Frequently Asked Questions
How are your students able to graduate in three years?
Several factors combine to make an early graduation possible from our program. First, our school day and year are structured in such a way as to make earning more credits possible during the school year. Secondly, our students are required to take a one-credit, independent study course during the summer. Third, our eighth graders -- and this is also true for the majority of entering ninth grade students -- take at least one course for high school credit (i.e. algebra I) and often more than one (i.e. health or world geography). The reality is that many educators predict that within the next five to ten years all public and private schools will be graduating students in three years rather than four; we are merely on the cutting edge of a trend that will soon sweep across the nation.
Is Veritas accredited?
Accreditation is nothing more or less than a seal of approval from some independent, educational agency. The State of Texas does not accredit schools; it does, however, rank them as "Acceptable," "Recognized," or "Exemplary," but only insofar as results on the TAKS is concerned. The "need" for accreditation, therefore, is something of an urban myth. It is not required by Texas of its public schools, nor do colleges make accreditation a determinating factor in accepting potential students into their programs. Veritas Varsity, unlike many of its private school counterparts, will likely never seek accreditation because of its innovative, "outside the box" approach to educating high school aged children. We simply would not fit into any independent agency's preconceived notion of what an "acceptable" school should look like. We are comfortable letting the excellence of our programming speak for itself when our future graduates begin to apply to colleges around the nation in the years to come.
Do your students have to meet Texas guidelines for graduation?
Veritas Varsity students either meet or exceed the minimum guidelines established for graduating seniors in our state. Please see the "Course Requirements" section under "Academics" on this website for more information regarding this important matter.
Your program sounds great, but must be expensive. Can you talk a bit about costs?
As incredible as it might seem, Veritas Varsity is actually the least expensive private school in Central Texas. This is partly because our total program cost is for only three years, rather than the traditional four (saving an entire year's tuition expense), but it is also because of the amazing first year "satisfaction guaranteed" policy that is unique to our program. Because we believe that the burden of producing a quality product is squarely on our shoulders, we are the only private school to actually reduce its first semester tuition by over 50% while students and their families determine if Veritas is indeed the right school choice for them. Students dissatisfied with Veritas for ANY reason may withdraw from the school after the first semester with no contractual obligation to continue paying tuition beyond that point. Read more about this amaziing offer in our "FINANCIAL" section on this website. Even at full cost ($6900) we offer a quality product with more once-in-a-lifetime, real world experiences at a price that is no more -- and even less -- than four of the top five private school options in the community.
Why are you guys located in Lorena? Isn't that a rather remote part of the county?
The focus of Veritas is not on its facilities; rather we believe that the world is our classroom. We want to maximize the amount of your tuition payment that is returned to your child in the form of a direct benefit in our travel experiences. Most schools' budgets are heavily impacted by facility related expenses (mortgages, maintenance, etc.). Our facility has very little overhead. There is also an added benefit of our rural setting insofar as security issues are concerned. Our campus is completely safe. Students may arrive early or depart late with no concern for their physical safety (a significant issue in most schools). The converted 2700 square feet of residential space serves our academic needs quite capably. We are very proud of our learning center and invite any parent or teen to visit our campus at any time.
What, exactly, is a cohort? I see you refer to this in different places on your website?
The term "cohort" is more common in a graduate school setting. Many graduate students begin and end their degree programs with the same students -- their cohort. In our situation "cohort" is a replacement term for "class" because that term does not adequately describe our learning envirnoment. In a traditional program students have an English class, history class, health class, science class, etc. In our program students are in a learning center during the day and work at various times on their different courses. There is no designated time or "class" for each individual subject. Accordingly, we needed a term that more accurately fit our circumstances; "cohort" is that term. As the school grows the term will take on added significance as students will be assigned to these student groups and remain with that group for the duration of their time at Veritas.
Do you take the entire school with you when you travel?
As small and personal as the school is at this time that is not really an issue -- yes, all students accompany us on our school trips, both locally and out of town. Again, as the school grows the cohorts will be utilized as an important component in both planning and implementing school trips. It will not be necessary for all cohorts to take the exact same trip, nor will it be necessary to travel at the same time. Both will undoubtedly occur from time to time, but the cohort structure will provide flexibility for shaping the nature and timing of the trips to the individual cohort.
I don't see any mention of athletics. Do you offer any sports program?
In organizing this unique program it was apparent that coordinating team sports programs with the need for maximum flexibility in scheduling out of town events (whether for a single event or an extended stay) was too great a challenge. Whether it will be possible to do so after the school has been up and running for a few years is another matter. But in these intital years of organization, formal sports programs had to be sacrificed for the experience of travel. We discovered during our first year that many of the things learned through participation in sports are also inherently learned in the course of our traveling and experiencing various cultures. The cohort is a team that must learn many of the same skills in dealing with others in close quarters over an extended period of time that are learned as a member of a team. There is also the consideration that whereas sports do benefit their participants, the number of participants are a minority of the overall population of the high school campus. Our travel and other experiences are beneficial to each and every student enrolled in our program. Perhaps in the future we will find a way to "have our cake and eat it, too," but for now that is not possible.
We have a tenth grader who is interested in your school; can she still enroll? If so, will she also be eligible to graduate with three years of high school?
The answer to the first question is "yes, she can enroll." However, she will likely not have sufficient credits earned to graduate in three years. It is possible, but it would depend on the number of high school credits earned in 8th grade, the number accumulated during her freshman year in her other school, and how many projected credits she might earn in her two years at Veritas.
Our eighth grade son is excited about your program and can hardly wait to enroll. Does he have to wait until next year to do so?
No, that is not at all necessary. The eighth grade is the new freshman year for Veritas Varsity! Just as we are discovering that a 12th grade year is no longer necessary in order to graduate from high school, so too are we learning that many 8th graders have the academic and emotional maturity to be successful in a high school envirnment. Beginning with the 2010/2011 school year we will accept qualifying 8th grade students who evidence that maturity, but on a space available basis. We would be more than happy to visit with anyone who has an 8th grade student interested in our program.