Have Questions?

Williamsburg Academy of Colorado is a tuition-free, public online school serving students statewide in grades 6-12. Our program is built on the award-winning Williamsburg Curriculum and emphasizes leadership, the liberal arts, and adventures, preparing students to lead meaningful lives in our fast-changing world.

Williamsburg Learning is the education services provider behind the award-winning Williamsburg Curriculum. We partner with Williamsburg Learning to make the Williamsburg Curriculum available to Colorado students tuition-free.

The Williamsburg Curriculum makes up the bulk of our school’s overall academic program, in addition to exclusive offerings like concurrent enrollment through our partnerships with Pikes Peak State College, Pueblo Community College, and Front Range Community College.

In our engaging live-online classes, Williamsburg students meet and interact with students at other Williamsburg Learning schools, including Williamsburg Academy Private School , Williamsburg Academy Public Education Partners , and Leadership Academy of Utah .

We currently serve grades 6-12.

Nope! We are a publicly funded, multi-district online school so tuition is $0. (That includes all required books and supplies. Additionally, students enrolled full-time can receive a loaned laptop with built-in online safety software.)

Parents are responsible for providing high-speed internet.

Additionally, we do not cover all fees associated with our Concurrent Enrollment programs. See our Concurrent Enrollment and individual college partner pages for information regarding fees, tuition, and books for these programs.

As an online school, we do not have a physical school office or in-person classrooms. Instead, our faculty and staff work from distributed offices in Colorado and throughout the U.S. Our students live all over Colorado.

Yes, our school is accredited by Cognia, one of the world’s largest accrediting bodies. All credit earned at Williamsburg Academy of Colorado is recognized by all other schools accredited by Cognia and most other accredited schools. More information can be found on our Accreditation page.

Yes. All of our live-online and self-paced core courses are approved by the NCAA, so your student can work towards Division I or Division II eligibility while attending our school. Please see our NCAA Accreditation page for a complete list of approved courses and additional eligibility requirements.

No, our school does not affiliate with or support any faith, church, or religion. Our students come from a variety of religious and political backgrounds. We remain neutral and build a safe environment where students can be themselves, learn from each other, and share their ideas and beliefs respectfully.

While Williamsburg Academy of Colorado is an online school accessible from anywhere with an internet connection, our students are required to be official residents of Colorado. Parents must provide proof of residency upon enrollment and annually after that. The following documents may be used to prove residency:

• A residential utility bill from the past 60 days
• A mortgage statement from the past 60 days
• A lease agreement for your current residence from within the past year
• A rent receipt for your current residence from the past 60 days
• A property tax statement for the most recent year
• Your current voter registration card
• A letter from a government agency from the past 60 days

For any further questions about residency requirements, please contact our Executive Director.

Full-time students are required to take a minimum of 4 classes per semester (for middle school) or 6 classes per semester (for high school) to meet minimum full-time hour and graduation requirements as outlined by the CDE. 

Note: The number of courses required each semester may vary depending on the type of courses taken and past high school credits awarded. An Academic Counselor will work with you and your high school student to ensure they are on track for graduation.

For any specific questions about selecting the right courses for your child, please contact our Academic Counselor or Registrar.

Yes. If your student would prefer to take just 2-3 classes with us, you can enroll them in our part-time Homeschool Enrichment (HSE) program.

Please note: HSE students are not eligible to graduate from Williamsburg Academy of Colorado, or to receive Special Education services from our school. They are also not eligible to receive our school’s computer package (laptop, tech support, internet filtering, etc.).

Like all Williamsburg Academy of Colorado students, HSE students are required to participate in NWEA MAPS testing.

You can learn more about enrolling in our part-time HSE program from the Enrollment FAQs on our How to Apply & Enroll page.

To remain a Williamsburg Academy of Colorado student, our school must be your child’s only publicly-funded curriculum provider.

Note: Exceptions include sports and other extracurricular activities offered at your local public school that are not offered at Williamsburg Academy of Colorado.

If you’d prefer to use our program to supplement your child’s homeschool, cooperative, or private school education, you can register them for 2-3 courses per semester and receive books and supplies without cost as part of our part-time Homeschool Enrichment (HSE) program.

Note: HSE students are not eligible for graduation, are not eligible for Special Education services, and are not eligible to receive a computer package (laptop, tech support, internet filtering, etc.).

1. For middle school, students should turn twelve during the academic year in which they enroll in 6th grade.
2. For high school, students should turn fifteen during the academic year in which they enroll in 9th grade.

