Learn More About Membership
Membership in the ACCS makes running a school much easier. Once you join, you can take part in growing communities and networks, access member tools and benefits, and become part of multi-faceted advocacy and promotional initiatives to build and grow the classical Christian movement around the nation and the world.
Find out more about ACCS membership.
- Read the Member Handbook and the Member Benefits packet.
- Find out more about our activities.
- Read the summary of requirements provided below.
Submit the interest form.
- Complete our Membership Interest Form.
- Call or send us an email if you have any questions.
Complete the Membership Application.
We will send you the Membership Application Form, and work with you to address any questions.
Note: For more about classical Christian education (CCE), read the “What is CCE” section of this website.
What is ACCS Membership?
For the past 30 years, parents have trusted ACCS schools to provide quality classical Christian education. Over this time, schools of all types have adopted the moniker “classical Christian” to draft on our growing reputation. Our membership levels provide parents with the assurance that the school they have chosen is a “classical Christian school.”
Read more: What Does It Mean to Be a “classical Christian” school in the ACCS?
Accredited Members
ACCS accreditation is among the most challenging of any accreditation in k-12 education, classical or conventional. Our schools conform to rigorous classical Christian academic practices and philosophy. No other accreditor provides this assurance to parents. Our accredited schools operate independently of state or federal governance. Learn More: Why Choose an ACCS Accredited School?
Transitional Members (non-voting)
Full Members
College, Business, and Homeschool Affiliates
We appreciate the support of our affiliates and we provide special services to these partners. However, “affiliate” status does not require that these organizations meet membership standards. See College Affiliates | See Business Affiliates
Summary of Membership Requirements.
You can find more detail in the Member Handbook. For costs, continue scrolling.
Member schools must:
1. Be private and classical Christian.
2. Not accept government funding sufficient to compromise the classical Christian mission should the government funding be withdrawn in the future.
3. Operate a school with classrooms (physical or digital) and teachers where students are sent by their parents to be instructed. Nontraditional models like “University”™ model schools, or online schools qualify.
4. Serve some combination of grades k-12. We do not charge per-student fees for pre-k.
5. Commit to providing or finding a path to full k-12 classical Christian education for students. This can include a future plan or a path involving another school. For example, you can qualify if you are k-4 planning to go to k-8, at which time students may transfer to another classical Christian school in your area serving grades 9-12.
6. Serve more than one family. Homeschools qualify as individual affiliates. Homeschool co-ops that offer high school diplomas may qualify. Generally, co-ops that offer classes, but no comprehensive program, do not qualify.
7. Conform to the trivium in the grades that you serve and provide at least two years of Latin or ancient Greek, one year of formal logic, and one year of rhetoric in the secondary for each student.
8. Support the work and mission of the ACCS.
9. Agree with the ACCS definition of classical Christian education (see this page) and implement it insofar as you have the ability and resources.
10. Agree with our statement of faith. (See our new statement on the web or in the handbook.)
11. Not discriminate on the basis of race, color, or national/ethnic origin.
12. Not affirm unbiblical family relationships.
Also, note: We have a “Transitional” membership under which schools do not need to meet requirements 4 and 7 for 5 years.
Current membership dues are:
$340 per school plus $9 per full-time k-12 student.*
*Pricing discounts available for collaborative model and online schools.
- New members that join between July 1st and December 31st have immediate access to member benefits and will be members through the end of the next calendar year. For example, a new school paying dues on September 1st, 2024 will enjoy member benefits immediately and through December 31, 2025.
- New members that join between:
- January 1st and March 31st: Deduct 25% from standard annual dues. Membership extends through December 31st of the calendar year in which it was paid.
- April 1st and June 30th: Deduct 50% from standard annual dues. Membership extends through December 31st of the calendar year in which it was paid.
- July 1st through December 31st: Pay full annual dues, but receive membership status and benefits for the rest of the current year and the following calendar year.
International schools are those outside the US and Canada. They pay a flat fee annually. This reduced fee represents the reality that many of the ACCS member benefits are less useful or unavailable for those schools from outside the U.S. The fees for international members are not prorated if the school joins mid year.
Note: A special rate is available for mission schools in certain instances.
Current International fees: $190
- For collaborative model schools: A collaborative model school (non-traditional scheduled school) has students attending fewer than 21 hours of class per week (recess/lunch are considered a class for this calculation) with the expectation that parents will do some school at home. Because these schools generally have lower tuition, we adjust the per-student rate to $5 per K-12 student. We ask that schools not alter their number of students (i.e., 2 students = 1 student) because this effects our national count of total students in ACCS Schools. Rather, we ask that the following guidelines are followed:
- Students who are not “diploma seeking,” typically those who only take a class or two as electives, are not counted. Do not enter them into the system.
- We collect pre-K data, but we do not count them in our dues.
- Students who attend more than 21 hours per week are considered full-time. Enter them in the full-time student box.
For distance/online schools: An online school provides the majority of the instructional process at a distance, usually through a computer. We charge only for diploma-seeking students ($5 per K-12 student). In K-8, “diploma” means that the student is participating in a program intended to meet the majority of their required schooling for that year. Part-time students who take classes ad hoc are not counted.
Membership dues for US and Canadian schools consist of two components: A fixed amount plus a per-student assessment. The per-student assessment is based upon the number of full-time students that a school has in k-12 and is calculated in the following way:
- Pre-k students are not assessed (no dues are collected for these students). K 3-year olds and K 4-year olds in a school with a separate K5 grade level are considered pre-K. If the school has an integrated K program (including 3’s, 4’s, and 5’s in the same classroom), then all of these students are included in the K-12 count.
- A full-time student is any student who is on track to graduate with a diploma from the school. If the school does not offer diplomas (for example, it is K-6), then a full time student is any student who attends class for the normally allotted time considered “full-time” by the school. This definition covers both traditional and online schools.