SLOCA High School is intentionally designed to mirror the rhythms, expectations, and intellectual culture of a small liberal arts college. Our classrooms are intimate, most with a cap of 16 students, which allows for meaningful student‑faculty relationships and seminar‑style, discussion‑driven, and hands-on learning. Students are given real freedom and are trusted to take responsibility for their education, both in and out of the classroom.

This philosophy is reflected in our three‑day‑per‑week schedule (Monday, Wednesday, Friday). While students are formally on campus three days a week, the academic expectations are substantial. Students engage deeply with their coursework and are asked to plan for approximately one hour of independent study for every hour spent in class. On average, SLOCA High School students devote 15–20 hours per week to homework, developing habits of discipline, independence, and intellectual stamina that prepare them well for college and for life.

Students can also enroll in our 5-Day program. A variation on our university style, this structure means students attend classes on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, but come to campus on Tuesday and Thursday to work with teachers and other students to complete their work and continue to forge social connections and build community.

All of our students are welcome to participate in optional electives held on Tuesdays and Thursdays, such as art, theatre, band, and/or physical education. Electives are included in our 5 Day program tuition.

No. SLOCA High School is not homeschooling. Parents can be as involved or hands-off as necessary, and even when parents assist students and help them stay organized, all student work is evaluated by teachers, who provide the complete curriculum and handle all grading and assessments. That said, some students may need additional parental support as they develop good study habits and organizational skills.

Classical education at SLOCAHS encompasses three guiding principles: the Rhetoric Stage of the Trivium, Great Books, and the Socratic Method. While these classical teaching techniques have been proven to prepare students exceptionally well for college and beyond, we are adamant in our belief that learning is a worthy end in itself, eschewing the “race to nowhere” mentality prevalent in many college prep schools. By studying Rhetoric, Great Books, and the Socratic Method, students encounter opportunities for personal as well as intellectual growth—in the form of character development and wisdom—without which the knowledge we acquire lacks context and true purpose. Additionally, unique to SLOCA yet wholly classical, our entire education is undergirded by an emphasis on living a life of virtue (and particularly these: humility, prudence, temperance, justice, generosity, fortitude, and hope). SLOCA’s monthly virtues help students to view their learning as more than just memorizing information—it’s pursuing human flourishing. For more info about Classical Education, please visit our Educational Model page.

Absolutely! An education that trains students to reason clearly, write effectively, and think independently is one of the most practical preparations for any career path. In an era when employers expect graduates to arrive ready to contribute, SLOCA students stand out as capable thinkers and communicators.

Our graduates are confident writers, strong readers, and skilled thinkers, trained in logic, rhetoric, and analysis. Most importantly, they love learning. That curiosity, paired with intellectual discipline, equips them to adapt, grow, and thrive amid the uncertainty of adult life.

SLOCA is an independent, non-sectarian organization unaffiliated with any particular sect or creed. We respect differences in our community and encourage each student to explore and grow within his or her family’s philosophical or religious tradition, and to be curious about others who hold varying beliefs. As a part of their education at SLOCA, students engage with a variety of philosophies, ideas, beliefs, and texts, and are expected to be able to discuss these diverse movements with sensitivity and respect.

While some say large high schools are beneficial as they expose students to “the real world,” we have actually seen that our environment, while small and nurturing, simulates adult life in meaningful ways. Students are expected to cooperate and be in community with a variety of students across ages and backgrounds. Perhaps most importantly, the environment at SLOCA is one of healthy but high expectations, respect, deep relationships, and professionalism, without the distractions common to large schools, such as drugs, violence/fighting, technology distractions, bullying, displays of sexuality, and alcohol. Moreover, every student is seen, known, and cared for in ways that are much more challenging in a larger school.

While a large high school may seem appealing, SLOCA HS offers what students crave. Want to go to a football game? We have those! Want to play a sport? You will get to play! Want to go to dances? We have those too! Want to make new friends and try new things? Check and check! Want to engage in theatre, band, and visual arts? We have that too! The beauty of a smaller school is that ideas proposed by students can often come to fruition. Students have started clubs, inspired immersive classes, and requested specific classes based on interest.

We also have two special terms in the winter and the spring: immersives. These are special classes students can fully ‘immerse’ themselves in for three weeks. Our class offerings for immersives are incredible, including welding, electrical engineering, woodworking, theatre, weaving, photography, film studies, cooking, science field research, camping, SLOCA survivor, life skills, debate, zoology, coding/robotics, cad/3D printing, printmaking, and the list goes on. Research shows that you only really need 20 people to feel like you’re a part of a solid community. We have a lot more than 20 students, but we’re small enough to ensure no student falls through the cracks. Each student is seen, cared for, and celebrated for who they are and encouraged to become the best version of themselves!