While these guidelines are highly recommended, we leave the final decision to parents and students because we know some students are ready earlier. If your student is younger, please discuss this with their enrollment advisor before registering to avoid overloading them.

We have a simple online application process you can complete in our Student Information Services (SIS) system. Please visit our How to Enroll page for full details, or schedule a call with an advisor for step-by-step guidance.

Yes. Parents of returning students must submit an application each year; however, the returning student application is shorter than that for new students.

Yes, the application process is one-per-student. If you have multiple students, you’ll need to submit separate applications for each of them.

No, we do not have an overall cap on enrollment. However, all of our courses are offered on a first-come, first-served basis with a limited number of seats in each section. Many of our courses fill up quickly, so we encourage you to register early for the fall and winter semesters.

Yes, you can withdraw your student’s application any time before the start of the school year. After the start of the school year, student grades are subject to our course drop policy.

For any other questions about withdrawing from Williamsburg Academy of Colorado, please contact our Registrar.

Registration for the upcoming fall and winter semesters opens on the first Monday in February each year. Registration is first-come, first-served and is completed by our team after your child's application has been accepted. We recommend applying early to secure your child's preferred schedule.

Williamsburg Academy of Colorado offers a full range of courses in every core subject your student needs to graduate with an accredited high school diploma—plus a wide range of elective courses. These include:

• Award-winning online courses from the Williamsburg Curriculum in all subjects, including our highly popular Leadership Program.
• Dynamic, fun in-person courses through our Adventure Fridays program.
• Concurrent Enrollment courses in partnership with Pikes Peak State College, Pueblo Community College, and Front Range Community College.

Our online courses are offered in partnership with Williamsburg Learning. Williamsburg Learning provides three online course formats:

• Live-online: Students meet together with a mentor in an online classroom and participate in live class discussions every week. Some live classes include an Honors version with a larger workload for students who want to go deeper.
• Self-paced: Students complete assignments on their own schedule and communicate via email, online student forums, and mentor office hours.
• Independent Studies (for high school): Students earn academic credit for completing PE, Fine Arts, or Elective studies with a third-party provider. 

For more information about each course type, check out this page on the Williamsburg Learning website.

Our team will register your student for their classes after their application has been accepted. Please work with your student's Enrollment Advisor or our Registrar to select courses.

You can refer to our middle school and high school registration pages to understand the types of courses we recommend and offer.

Note: Additional steps are required to register for Concurrent Enrollment courses. Please see our college-specific web pages for more details.

For detailed course recommendations by grade, please see the course paths and sample schedules listed on our middle school and high school registration pages.

For specific questions about selecting courses for your child, please contact our Academic Counselor or Registrar.

Once your student is registered, all that’s left is to prepare for the first day of school! To help with this, we highly encourage you to review our How to Prepare for School page and on-demand Parent Orientation videos. We’ll also email you and your student with information about student orientation assignments they will complete in Canvas, our online learning management system.

Note: All course selections are reviewed and approved by our enrollment team. We will let you know if any of your student’s courses need to be adjusted.

We maintain a student-instructor ratio of approximately 19:1. Instructors include both mentors and teaching assistants, who help provide detailed feedback on student assignments. For individual courses, our live-online class sessions range in size depending on the content of the course.

In general, we maintain smaller class sizes for middle school grades, with the exception of our seminar-style Leadership classes. It’s also important to note that a large online class is very different from a large class in person: The online classroom is a far less distracting environment for students than even a small class at a brick-and-mortar school. We’ve also pioneered using technology to maximize the online learning experience in classes of any size.

For example, many of our classes are based on engaging visual presentations by mentors, dynamic class-wide discussions, and smaller discussions and activities between groups of students in Zoom breakout rooms. Because of this, even students in our largest classes still make a personal connection with course material, their mentors, and their fellow students.

As Malcolm Gladwell pointed out in his book David and Goliath, smaller class sizes don’t always lead to better learning outcomes.* That’s because smaller classes make it easier for some students to dominate class discussions, among other things. At Williamsburg, we’ve found that offering a range of class sizes gives students a mix of small-group discussion and large-group participation that helps them build strong communication, learning, and leadership skills. We also offer ways for students to get extra support outside of class, such as mentor office hours.

*In fact, in one study cited by Gladwell, researcher Caroline Hoxby found no significant impact on student achievement as a result of class size (see “The Effects of Class Size on Student Achievement”). Instead, Gladwell says, the one thing educational researchers agree on is that teacher quality matters more than class size. At Williamsburg, that’s why we search hard to hire the best teachers and rigorously train them on our Six Mentor Practices.

