Live Classes

In January 2027, the Classical Liberal Arts Academy begins offering Semester Courses: live online classes at the high school level, taught by Headmaster William C. Michael, O.P. Each course earns one-half high school credit on an official transcript from the Classical Liberal Arts Academy, a Cognia-accredited school. The courses are open to high school students anywhere in the world, whether or not they are already enrolled in the Academy, and every requirement can be met by attending the weekly class live or by following its recording. Semester Courses are included in the Academy plan at no additional tuition.

Why Semester Courses?

Homeschooling offers families great freedom, but in the high school years that freedom can become a burden. Students need clear work to do, a schedule to keep, and a record of their studies that others will recognize. Semester Courses provide all three. Each week, students have specific tasks to complete by a specific time: a class meeting to attend or follow, a participation assignment, and a quiz, all due before the next meeting. At the end of the semester, their work is recorded as high school credit on an official transcript from an accredited school, completing real high school course requirements. Parents are relieved of designing, scheduling, grading, and documenting these courses themselves, while students gain the order and accountability that serious study requires.

Courses Opening in January 2027

Latin IA

Build a strong foundation in Latin by studying the Latin Grammar of Emmanuel Alvarez and translating St. Jerome’s translation of the Gospel of St. John.
Instructor: Mr. William C. Michael, O.P.
Meetings: Monday, 1:00pm-3:00pm*

Classical Greek IA

Get started in classical Greek studies by studying the Greek Grammar of Jacob Gretser and translating the Gospel of St. John.
Instructor: Mr. William C. Michael, O.P.
Meetings: Tuesday, 1:00pm-3:00pm*

Classical Logic IA

Study the first part of the “Old Logic”, Porphyry’s Introduction, which provides knowledge of the five universals necessary for the study of Aristotle’s Logic.
Instructor: Mr. William C. Michael, O.P.
Meetings: Friday, 1:00pm-3:00pm*

*All times Eastern Time

Spring 2027 Semester Schedule

The schedule below is arranged by week: each date marks the Monday on which the week begins, and each course’s class meeting will take place on its assigned day within that week.

January 4 – Courses open in Moodle
January 11 – Class meeting 1
January 18 – Class meeting 2 (add/drop ends when it begins)
January 25 – Class meeting 3
February 1 – Class meeting 4
February 8 – Class meeting 5 (Ash Wednesday, February 10)
February 15 – Class meeting 6
February 22 – Class meeting 7
March 1 – Class meeting 8, then midterm live assessments
March 8 – Class meeting 9 (midterm/withdrawal deadline when it begins)
March 15 – Class meeting 10
March 22 – Holy Week (no class)
March 29 – Easter Week (no class)
April 5 – Class meeting 11
April 12 – Class meeting 12
April 19 – Class meeting 13
April 26 – Class meeting 14
May 3 – Class meeting 15 (Ascension Thursday, May 6)
May 10 – Class meeting 16, then final live assessments
May 17 – Final assessments completed; gradebooks close, May 21

Who Can Study

Semester Courses are open to any student who joins the Academy plan, whether a high school student seeking credit, a younger student ready for high school-level work, or an older student who simply wishes to study, and whether or not he is already enrolled in the Classical Liberal Arts Academy. Because the courses are conducted entirely online and arranged so that every requirement can be met from any time zone, students anywhere in the world may enroll and earn full credit. Each week’s class meeting is recorded, and students who cannot attend at the scheduled time may watch the recording and complete the written participation assignment, which carries the same credit as participation in the live meeting. All weekly assignments and quizzes remain open for a full week, until the start of the next class meeting, so students may complete their work at whatever hours suit their location. The midterm and final live assessments are scheduled individually at times convenient for each student. International students thus follow the same course, meet the same standards, and receive the same half credit on an official CLAA transcript as students attending in the United States.

How Classes Work

Each Semester Course meets live online once a week for two hours. Each meeting begins with the class reading the assigned text together, with students volunteering to read the passages aloud, so that every student hears and follows the words of the author himself. The instructor then explains the content of the text, clarifying its meaning, drawing out its principal points, and showing how it connects to what the class has already studied. The remainder of the meeting is given to discussion, in which students respond to questions proposed to the class and raise their own questions about the text. Students participate by volunteering to read the assigned passages, asking thoughtful questions in light of the reading and exposition, and responding to the questions put to the class, and those whose participation is exceptional may earn their weekly participation grade in the meeting itself. Every meeting is recorded, so that students who cannot attend at the scheduled time may follow the same reading, explanation, and discussion before completing the week’s work.