Our students engage deeply with real ideas, the complexities of being human, diverse perspectives, and meaningful responsibilities. The intentionally close community does not insulate them from the world; it equips them to enter it thoughtfully, confidently, and well‑prepared.

Yes. We have several competitive athletics options for high school students. We are members of CIF (California Interscholastic Federation) and the Coast Valley League. Being part of these organizations opens up possibilities for us to play with many more teams. We offer the following SLOCAHS sports options – boys: cross country, football, basketball, baseball, volleyball, track and field, and golf; girls: cross country, volleyball, golf, basketball, track and field, and beach volleyball. We will add more sports as interest and resources allow.

SLOCA HS is designed for connection and depth. Teachers know their students well, monitor progress closely, and provide individualized feedback on papers, projects, and discussions. Small classes allow for rich dialogue, thoughtful mentoring, and engaging lessons that challenge students intellectually while supporting them personally. Our curriculum is intentionally crafted for this kind of environment.

Absolutely! Our math and science curriculum often exceeds traditional high school standards. Several of our classes are dual-enrolled with Cuesta College, which means students can get college credit for those HS classes. We have a fully equipped science lab and experienced and capable teachers with advanced degrees. Our graduates have gone on to major in chemistry, computer science, environmental science, engineering, and pre-med in college. We currently have alumni pursuing careers in fields such as nursing, computer science, and geology.

SLOCA students read a lot of great literature, which is the trademark of a truly classical education. All texts have been carefully selected for their notable contributions to literature and history over time, and the majority of our curriculum is drawn from what scholars traditionally agree are the “Great Books.” Over the four years of high school our reading list includes works by Homer, Aristotle, Plato, Marcus Aurelius, Horace, Virgil, Lao Tzu, Sophocles, Seneca, Shakespeare, Chaucer, Augustine of Hippo, Francis of Assisi, Dante, Machiavelli, Daniel Defoe, Charles Dickens, John Locke, Voltaire, Jane Austen, Herman Melville, Walt Whitman, Henry David Thoreau, Victor Hugo, Mary Shelley, Willa Cather, Leo Tolstoy, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Flannery O’Connor, John Steinbeck, and more! See our Reading List page for more information.

But why stop at the assigned curriculum? Our entire SLOCA community is invited to join our “Beyond: A Great Books Adventure” program to continue pursuing the Good, the True, and the Beautiful in texts beyond the classroom. Through their curriculum, high school students naturally complete a majority of the texts on our “Beyond” reading list, but there is so much more to explore and learn from.

Our semester elective offerings change each year and include classes such as Photography, 2D and 3D Design, Theatre, Band, and P.E. Additionally, we offer a three-week Winter Term at the end of Semester 1 and a three-week Spring Term at the end of Semester 2, where students are immersed in one course of their choice. Examples of classes offered include: Textile Art, Digital Animation, Woodworking, Printmaking, Film Studies, Sacred Reading, The World of Tolkien, Steinbeck’s California, Oral Rhetoric, Cooking the Good, Military History, Mesoamerican Studies, The Harlem Renaissance, History of Baseball, Marine Biology, Zoology, Ecological Field Research, CAD/3D Printing, Intro to Welding, SLOCA Survivor, Theatre, Teaching Life apprenticeship, and many others. Check out our Classes Overview webpage for a selection of electives we have on rotation, and read descriptions in our Course Catalog.

Students can join a variety of clubs, including Student Council, The Hanging Lantern Review (our annual literary journal), Yearbook team, Poetry Out Loud, Ancients Club, Pickleball Club, Chess Club, Mascot Club, Newspaper Club, Art Club, and our Scholar-to-Scholar program. Students are also encouraged to pursue their own interests and develop personal initiative by establishing, with the school’s support, new clubs and activities that encourage community and engagement that serve the mission of the school.

Yes! To put our virtues into practice, all SLOCA High School students are required to complete 5 hours of community service per semester in order to graduate. When you start running through our list of virtues—humility, prudence, temperance, justice, generosity, fortitude, and hope—it’s easy to see the connection between serving those in your community and living a flourishing life. Students can serve at local non-profits, schools, religious organizations, community events, etc, and SLOCAHS has several resources available to help students meet this requirement.

Yes. Since 2016, SLOCA has offered a full suite of A‑G certified courses. The A-G/college entrance requirements are a sequence of high school courses that students must complete (with a grade of a C or better) to be minimally eligible for admission to the University of California (UC), California State University (CSU), and most out-of-state or private colleges. Please reference our Course Catalog for a full list of courses and information on how our graduation requirements and course offerings align with A-G.

While AP courses have benefits, we do not design our curriculum around standardized tests. Instead, we focus on depth, engagement, rigor, and the development of genuine intellectual skill. Strong AP scores are often a byproduct of our approach, not the goal. Students may take AP exams independently, and SLOCA hosts both English AP Exams. Our philosophy prioritizes intrinsic motivation, thoughtful reading, and meaningful learning over teaching to a test. If you want a college professor’s view on AP tests, check out John Tierny’s article in The Atlantic. It’s eye-opening, to say the least.