Yes. Most live-online courses require a certain minimum number of students to register or the course will have to be canceled.

Our drop policy is as follows:

• Students who drop a course within two weeks of the first day of classes in a given semester receive no grade or record on their transcript.
• Students who drop after the first two weeks of classes but before midterms receive a “W" for that course on their transcript.
• Students who drop after midterms will receive a transcript notation of “WF” (Withdraw/Fail) as the final grade unless the academic counselor grants an exception based on extreme and/or extenuating, documented circumstances.
• Students who drop below full-time status will be moved to part-time and the graduation timeline may be affected as the student may no longer be on track to graduate.

Absolutely! If you would like to refer your student for special services (IEP, 504 Plan, Advanced Learning Plans, Gifted and Talented (GT), and/or English Language Learners (ELL)), please contact our Special Services team. 

If your student has an existing IEP or 504 Plan, you can share that with us during the course registration process (after you've applied for your student and their application has been accepted). Once your student is registered for courses, a member of our Student Support team will contact you to discuss your student's plan.

All of our mentors have Zoom office hours where students can log on and get help outside of regular class time.

If your student is struggling, the best place to start is by visiting their mentors’ office hours and asking mentors to customize the workload for your student. The day and time of office hours are posted on each course homepage in Canvas. You can also email mentors anytime with questions, and they will respond within one school day.

In addition, once each semester, we offer Parent-Mentor Conferences where you and your student can meet with their mentors and discuss any challenges or concerns. 

Yes. All full-time Williamsburg Academy of Colorado students have a pathway to graduation, and our Academic Counselor monitors their progress. Students who fulfill our graduation requirements are awarded an accredited high school diploma that is widely accepted by colleges and universities.

• Students: Click on My Transcript.
• Parents: Click on My Students, then the name of the student, then Transcript.

For official transcripts, we partner with Parchment, a third-party digital credential service, to send transcripts securely. To request an official transcript, please visit the Parchment website and follow the steps provided.

To access IXL results, simply sign in to your child's IXL account and click the Analytics tab. The Student Summary section will give you a bird's eye view of your child's work. The Trouble Spots report pinpoints any concepts your child is struggling with.

Yes! All live-online classes are recorded, and the links to all class recordings are made available to students in Canvas (usually within a few minutes of a class period ending).

We take daily attendance through Canvas, our online learning management system. Students are required to log into Canvas and submit assignments at least four days a week each week of the semester (excluding Fall Break and Spring Break). Please see our Parent & Student Handbook for more on this policy.

Yes, we accept transfer credit from other accredited schools. This does not guarantee that all credits earned at other schools will align with our graduation requirements or count toward graduation. Students who plan to transfer credit should send a transcript from their previous school(s) to our Registrar to find out how their credits will transfer, and what additional work will be required to graduate from Williamsburg Academy of Colorado.

All students at Williamsburg Academy of Colorado must take the SAT during their junior year (or submit a waiver).

Our students’ SAT and (optionally) ACT scores are used as one factor to measure us against Colorado’s state graduation requirements. Students who do not achieve minimum SAT/ACT scores may complete a Capstone Project. For more information, see Colorado's graduation guidelines.

Yes, because we are a public school, our students are required to participate in statewide assessments in April each year. Parents are responsible for providing transportation to an assigned testing location.

Additionally, our students complete online NWEA MAP assessments three times each year. These assessments are a great tool for helping students (and parents) measure and improve their academic progress!

Please see the CDE's website for more information.

Yes. We expect our students to be truthful in all they say and do and demonstrate integrity in their academics.

Plagiarism, cheating, or other falsification of research on projects, papers, or exams are not tolerated. Students agree in every course that they will not receive unwarranted help from any person and will complete all work themselves. Honor code violations may result in a failing grade and/or being permanently expelled from Williamsburg Academy of Colorado. Mentors report honor code violations to the Executive Director, and after consulting with the student and their parents, a final course of action is decided.

Yes. Your student's success is our priority. Whether they are behind in credits or didn’t pass a class the first time, our credit recovery program is designed to help them catch up.

We offer self-paced credit recovery courses across subjects, including English, Math, Science, Social Studies, and Electives.

*Course availability varies and is subject to change.

Credit recovery classes can be taken (self-paced) during the summer semester, which begins at the end of May and runs until the beginning of August (11 weeks).

Students earn .5 credits for each credit recovery course they pass, the same as all other Williamsburg courses.

