ARETE
HOMESCHOOLING COLLABORATIVE

Tuition is paid on a semester by semester basis. Tuition is due on the first day of class for each semester.

The enrollment deposit is $100/student and is due at the time of registration. Course deposits will be forfeited for any class changes that occur after the course change deadline of July 15th. Course deposits will be refunded at the beginning of the semester once the course tuitions have been paid.

Courses can be dropped without penalty up to July 15th. After July 15th, any dropped course will forfeit the $100 course deposit. Courses dropped after the beginning of the semester will forfeit the semester tuition.

Our classes range from 6 to 25 students, depending on the class. Math and history classes tend to be smaller, in the 6-8 student range. Science and Writing classes fall in the middle with 10-14 students. Drama and Performing Arts classes generally have around 25 students. Classes have maximum numbers determined mutually by the instructor and Arete Board of Directors.

Performing Arts is a musical theater class. Students who participate in this class will learn to sing and participate in basic choreography. Drama class is purely spoken theater using Shakespeare plays.

The Board of Directors are volunteers and do not receive any compensation. Members of the Board pay the same tuition and facility fees as all Arete families. Registration fees are waived for Board Members and Instructors.

Yes, parents are responsible for purchasing all required curriculum. We will release a list of required curriculum for each class by the end of May. Occasionally Arete will make bulk curriculum orders to save money. Books with this option will be noted on the required curriculum list.

Our goal is to create a culture of excellence. Parents are asked to encourage their students to pursue excellence in both academic and personal matters. Parents must monitor student progress at home and ensure that their student is completing all assigned work. If a student is struggling with a particular concept, parents should speak with the instructor. Parents are required to participate in daily cleaning on a rotating basis.

Our goal is to create a culture of excellence. In order to achieve this, students must complete all assigned work and put forth their best effort. Although our instructors do not keep grades, they do check that students have completed their work and have an understanding of the material. We also choose curriculum that feeds into a culture of excellence.

Our instructors must meet 1 of 3 qualifications. 1. A degree in the field in which they are teaching. 2. Many years of experience in the field in which they are teaching. 3. A teaching certificate in the field in which they are teaching. All instructors must pass a background check.

Our classes are held at City Church at Northside, 530 Airport Rd., Panama City, FL. We utilize the classrooms upstairs in the educational building.

Our instructors do not issue grades. Parents are responsible for issuing grades and keeping records. Our instructors check for student completion of homework and understanding of the concepts being taught.

Classical education is the oldest form of education, and was the main method for education up until the mid-1800s. Classical education pairs the means of instruction with a student’s developmental process by way of the trivium. The trivium is the three stages of learning consisting of the Grammar Stage, Logic Stage and Rhetoric Stage. The Grammar Stage roughly correlates with elementary school when students’ minds are ripe for memorization, stories, and facts. The Logic Stage correlates to Middle School where students learn to sort, organize and decipher cause and effect of the information they have gathered and collected during the Grammar Stage. The Rhetoric Stage correlates to High School where students learn to communicate and debate the broad base of knowledge they have collected. In addition to organizing courses within the trivium, classical education emphasizes a pursuit of wisdom. Classical education views the student as a whole person in pursuit of wisdom and virtue rather than a worker being trained to perform a technical task. A significant part of gaining wisdom is recognizing that which is true, beautiful, and good. Classical education trains students to not only recognize and appreciate but to aspire to create work which is true, good, and beautiful. Latin is emphasized in classical education. There are many reasons to study Latin, which are outlined in another question. These are a few of the main tenets of classical education, of which there are many more.

Arete organizes classes according to the trivium. Arete attempts to create a culture of excellence where students pursue virtue and wisdom. Arete offers and encourages students to take Latin. Arete emphasizes truth, goodness, and beauty across all subjects. Arete classes are literature centric. Arete integrates subjects in the humanities and offers Great Books to facilitate Socratic discussions. Arete teaches history in chronological order.