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: 2026-04-24 · 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; families report use where eligible)
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 pricing is accessible compared to other Orthodox and classical academies
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

St. Athanasius Academy was founded in 1976 as a residential program of Orthodox theological and patristic studies. 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's residential program closed in 1992 under financial pressure, shifting operations first to correspondence courses and then, by 2019, fully online as a K-12 homeschool academy.

The current entity is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit educational ministry operating from Katy, Texas. It positions itself explicitly as a support to Orthodox homeschooling families rather than as a replacement for the home as the primary educator, the parent remains the legal homeschooler; the academy supplies live instruction, assessments, and curriculum within an Orthodox worldview. The academy is not independently accredited; its transcript serves as documentation of coursework completed under a homeschool umbrella rather than as a standalone accredited diploma.

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. Keim Time Learning enrollment remained open through January 9, 2026; families entering the academy at the elementary level after that date use the live-instruction model for grades 4 and up. For grades 4-12, the academy delivers instructor-led live-online classes in core subjects, meeting twice weekly per class, plus Orthodox Studies on Wednesdays and academic electives on Fridays.

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, grades 4-12 core subjects meet synchronously twice weekly for the academic year, with independent work between meetings. (2) Wednesday Orthodox Studies, scheduled as a separate day, these classes cover Orthodox theology, church history, liturgics, scripture, and the lives of the saints. (3) Friday electives, academic electives and enrichment courses meet once weekly, including half-year offerings in personal finance, The Hobbit, and health and wellness. (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 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

A ninth-grader enrolled in four core courses at St. Athanasius begins the week on Monday with two live core classes, for instance, Algebra I at 10:00 AM Central and English 9 at 12:30 PM Central, each class running approximately seventy-five minutes with the instructor, the student's cohort, and real-time discussion. Tuesday is a work day: the student completes assigned reading, problem sets, and writing drafts from the previous live sessions. Wednesday is Orthodox Studies, a single live class in the morning covering Scripture, church history, or liturgics, depending on the term, followed by the student's own independent reading in the afternoon. Thursday returns to live core classes in the other two subjects (perhaps Biology and World History). Friday carries the academic elective, a literature seminar, a writing workshop, or a Greek language class, typically as a single live meeting in the late morning or early afternoon. Total live instruction across the week: roughly six to eight hours, distributed across three or four days of synchronous meeting; total student work time: typically twenty to twenty-five hours for a full four-course load, plus the additional Orthodox Studies work.

An elementary student using Keim Time Learning operates very differently. The child watches pre-recorded video lessons, typically for an hour or so in the morning, covering phonics, arithmetic, science, history, and Bible stories, at the family's chosen pace. The parent supervises, handles corrections, and weaves in Orthodox family devotions and church attendance. There are no live class meetings at this level.

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). This depth of integration is rare and matches the tradition's own conviction that education and formation in Christ are inseparable.

Real institutional backing. Unlike many small online academies, St. Athanasius operates under the canonical authority of the Antiochian Archdiocese and has a fifty-year history as an educational ministry. Families enrolling are not placing their children with a start-up; they are placing them in a ministry with institutional longevity and accountability.

Affordable per-course pricing. At approximately $473 per core class per year for classes meeting twice weekly, $352 for once-weekly enrichment electives, $220 per year for Keim Time K-3, and $176 per term for half-year electives per the 2026 rate sheet, St. Athanasius is among the most affordable Orthodox classical academies in the live-online segment. A full four-course high school load plus Orthodox Studies runs approximately $2,100-$2,400 per year, markedly cheaper than comparable Scholé Academy or Wilson Hill enrollments.

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 Wednesday Orthodox Studies 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 independent accreditation. St. Athanasius is a ministry rather than an accredited school. Families retain homeschool status, and the academy's transcript functions as documentation of coursework rather than as a state-recognized diploma. For college admissions, this is usually unproblematic for homeschool students (who typically submit a parent-issued transcript anyway), but families expecting an accredited-school transcript will need to supplement 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 2026 tuition schedule runs as follows: core high school, middle school, and elementary classes are $473 per class for the full year (each meeting twice weekly); enrichment electives and once-weekly classes are $352 per year; Keim Time Learning (the K-3 pre-recorded program) is $220 per student per year; half-year classes (Personal Finance, The Hobbit, Health & Wellness) are $176 per student per term. A typical full-time high school schedule of five courses plus Orthodox Studies and one elective runs approximately $2,400-$2,800 per year. A part-time enrollment of two live classes plus Orthodox Studies runs approximately $1,300-$1,500. A K-3 family using Keim Time pays $220 per student.

Compared to Scholé Academy's St. Raphael School (another Orthodox classical live-online program, typically $750-$1,000 per course), St. Athanasius is substantially less expensive per course. Compared to secular full-service online academies like The Socratic Experience ($12,600-$14,400 for full-time tuition), St. Athanasius offers the same instructional structure at a fraction of the price, albeit within a specifically Orthodox frame.

A realistic all-in family cost for an Orthodox family with two middle-school and high-school students taking typical four-class loads is approximately $3,800-$4,800 per year at St. Athanasius, before textbook and supply costs that the academy does not bundle.

ESA eligibility notes

St. Athanasius Academy is listed variably across state ESA marketplaces; Orthodox families report using Arizona ESA, Florida Step Up For Students, and West Virginia Hope Scholarship funds for academy tuition with state-specific requirements. 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. The academy has indicated willingness to provide documentation families need for ESA submissions.

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, at higher per-course prices.
• 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, FAQ, Elementary page, and High School page in April 2026. We cross-referenced the historical details of the academy's 1976 founding, 1987 reception into the Antiochian Archdiocese, and 2019 online transition against the academy's published institutional history, and we verified the 2026 tuition schedule against the FAQ's published rates. The academy's relationship to the Orthodox Study Bible project is documented in the Our Story page. Families should verify current tuition and course availability directly with the academy, as rates and offerings adjust annually.