Yes. While we will not change our philosophy or curriculum to meet the demands of the AP testing agencies, students interested in testing out of college courses can still take the AP exams without having taken a certified AP course. Exams SLOCA students may do well on (with proper study and preparation) include: Biology, Literature, English Language, and World History. We host the AP English Literature & Composition Exam in May of 2026. Although sophomores can take this AP exam, it is often better to wait until a student’s Junior or Senior year to take the AP English Literature and Composition exam. Students can also research and take CLEP exams, which would also provide college credit. To learn more, visit: clep.collegeboard.org/clep-exams

Many SLOCA Honors courses have been certified by the UC/CSU system, and these courses offer a GPA boost for every course taken by students applying to the UC and CSU systems. For example, a SLOCA student with a 3.9 SLOCA GPA who had several Honors courses was granted a 4.3 by Cal Poly due to her Honors course load taken sophomore through senior year. We do not offer GPAs higher than 4.0 on our transcripts; however, this is increasingly common among many private schools. Universities rarely accept GPAs self-reported by schools. Rather, the colleges recalibrate each applicant’s GPA based on grades, credits, course load, and rigor.

SLOCA students have been accepted to Arizona State University, Baylor University, BIOLA Torrey Honors Program, Boston University, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, Calvin College, Dickinson College, University of Dallas, UC Davis, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, George Fox University, Gonzaga University, Hillsdale College, University of Houston, Kenyon College, CSU Long Beach, Montana State University Honors College, New England Conservatory, University of North Carolina, University of Notre Dame, Point Loma Nazarene, University of Richmond, Rochester Institute of Technology, St. Olaf College, UC Berkeley, UC Irvine, UCLA, UC San Diego, UC Santa Cruz, University of Washington, Westmont College, Wheaton College, and many more. For a complete list, see: SLOCAHS College Acceptances 2013-2026.

Yes! SLOCA students are well‑prepared for college academically and personally, and our graduates are accepted to a wide range of selective universities. We receive consistent feedback from our graduates and their faculty that they were adequately and amply prepared for the demands, both personal and academic, of college life. Our graduates have a firm grasp of time management, are self-motivated, are accustomed to seeking help and mentorship, and have ingrained habitual study habits and discipline.

Yes! SLOCA High School, like all of SLO Classical Academy, is accredited by the Western Association of Schools & Colleges (WASC). SLOCA has always been awarded with the highest accreditation marks possible.

No. SLOCA is rigorous, but what that means is that we expect students to engage, fully show up, and lean into learning. Our teachers and staff support students closely, helping them rise to challenges without burning out. The result is not disengagement, but growth. Students learn that meaningful work can be demanding and deeply satisfying.

SLOCA is for students who are curious, willing to work hard, and open to growth. We value effort, virtue development, and perseverance more than raw academic ability. Students at SLOCA HS are all pushed to be the best versions of themselves, regardless of their academic entry point.

Yes. Our rhythm is purposeful. Our education is rigorous. Students engage in academics, electives, athletics, friendships, and extracurriculars while learning to manage time, much like college students do. 3 days a week of school is still a full-time learning experience, and many students have enjoyed this rhythm since the high school’s inception. However, we also offer a 5-day program, where students can work on their assignments with guidance from teachers and collaborate with peers on Tuesdays and Thursdays. This program works well for families who desire their children to have more oversight, for kids who thrive with more structure, and for students who desire to be with peers and teachers five days per week.

Ridiculously fun! We plan special events on certain Fridays, called Friyays, where students have an opportunity to participate in a fake snowball fight, or try and find their teachers in disguise downtown, or get a catered meal where they play games, and so much more. Our house system, similar to Harry Potter but without sorcery, encourages students to connect with one another across grade levels, enjoy competitive fun, and participate in a variety of physical, mental, and hilarious tasks to earn house points. There is a lot of laughter on campus!

Yes! Our teachers care deeply. With our small class sizes, our teachers have the opportunity to truly get to know each student, and cater to their needs. Moreover, in our advisory program, students have the opportunity to meet in small groups led by a teacher twice a week to connect, play, and grow as human beings through intentional activities centered around building students’ relational skills and virtue development.

We certainly hope so! We think what we have here is pretty special, and we would love to share what we have to offer with anyone who shares our values or is willing to try them out! We have had all sorts of students and families succeed in our community, including high-achieving students, students who struggle with academics, students who desire a life-changing education, to students who started because their parents “made them” attend (but became transformed during high school). All types of students have found a home, a place to belong, and success at the high school because of how SLOCA approaches them, their education, and their development.

For more information, or if you have questions not answered on this sheet, please feel free to email us at: [email protected].