Grading

Weekly Participation (50%)
Each week, students will complete a written participation assignment on the content read, explained, and discussed in the live class meeting. Students unable to attend the meeting may watch the class recording. Students who participate exceptionally well in the live meeting may be awarded a participation score of 80, 90, or 100, which exempts them from that week’s written assignment; they may still complete it to raise their score, and the higher score will count. Written assignments may be resubmitted to raise the score until the deadline at the start of the next class meeting.

Weekly Quizzes (25%)
Each week, a quiz will be published to assess students’ mastery of the objective content of the lesson. Students may study and retake the quiz as often as they wish to earn the highest possible score before the start of the next class meeting.

Live Assessments (25%)
At the middle and end of each semester, students will meet individually with the course instructor for a live assessment. The purpose of these assessments is to confirm that each student has made the knowledge taught in the course his own. The weekly assignments and quizzes measure understanding of individual lessons and allow repeated attempts with the help of notes, recordings, and other resources; the live assessment asks what the student knows when those aids are set aside. Following Aristotle’s teaching that the sign of true knowledge is the ability to teach, students will be asked to explain the material of the course from memory and in their own words, to demonstrate the skills the course has trained, and to show how its lessons connect to one another. The midterm assessment will confirm that the first half of the course has been learned before students build upon it, and the final assessment will cover the whole semester, providing the clearest measure of each student’s mastery of the course.

Tuition

There is no separate tuition for Semester Courses. They are included in the Academy plan, which costs $100 per month and also provides full access to the Academy’s online courses and tutorial support. Students on the Academy plan may enroll in Semester Courses at no additional cost, subject to the enrollment and withdrawal policies described on this page. The Extern plan, at $25 per month, provides access to the Academy’s self-paced online courses but does not include Semester Courses; Extern families may upgrade to the Academy plan at any time to enroll. To join the Academy plan or upgrade an existing subscription, visit the Enrollment page.

Enrolling for Credit or Not for Credit

Students may enroll in a Semester Course either for credit or not for credit. Students enrolled for credit receive one-half high school credit and a grade recorded on the official CLAA transcript, and they are subject to the enrollment and withdrawal policies below. Students enrolled not for credit complete the same work and receive the same instruction and feedback, but their grades are not recorded on the transcript. A course may be taken for credit only once, but a course taken not for credit may be repeated, and may later be taken again for credit.

Enrollment, Withdrawal, and Transcripts

Any student with an active Academy plan subscription may enroll through the CLAA Study Center. Simply log in to the student account, select the desired course or courses, and choose “Request Enrollment.” The course will be added once the Academy plan subscription is confirmed. Enrollment remains open until the second class meeting begins, but we encourage families to enroll early, since early enrollment helps us prepare for the coming semester.

Enrollment in a CLAA Semester Course is a commitment to complete the course. Unlike the Academy’s self-paced courses, Semester Courses are recorded on the student’s official CLAA transcript, and the grade earned, whether high or low, becomes a permanent part of the student’s academic record. During the add/drop period, which ends when the second class meeting begins, a student may leave a course without any record on the transcript. A student who withdraws after the add/drop period but before taking the midterm live assessment will receive a W on the transcript, indicating withdrawal without a grade. All midterm live assessments must be completed before the ninth class meeting begins, and this is also the final deadline for withdrawal. After that deadline, a student may no longer withdraw, and one who stops completing the work of the course will receive the grade earned, which will ordinarily be a failing grade. Throughout the semester, each week’s participation assignment and quiz close at the start of the next class meeting; work not completed by then receives no credit, and scores cannot be changed after the week has closed. At the end of the semester, the gradebook is closed and the final grade is recorded on the transcript, with one-half high school credit awarded for a passing grade. Families should therefore enroll only in courses the student is prepared to complete and should consider carefully how many courses he can take on in a single semester.

Accreditation and High School Credit

The Classical Liberal Arts Academy is accredited by Cognia, and the Semester Courses it offers earn high school credit recorded on an official CLAA transcript. High school credit is traditionally measured by instructional time, with one full credit representing approximately 120 hours of instruction and one-half credit approximately 60 hours. Each Semester Course meets this standard over a 16-week semester. The weekly two-hour class meeting, attended live or followed by recording, provides 32 hours of instruction in the reading, explanation, and discussion of the assigned texts. The weekly participation assignments and quizzes, which review and assess the content of each meeting, add approximately two hours of required coursework each week, or about 32 hours over the semester. Together with the midterm and final live assessments, this brings each course to more than 60 hours of instruction and assessed work, and a student who completes the course with a passing grade earns one-half high school credit. As with credit from any school, acceptance of transferred credit is at the discretion of the receiving institution.