St. Athanasius Academy

St. Athanasius Academy is an educational ministry of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America, a K-12 live-online academic community for homeschooling Orthodox families, with pre-recorded video lessons at the elementary end and instructor-led classes through high school.

Last updated: 2026-10-03 · Every Homeschool Editorial Team

At a glance

Method	Classical / online live-class / traditional
Worldview	Christian-Orthodox (Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America)
Grades	K-12
Formats	Online live class, video course, digital
Cost tier	Standard
Parent intensity	2
ESA-common	Varies (state-dependent)
Accredited	No (operates as a ministry/supplemental academy; families maintain homeschool status)
Established	1976, originally as a residential program; evolved to online K-12 homeschool academy by 2019
Website	saaot.edu

Our scoreboard (1-5)

Criterion	Score	One-line reason
Academic rigor	4	College-prep track is substantive; Keim Time elementary is solid but pre-recorded
Ease of teaching	4	The academy delivers instruction; the parent oversees rather than presents
Content quality	4	Orthodox worldview is integrated across subjects with real liturgical literacy
Flexibility	4	A la carte course enrollment is explicitly supported; families mix and match
Value for money	4	Per-course tuition of $473 for core classes and $352 for enrichment electives, with a 0 percent payment plan
Worldview scope	2	Specifically Antiochian Orthodox; not designed for families outside Orthodox tradition
Visual/design	3	Functional academy site; video and class tooling serviceable rather than polished
Support resources	4	Real institutional backing; active ministry of the Antiochian Archdiocese

Who the publisher is

The original founders, Jack N. Sparks (Dean), Jon E. Braun, and J. Richard Ballew, built the academy around Latin and Greek, patristic literature, translations of primary Orthodox sources not yet available in English, and the study of church history and worship. The academy was originally an arm of the Evangelical Orthodox Church and was received into the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America in February 1987, giving it canonical standing within the broader Eastern Orthodox communion.

Under the Antiochian Archdiocese, St. Athanasius became the primary editorial home for the Orthodox Study Bible project, a translation initiative that began in 1987 under editor Fr. Peter Gillquist, expanded to include an Old Testament translation from the Septuagint, and published the complete volume in 2008.

The academy describes itself as a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit and, on its Academy page, as a non-traditional, live-online K-12 academic community and ministry of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America. The same page says its purpose is to help parents homeschool, with the parent staying the primary educator, and that it supplies live-online classes and instructor-guided assessments. The academy states on its registration page that it does not have accreditation, that grades are not housed by the academy, and that it does not provide transcripts, so parents keep records of study for student transcripts.

The core pedagogy

St. Athanasius Academy operates on two tracks by age band. For grades K-3, the primary offering is Keim Time Learning, a complete pre-recorded video program authored by Shell Keim that families use asynchronously on their own schedule, with the Academy providing enrollment, access, and general academic support. As of October 2026 the academy's registration page lists Keim Time Learning, along with Spring course offerings, as open for enrollment until December 18 (the page does not state a year), with 32 pre-recorded weekly lessons and one year of access. For grades 4-12, the academy delivers instructor-led live-online classes. Its registration page says middle and high school core studies meet twice a week for approximately 50 minutes in an online classroom, with a maximum of 10-14 students in the standard class, and that some classes, such as Orthodox Studies, meet once a week. The academy's archived High School page, captured in March 2025 for the 2025-26 year, says core classes meet on Tuesdays and Thursdays, Orthodox Studies meets on Wednesdays, and enrichment electives meet on Fridays, with no classes on Mondays.

Scope and sequence leans classical in structure, with grammar-and-logic stages weighted toward memorization, recitation, and traditional grammar; the upper grades move into rhetoric-stage humanities with substantial original-text reading. Latin and Greek are offered as part of the language arts sequence. The high school track is explicitly college-prep and carries students through a typical four-year sequence in English literature and composition, mathematics through at least Algebra II and typically Pre-Calculus or Calculus, biology through physics, world and American history, and the academy's distinctive Orthodox Studies track.

Signature mechanics: (1) Two class meetings per week per core subject, per the registration page, middle and high school core studies meet twice a week, with work between meetings. (2) Orthodox Studies, the registration page lists an Orthodox Studies course at $75 under the academy's Orthodox Studies Scholarship, open to all registered students, and the archived High School page places Orthodox Studies on Wednesdays. (3) Enrichment electives, the archived High School page places enrichment electives on Fridays and lists fall or spring half-year courses in The Hobbit, Health & Wellness, and Personal Finance. (4) Liturgical calendar awareness, the academic calendar is scheduled around the major feasts and fasts of the Orthodox year, including the Nativity Fast, Great Lent, and Pascha, which affects the academic calendar differently from a mainstream school year.

For Orthodox families whose parish life runs on the liturgical calendar, the academy's integration with Great Lent and Pascha is, in our assessment, a structural advantage, the school does not continue to assign heavy coursework through Holy Week as a secular school would.

A day in the life

The academy's schedule is the clearest guide to a week. Per the archived High School page, classes run approximately 45-50 minutes, all in Eastern Time, with core classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays, Orthodox Studies on Wednesdays, enrichment electives on Fridays, and no classes on Mondays, which the page describes as giving families space to arrange that day as they wish. A student enrolled in four core courses would therefore attend live core classes on two days of the week, with assignments and independent work between sessions, and the parent keeps the records of study the academy asks for on its registration page.

