Founders Classical Academy Virtual is a full-time online public school option that offers students in grades K–8 a classical education model with an emphasis on civics and U.S. History. The Founders Classical Academy Virtual programs in Texas and Arkansas are accepting applications for enrollment for the current school year and for the 2022–23 school year. We have put together a guide to help you learn more about how Founders Classical Academies has adapted its classical curriculum to virtual school, and how you can take steps to enroll your children in Founders Classical Academy Virtual.
About Founders Classical Academy Virtual
Parents have the option to choose among many education models, including classical education. The opportunity to have one’s child formed in the classical model can have great benefits and should be given careful consideration. Parents can also choose between in-person school and online school. There is no doubt that virtual education is warranted in our current times—it is both useful and economical, and gives even greater access to classical education—although schools that offer classical education in a virtual setting are few and far between. The leaders at Founders Classical Academy asked themselves: Can virtual education be classical, and done well? These questions were given a thoughtful “yes,” and so Founders Classical Academy Virtual was conceived.
Classical education has grown over the years to give families and students a proper taste of what so many great thinkers were seeking, namely Truth, Beauty, and Goodness in a formal classroom setting. Being formed in the liberal arts and sciences gave so many thinkers, to include the American Founding Fathers, a concentrated education based in the Western canon, where thoughts are challenged, independent and free thinking is encouraged, and quality rhetoric is fostered. As part of the Founders Classical Academies, Founders Classical Academy Virtual encourages its students to investigate the world, inquire about everything, read great literature, and discuss lofty ideas. This approach starts in kindergarten and continues through the eighth grade.
The nature of classical education is to take the tried-and-true methods of teaching children and implement them in the contemporary setting. The “newest” and “best” trends in education have not stood the test of time, and so it is not necessarily wise to adopt them. Founders Classical Academies have proven year after year that the classical model works, not only through high test scores, but also by offering a well-rounded education. The Founders Classical Academy network has a set of 12 commitments that are a cornerstone for a Founders education, whether in the bricks-and-mortar schools or in a virtual setting. These commitments to virtue, minds-on learning, cultural literacy and civility, phonics and grammar, Greek and Latin, and classical written works drive the focus of both faculty and students. Because it is based in the liberal arts, the Founders Classical Academy curriculum is not meant to train students for a trade; rather, the “liberal” in liberal arts means “free,” and so students embark on a journey to free their minds to think about the world through a well-formed mind and character.
Unique Features of Founders Classical Academy Virtual
What separates Founders Classical Academies from other classical models is the emphasis on teaching civics and American history. The very title of the schools, “Founders,” gives an image of what the priorities are for an FCA school. The story of America’s founding is the very fabric through which the curriculum is woven.
What separates Founders Classical Academy Virtual from its brick-and-mortar peers is the very nature of how the education is brought to life. The campus of Founders Classical Academy Virtual exists virtually in homes of all the children who are studying the curriculum. It is wherever the faculty are breathing life into the curriculum. The space for learning is not limited to classrooms, desks, hallways, and lockers. This allows students to give full attention to the curriculum and gives teachers more focused time to give individualized attention to students. That said, all that a student needs is curricular materials and computer with a camera and a microphone. The process of education and character formation can be simple, while letting the ideas and discussions be complex. Founders Classical Academy Virtual is a virtual program, but the emphasis is not on technology; students will write on paper, learn to speak formally, and read out of physical books. They certainly are virtual, but they are still classical through and through.
Founders Classical Academy in the Greater San Antonio Area
Founders Classical Academy Virtual serves students in grades K–8 across Texas and Arkansas. They are accepting applications for enrollment for the current school year and for the 2022–23 school year. There are eligibility requirements to participate in full-time online school; find more details in the FAQs. Get answers to your questions about enrollment by calling 972-947-2838, emailing FCVirtualEnrollment@ResponsiveEdTX.com, or reaching out through the website.
We also recommend that you follow these social media accounts:
- Founders Classical Academy Virtual on Facebook and Instagram
- Founders Classical Academies on Facebook
- ResponsiveEd on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, and LinkedIn
Founders Classical Academy has a bricks-and-mortar campus in the greater San Antonio area. Founders Classical Academy of Schertz serves students in grades K–12 and is located on the Northeast Side of the San Antonio metropolitan area at 8453 E FM 1518 North, Schertz, TX 78154 (map). Founders Classical Academy of Schertz has a social media presence on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube, and so does the parent organization—the Hoplite Council of Founders Classical Academy of Schertz—on Facebook and Instagram. In 2019, on the school’s most recent report card, from 2019, they earned a B accountability rating. In 2019, as a district, ResponsiveEd earned a grade of B, as you can see on the district report card.