If your student fails a course and retakes the same course, the passing grade will replace the 'F' on their transcript. Grades in self-paced courses can replace live online course grades.

If your student is determined eligible for credit recovery, WAC will provide the recommended self-paced course(s) at no cost.

The number of courses a student may take is determined on a case-by-case basis. An Academic Counselor will determine the best plan to help your student get back on track.

If you think your student may be eligible for credit recovery, please contact an Academic Counselor to schedule a meeting to discuss their options.

In a nutshell, we inspire students to find their love of learning and use it to build the foundation for a meaningful, successful life in our modern world. Our school culture is open, uplifting, and brings out the best in us and our students.

Williamsburg Academy of Colorado students build lasting friendships with their peers and mentors as they explore their interests and unique abilities. On top of that, our students actively challenge and support each other in doing the hard work it takes to gain a liberal arts and leadership-focused education.

Lastly, each member of the Williamsburg team has a clear area of focus to support student success and development. We live lives of meaning, purpose, and adventure while inspiring our students to do the same. 

This all adds up to create a school culture that inspires students to do the best work of their lives so far—both personally and academically.

We call our teachers “mentors” because they play the role of helping students develop as leaders (in addition to the traditional teacher role of helping students acquire knowledge).

Simply put, we have the highest standards and strongest filters in the industry when it comes to hiring talented mentors (who are also all certified teachers). On top of that, once hired, our mentors receive unrivaled professional development training to help them excel even further at bringing out students’ potential.

If you ask a Williamsburg Academy of Colorado student to tell you about their mentors, you’ll likely hear words like “engaging,” “fun,” “inspiring,” “smart,” “hilarious,” “crazy,” “caring,” and “talented.” For many students and families, our mentors are the main attraction of our entire program!

We attract bright and dedicated students who want to study history’s great minds and learn to think critically. Our students come from diverse backgrounds including home, public, and private schools; no particular background is necessary. A strong work ethic, eagerness to learn, and a desire to serve others are the only key ingredients for success at Williamsburg Academy of Colorado.

The best way to determine if we’re the right fit for your child is by scheduling a call with an Enrollment Advisor. We’ll ask a few questions to get to know your student so we can give you a strong recommendation either way.

In general, though, here are some things to consider when thinking about enrolling your child at Williamsburg Academy of Colorado:

The liberal arts and leadership-focused education we offer is challenging. Since our mission is to prepare highly motivated and independent learners for meaningful lives of leadership, we have high expectations for our students. This requires students to be self-directed and open to being challenged by their schoolwork.

In addition, we use online learning tools that give students the freedom to guide their own education. We trust our students to use that freedom wisely and appropriately. Specifically, we expect each student to:

1. Work, read, and study independently.
2. Set daily and weekly commitments, and put in the work to meet those commitments.
3. Spend several hours a day in and out of class studying, completing assignments, and reflecting on how their learnings apply to their lives.

We only suggest enrolling your child at Williamsburg Academy of Colorado if they are determined, excited, and prepared to meet these expectations. If so, our program could be the perfect fit to help your child unleash their full potential!

In general, Williamsburg Academy of Colorado students do best when a parent or guardian is home to support and encourage them during the school day. To maximize your student’s success, the single most impactful thing you can do is use our 3-Step Parent Support Plan with your child every week. This includes:

1. Helping your student create a daily checklist for each school day, listing the tasks and assignments they will complete each day.
2. Helping your student anticipate which assignments they might need extra support on, such as a quick check from you before they submit it or attending their mentor’s office hours.
3. Checking in with your student for a few minutes each day to make sure they’re completing the items on their daily checklist.

We promise: If you do these three things with your student consistently, they’ll be on track for their best school year ever.

We offer multiple resources to support you in helping your child get the education they deserve! These include (but aren’t limited to):

• Our on-demand Parent Orientation videos to help you and your student get a strong start to the school year.
• Additional Parent Resource videos to support you and your student at key times throughout the school year.
• The Weekly Parent Update, which includes a summary of important action items, announcements, and upcoming events at our school.
• Parent-Mentor Conferences and Parent-Mentor Updates to keep you informed about your child’s progress each semester.
• Our proven 3-Step Parent Support Plan to help your student stay on track with all their coursework every week.
• Easy access to our Support Team every weekday to get help with any technical issues

Williamsburg Academy of Colorado does not discriminate based on race, ethnic origin, sex, or religion. We welcome diversity in our program and strive to have students of high moral character from diverse races, ethnicities, and religions. Understanding and embracing diversity is a key characteristic for leaders seeking a liberal education.