then work with you to personalize recommendations to your family, then to each of your students. The advisor will assist you in:

1. moving skill levels up or down per subject;
2. organizing the whole family into the same or complementary science, history and religion cycles;
3. combining students into the same or compatible texts as much as is possible;
4. finding central focuses for each of the students in each of the subjects according to their academic needs and styles; and
5. identifying alternative choices and their suitability for your homeschooling in this year.

Plans Tailored to the Student

Your academic advisor will put together a personalized Academic Packet for each of your enrolled students.  Every packet is unique, with a personalized set of courses selected for each student.  The course selections are made from among St. Thomas Aquinas Academy's course catalog, which are listed in the Grammar School and High School sections of our website.  The selections respond to the student's academic strengths and weaknesses, each subject being drawn from the skill level or STAA cycle that is appropriate for that child.  The courses are not selected solely on age or grade level.

Academic Packets include the skills assessment evaluation, overview of courses, book ordering information, course notes, course pacing, any needed weekly lesson plans for grammar school students, any needed weekly lesson plan outlines to complement the daily plans found in the STAA Study Guides, and a Course Registration form. 

>> Click here to learn more about the Academic Packets >>