An elementary student using Keim Time Learning operates very differently. The Academy page describes Keim Time Learning as a complete, pre-recorded option for K-3 students, and the registration page lists 32 pre-recorded weekly lessons with one year of access. The archived Elementary page lists live elementary classes of approximately 40-45 minutes on the same Tuesday-through-Friday pattern.

What they do exceptionally well

Orthodox Christian worldview integrated across subjects. St. Athanasius is not a secular school with a weekly Bible class; the Orthodox tradition shapes how history is taught (with particular attention to the early church, Byzantium, and the Christian East), how literature is read (with a sensibility rooted in patristic commentary on texts), and how science is framed (creation, theosis, the witness of the natural world to the Creator).

Institutional backing. St. Athanasius is a ministry of the Antiochian Archdiocese, which in our assessment gives families institutional backing.

Per-course pricing. The registration page lists $473 per course for core subjects meeting two days a week, $352 per course for enrichment electives meeting one day a week, $176 per course for half-year enrichment electives, $75 per course for Orthodox Studies under its scholarship, and $225 for Keim Time Learning Years 1-4 (K-3rd). A student taking four core classes at $473 pays $1,892 before the $75 Orthodox Studies course.

What they do poorly

Narrowly Orthodox fit by design. The academy's worldview and liturgical calendar are specifically Orthodox. Catholic, Protestant, and secular families will find the Orthodox Studies course not substitutable, the liturgical scheduling unfamiliar, and the content posture outside their tradition. This is a categorical fact rather than a limitation of execution, the academy is by and for Orthodox families.

Pre-recorded elementary model. Keim Time Learning for K-3 is a video-based, asynchronous program. Families wanting live instruction and cohort experience at the elementary level will find the lower grades less interactive than the upper grades. The academy's live-instruction value proposition really begins at grade 4.

No accreditation and no transcripts. The academy states on its registration page that it does not have accreditation, does not house grades, and does not provide transcripts. Families keep their own records, including logged hours (the page treats about 150 hours as an average year-long academic course), and produce their own transcripts, so families expecting an accredited-school transcript will need to look elsewhere.

Who it fits / who it doesn't

• Pick St. Athanasius Academy if: your family is Orthodox Christian and wants liturgical calendar integration and Orthodox-worldview instruction across subjects; you want live-online core classes in the upper grades with cohort community; you value affordable per-course pricing for a classical, Orthodox academic program; you are comfortable with an asynchronous video program at the elementary level; you want institutional backing from a recognized Orthodox jurisdiction.

• Skip St. Athanasius Academy if: your family is not Orthodox; you require an accredited school diploma; you want live, synchronous instruction at the elementary level; you want a fully scheduled school-day environment rather than a two-days-per-week core-class model; you need a full-service physical academy with athletics and electives beyond what a live-online program can deliver.

Cost honest assessment

St. Athanasius Academy's registration page lists these rates as of October 2026: $473 per course for core classes meeting two days a week, $352 per course for enrichment electives meeting one day a week, $176 per course for half-year enrichment electives, $75 per course for Orthodox Studies under the Orthodox Studies Scholarship (open to all registered students), a $75 per course Clergy Family Scholarship rate for eligible clergy families, and $225 for Keim Time Learning Years 1-4 (K-3rd), which includes 32 pre-recorded weekly lessons and one year of access. The page lists a 10-month payment plan at 0 percent for these courses. At those rates, five core classes cost $2,365, one enrichment elective adds $352, and Orthodox Studies adds $75, for a total of $2,792 before textbooks; two core classes plus Orthodox Studies cost $1,021.

Families comparing the academy with other live-online options should compare current per-course prices directly, because we did not verify competitor prices in October 2026.

As an arithmetic example at the listed rates, two students each taking four core classes at $473 would pay $3,784 in tuition, plus $150 if each also takes the $75 Orthodox Studies course, before textbooks. The academy's FAQ has a section on textbook and materials costs, and families should read it before budgeting.

ESA eligibility notes

We did not verify whether St. Athanasius Academy is an approved vendor on any state ESA marketplace, so families should check with their program administrator, for example Arizona ESA, Florida Step Up For Students, or the West Virginia Hope Scholarship. States that permit ESA use for online-academy tuition are generally more accommodating than states that restrict ESA funds to accredited vendors only; St. Athanasius's unaccredited status can be a limitation in accreditation-restrictive states. Because the academy's distinctly religious curriculum may be subject to state-specific restrictions on religious materials, families should verify eligibility directly with their state administrator before enrolling.

Alternatives

• St. Raphael School at Scholé Academy, a family would choose St. Raphael over St. Athanasius because St. Raphael offers a more elaborate integrated liberal arts and liturgical arts curriculum (Byzantine chant, iconography) within Classical Academic Press's larger academy infrastructure.
• Logos Online School, a family would choose Logos over St. Athanasius when they want a rigorous Reformed classical Christian online school rather than an Orthodox one, with a more elaborate full-schedule model.
• Veritas Scholars Academy, a family would choose Veritas over St. Athanasius when they want a Reformed Christian classical live-online academy with an accredited-diploma option and a very wide course catalog, at higher tuition.

How we verified this

Our editorial team reviewed St. Athanasius Academy's Our Story page, Academy page, and registration page with its FAQ in October 2026, together with the academy's archived Elementary page and High School page, captured in March 2025. The 1976 founding, 1987 reception into the Antiochian Archdiocese, 2008 publication of the Orthodox Study Bible, and 2019 online transition come from the Our Story page. Tuition rates and enrollment dates come from the registration page. Families should verify current tuition and course availability directly with the academy, as rates and offerings adjust annually.