A: There are many differences between our community and other classical communities you may be familiar with. We are about intentional learning, contemplation, conversations, virtue formation, and developing an atmosphere of servanthood through our partnership with the community and our high school leadership program. We pursue the traditional mental rigor of classical education at a slightly slower pace than in a traditional classical school.  We also have elements of Charlotte Mason’s philosophy woven throughout our community that are seen particularly in our younger grades.  We have a later start to formal English grammar (4th grade) and our focus on students forming relationships with what they are learning, and our nature based programs, are a few examples of these philosophies.  We use embodied learning strategies throughout our classes, which is the art of experiences and not just explanations to teach. Each class begins and ends with liturgical greetings and blessings. We maintain our pursuit of excellence in the classical tradition with intentional student academic development that brings us to our college preparatory high school program. We slow things down just a little, take time to really dig deep, and make learning memorable, and permanent.  We put practices in place to help with virtue formation, recognizing that we are educating hearts as well as heads. Christ is at the center of all we teach.

A: No. We ask that families not join SGCA Inc. with their children that are also in a CC program. The workload we require is rigorous and requires families to be diligent in getting the “core-work” completed on a weekly basis.  We have found that families that join both end up not being able to handle the course load. Ideally, we would suggest families be committed to one community, whichever community they are most closely aligned with philosophically.

A: We do! See the Our Group tab on the website. We are an unapologetically Christian community with a Biblical Worldview lens that we teach all subjects from.

A: We form collaborative partnerships with our parents for the academic and virtue development of their students towards excellence and wisdom.  We seek to come alongside parents who are parenting towards virtue and desirous of their student’s strong academic development.  Parents should expect to be the homeschool “classroom” for their students on the two or three days a week that their student is home and working on their corework.  What we do in the classroom two days a week is not enough to encompass all that is needed for truly classical education, without this critical home component.  This could include assisting with corework completion, re-teaching a concept that may not have been fully understood in class, and training their student towards good study skills and independence.  We also encourage parents to come alongside their students to persevere and learn to do “hard things” as the blessing on the other side is worth the struggle. If you are a parent who likes to be more involved please let us know and inquire as to what openings we may have.  We do hire parents who are passionate about subjects of their training/degree/or personal development that desire to teach at SGCA.  Parents can also work in areas such as assistants in lower elementary classrooms, art, cooking, and other specials or electives. We also hire parents to be playground facilitators for our lunchtime games. We provide excellent pay, summer teacher training, and additional benefits such as priority enrollment and partial scholarship awards for those with financial need, discounts on tuition, and free student clubs.  We love our Academic Mentors and do all we can to make this a great experience. We do want to minister to parents when we can and be flexible. Therefore, we offer a drop-off carpool for parents’ convenience.  We encourage parents to work closely with academic mentors if their students are struggling in any academic areas. Parents are a collaborative part of our community and their input is valued and listened to.  You can always feel free to contact the Director with any ideas or input you may have. We continually are sharpening our vision and making improvements from these suggestions.

A: We do!  We coordinate Mom events where moms get together to focus our own hearts on truth, beauty, and goodness.  This is also a time of encouragement, fun and fellowship with one another. In addition, we have a summer training/orientation to help parents better understand the classical model and what to expect for the year ahead.  We also will have classical training throughout the year where Moms are encouraged to deepen their understanding of classical education. We do require parents participate in at least one training per school year.

A: We are not a substitute for parenting towards virtue. Students are expected to be respectful, obedient, and ready to receive instruction from the Academic Mentors and assisting adults on campus. They are also expected to be kind to their fellow students, following the “golden rule.” We will be working on virtues community-wide and hoping to further cultivate these qualities in your children throughout the year with many opportunities. We do require that students participate fully in our curricula and classes weekly. Students can be dismissed without a refund if they fail to meet our class participation or behavior standards requirements.

We use many Classical Academic Press and Memoria Press materials which can be purchased directly from them, if desired. Curricula can also be found new or used via online sites or at the Homeschool Gathering Place located in Raleigh, NC.

A:  You can apply via our APPLY NOW button under the Apply tab of this website.  You may also e-mail solagratiaclassicalacademy@gmail.com for an application link or to check current grade level openings.  

A: We strive to keep our costs as low as possible for all our families rather than inflating our prices to provide a discount for some families.  Our pricing is very discounted in comparison to anything offered in our area.  In our area, we are thousands of dollars cheaper than our closest competitor! We offer 10-14 high quality classes taught per week, and our pricing includes service projects, thoughtful playground games, and contemplative lunch performers each week.  We believe this is an equitable way to price our community.  

A: We request that you please pack a lunch for your student. We only allow water to drink on campus, no juice boxes or soda please while on campus, to protect the Church’s carpets and keep bees away when we are outside.  We would just ask that you pack a healthy lunch and prefer there be very low-sugar foods/treats, and no chocolate, please. :).  We do have two hot lunches on Mondays each month through My Hot Lunchbox.

A: Yes, there is a dress code. You can purchase uniform shirts at www.landsend.com.  You can just put the name of our school group on their webpage under the school uniform link to find us and enter your student’s information to set up a profile so that you can see what is available to wear for your student’s grade.  They have SGCA monogrammed uniform polo shirts in our school color of cobalt and sweaters in charcoal/black to go over them if desired, as well as hoodies, coats, t-shirts, and more.  Your student is required to wear black, blue, or khaki shorts, pants, or skorts/skirts to go with the uniform polo shirts. 

A: Yes, we award a limited number of partial educational service plan assistance dollars each year.  These awards are given first to Academic Mentors who may need additional financial assistance and then to those within the community who have need.  We would first encourage you to consider being an Academic Mentor to help with ESP costs, as the amount of assistance dollars is very limited each year.