Our goal is to help your
family succeed in homeschooling, producing children of beautiful
Catholic character with a passion for learning and the skills
necessary to succeed in their adult life. We strive to protect
against burnout in the teaching parent and the student. We work
hard to make sure that most of your energies as the
homeschooling parent are spent actually teaching instead of
chasing paperwork. We have a system for tracking high school
academic progress that is efficient, time effective, and, by
including your high school student in the process, also a
teaching tool for organization, goal setting, and preparing
university appropriate work assignments. This tracking system
culminates in the student earning a St. Thomas Aquinas Academy
high school diploma.
Following are the conditions for receiving a diploma from St.
Thomas Aquinas Academy. Exceptions and individualized plans are
made for students with documented learning disabilities or
special needs.
Attendance
The student must complete eight full quarters with the Academy, four
quarters of 11th grade and four quarters of 12th grade. A quarter is
45 school days (nine weeks). By law, a school day is defined as three
or more hours of academic activity. We strongly recommend at least
four to six hours of daily academic activity to achieve academic
excellence.
Transcripts
To graduate, your student must have four years of high school
transcripts transferred to our Academy.
If you homeschooled independently for Grades 9 and 10 and transfer to
St. Thomas Aquinas Academy for Grades 11 and 12, please call to set an
appointment with an advisor to discuss options for satisfying this
requirement.
Early Graduation
St. Thomas Aquinas Academy does not issue early diplomas. The student
must complete four full years of high school, with at least the last
two years with our academy specifically. A full year includes the
equivalent of six to eight full time courses. If you are interested in
early graduation for your student we suggest you look into the GED or
the high school proficiency examination for your state (not available
in all states).
Minimum
Required Credits
California has a slightly different system for credits from other
states. 10.0 high school credits are earned for a full time course, a
course in which the student studies 36 to 45 hours per quarter for
four quarters (144 to 180 course hours per year). In most states one
credit means one year of course work. In California, 10.0 means one
year of course work.
We require a minimum of 250 credits in the following subjects to
qualify for graduation:
. at least 30.00 credits in Religion (3 years)
. at least 30.00 credits in English (3 years)
. at least 20.00 credits in Languages (2 years)
. at least 30.00 credits in Mathematics (3 years)
. at least 5.00 credits in Economics (1 semester)
. at least 5.00 credits in Government (1 semester)
. at least 10.00 credits in U.S. History (1 year)
. at least 20.00 credits in World History (2 years)
. at least 30.00 credits in Literature (3 years)
. at least 20.00 credits in Science (2 years)
. at least 30.00 credits in Fine Arts (3 years)
. at least 20.00 credits in Physical Ed. (2 years)
Recommended Credits for College Bound Students
If your student is college bound we recommend the following:
. at least 30.00 credits in Religion (3 years)
. at least 40.00 credits in English (4 years)
. at least 20.00 credits in Languages (2-4 years)
. at least 40.00 credits in Mathematics (4 years)
. at least 5.00 credits in Economics (1 semester)
. at least 5.00 credits in Government (1 semester)
. at least 10.00 credits in U.S. History (1 year)
. at least 30.00 credits in World History (3 years)
. at least 30.00 credits in Literature (3 years)
. at least 40.00 credits in Science (4 years)
. at least 30.00 credits in Fine Arts (3 years)
. at least 20.00 credits in Physical Ed. (2 years)
Minimal
Math Requirements
Three years of math are required and must include at least one year of
Algebra I and one year of Geometry.
How Much and
How Long?
The average number of credits needed per year to earn a diploma is 62
to 65 credits in the required subjects. The student will need to earn
15 to 16 credits each quarter. This breaks down to around 6 or 7 full
time courses in the above-named subjects, which is around 4 to 6 hours
a day for 45 days a quarter of course time. General studying and
course work includes (but is not limited to) reading aloud,
independent reading, writing, research for papers, written exercises,
oral presentation, course work corrections, testing, performances, and
preparing a quarterly reporting packet for the Academy to review.
Standardized
Testing
The Academy requires that your student take a standardized test in
11th grade and at least one more in grades 9, 10, or 12. Furthermore,
the student must demonstrate reasonable scholastic achievement on his
or her standardized tests. If the student’s scores fall below the 50th
percentile we cannot mark the testing requirement as satisfied.
Recommended Standardized Testing options: PSAT, SAT, CHSPE, ACT, Iowa
Basics, GED, and the like.
Paperwork Sent to the Academy
Quarterly reporting is required to be eligible for a high school
diploma. The paperwork submitted:
. must clearly show that the student demonstrates reasonable
scholastic achievement in his or her daily course work
. must be received by the Academy in a timely fashion (i.e. no later
than one month past the school year’s close of July 15th).
. must be neat and orderly
. must include the requested paper work (approved Course of Study
Forms, neat and complete Quarterly Reporting Forms, High School Weekly
Assignment Sheets, work samples, etc.)
The Basics of Quarterly Reporting
Once a year...
...you must submit a Course of Study form. This is a statement of what
courses your student will be studying. An advisor will review your
plan to make sure it is appropriate to achieve your student’s academic
goals.
Once a year...
...you must submit a Home-Generated Course Plan for each course that
is unusual to our program. While there is a great deal of flexibility
in our program, we cannot award credits for courses we are unfamiliar
with. Using our guidelines, you may develop a course and submit it to
our school for approval. Only St. Thomas Aquinas Academy approved
courses may earn high school credits and mention on your student’s
transcript. As a homeschooler you may study the course with or without
St. Thomas Aquinas Academy approval, but without our approval it
cannot appear on the report cards. When in doubt, ask! Our advisors
will be happy to discuss with you which courses we can accept and
which we can’t.
At the end of every quarter...
...1 Quarterly Report Form. This is a report of the text, progress (in
terms of page or chapter numbers), approximate hours spent, and
quarter grade for each course.
...9 High School Weekly Assignment Sheets (one for each week in the
quarter). These are maintained weekly by the student so the
communication between the parent & student about assignments, due
dates, time spent, organization, scheduling, and grades does not break
down.
...1 quality work sample for each course you are reporting. In our
materials we discuss at length what a quality work sample looks like.
Some examples: a report, book report, essay, composition piece, math
test, science quiz, etc. If you are not using a study guide for
literature we do ask for two book reports per quarter.
...School Days in Attendance this quarter. This is reported on the
Quarterly Reporting Form and is essential!
High
School Appropriate Work
The student’s course work must be high school level or above. For a
student that might have remediation needs in some areas, our advisors
will have St. Thomas Aquinas Academy approved alternatives. Of course,
exceptions and individualized plans are made for students with
documented learning disabilities or special needs.
Age of Student
We do not issue diplomas to students older than the age of 19.