Download the free San Antonio Charter Schools app for an interactive map that includes the Founders Classical Academy of Schertz campus and many more. You can also find campus information about Founders Classical Academy (and many other schools of choice) in our Guide to Charter Schools in San Antonio.
Facts About Founders Classical Academy
The Founders Classical Academy model started in 2012 with a campus in Lewisville, Texas, and now has schools across Texas and Arkansas. The ResponsiveEd charter management organization, which was founded in 1998, includes other school models like Premier High Schools and the Foundation School of Autism. Founders Classical Academies are open enrollment charter schools, which means they don’t charge tuition, there are no selective admission requirements, and they are open to all students—including special education, 504 plans, and English language learners.
If you are seeking a classical education model for your students, and a virtual school option would suit them best, then we recommend you apply for enrollment at Founders Classical Academy Virtual. You are also welcome to join the San Antonio Charter Moms discussion group to learn more and interact with current Founders Classical Academy families.
Shannon Nason, Ph.D.
Charter Moms Chats
Watch Shannon Nason, Ph.D., Regional Director for Founders Classical Academies, and Founders Classical Academy Virtual teachers Jennifer Moore and Linnea Johnstone, speak with Inga Cotton on Charter Moms Chats on March 24, 2022 at 4:00 PM Central live on Facebook and YouTube.
Shannon M. Nason, Ph.D. has been active in the classical charter school movement since 2015. He is currently a regional director for Founders Classical Academies, a network of classical charter schools in Texas and Arkansas. He was the founding headmaster of Founders Classical Academy in Mesquite, Texas, and was a campus director for a classical virtual program with Responsive Education Solutions. Dr. Nason has a Ph.D. in philosophy and taught philosophy at Purdue University, Loyola Marymount University, and the University of California, Los Angeles. He left college teaching to work in K–12 schools and to help reform American public education.
Jennifer Moore teaches middle school history at Founders Classical Academy Virtual. Mrs. Moore is a mother of four—to include twins and two teenagers—who has taught literature and history in brick-and-mortar charter schools for six years, and has additionally homeschooled her children at different times in their lives. This is her seventh year of teaching, and her first year teaching in a virtual school. She chose teaching as her profession because in college she realized how much she enjoyed reading great books and talking about them. Who wouldn’t want to do that for a living? Reading, studying great events, people, and concepts in history, and working on language and logic with children is truly as wonderful and gratifying as she hoped it would be. Founders Classical Academy Virtual combines a classical education with online teaching; as such, she is able to connect with students she would not ordinarily get to meet, serving diverse educational options. School choice is what drew her to the charter school movement twenty years ago, and online education is the latest addition to the variety of choices available to both teachers and students. She looks forward to meeting your student!
Linnea Johnstone teaches fourth grade at Founders Classical Academy Virtual, as well as serving as a 504 coordinator and special education teacher. Mrs. Johnstone is a native of the Pacific Northwest and has lived in Texas for the past ten years. Mrs. Johnstone attended Portland State University, where she received her Bachelor of Arts, majoring in Liberals Arts and Sciences and English. She returned to Portland State as a Post-Baccalaureate to pursue courses in Speech Language Pathology and Special Education. She has ten years of teaching experience and has had the privilege of teaching early childhood through 8th grade. Mrs. Johnstone has taught early intervention, special education, all subjects in grades 4–8 at a brick-and-mortar classical school, and History and English in a classical online environment. She has been married to Patrick for nearly 23 years, and they have two sons, William, 17, and James Patrick, 14. She is an avid reader, and loves historical fiction and classic literature. She also enjoys sewing, cooking, playing in her church’s handbell choir, and spending time spoiling her two cats, Penelope and Baby Kitty.
Read More About Founders Classical Academies
- “Texas Virtual Schools: Full-Time Online Schools for Kids in San Antonio,” San Antonio Charter Moms, February 2, 2022
- “Guide to Enrolling at Founders Classical Academy for 2022–23,” January 20, 2022
- “‘We just needed a school to see the potential’: Founders Classical Academy to open campus in Bastrop this fall,” Andy Sevilla, Austin American-Statesman, July 20, 2021
- “Thousands Of San Antonio Students Return To The Classroom For The First Time Since March,” Camille Phillips, Texas Public Radio, September 7, 2020
- “U.S. Secretary of Education Visits Classical Charter School,” Emily Stack Davis, Hillsdale College, February 4, 2020
- “Betsy Devos makes stop in Schertz, Texas as part of her nationwide tour,” News 4 San Antonio, February 3, 2020
- “Charters 101: Being a Charter School Parent Advocate—Founders Schertz Edition,” Inga Cotton, San Antonio Charter Moms, March 5, 2018
