ACCS Membership
Our Misson – To promote, establish, and equip member schools that are committed to a classical approach in the light of a Christian worldview.
Why Membership?
For the past 30 years, parents have trusted ACCS schools to provide quality classical Christian education. Our membership levels provide parents with the assurance that the school they have chosen is a true classical Christian school.
Learn more: What Does It Mean To Be a “classical Christian” school in the ACCS?
To learn more about classical Christian education (CCE), read our “What is CCE” page.
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 here.
Note that full membership is a pre-requisite for Accreditation.
Are you an ACCS Member? Begin your Accreditation application here.
Full Members
Full Members are established CCE schools that have met 12 academic and operational standards. Parents can expect ACCS Full members to practice distinctive classical Christian education.
International Members
International schools who follow a classical Christian education model and fulfill the standards of our membership requirements may apply to join as Members.
Transitional Members (non-voting)
Schools that seek ACCS Membership that are making the transition to a classical Christian education model – and do not yet conform to all the standards of Full membership – may join the ACCS as Transitional members. These schools have 5-7 years to bring their organization into full compliance with our membership standards.
Startup Members
The Startup Package provides 1 year of membership in the ACCS and allows a new school to access our resources, including the Member Resource Center (MRC). Schools may enter Startup membership if their school is a first-time member, and less than 3 years old with fewer than 100 students. Startups renew their membership after one full calendar year of membership has elapsed. They may remain in the Startup phase for one more membership year, or proceed to Full membership.
Submit the Membership Interest form
Complete our Membership Interest Form to get in touch with us!
Call our office 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!
Click below to start your application if you are a:
Summary of Membership Requirements
These are the standards ACCS Member Schools follow:
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. Teach the arts of the Trivium in the academic structure that you provide; also, teach 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.
Note: We have a “Transitional” membership under which schools do not need to meet requirements 4 and 7 for 5 years.
For membership costs, continue scrolling.
Annual Membership Fees
Current membership dues: $340 base fee + $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 Members
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
Collaborative Model Schools
- 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.
Online Schools
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.
How Dues Are Assessed
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.
We would love to talk with you about ACCS membership!
Contact us to start your membership application or learn more.
ABOUT MEMBERSHIP | MEMBERSHIP HANDBOOK (PDF) | MEMBERSHIP BENEFITS (PDF) | MORE ABOUT CLASSICAL CHRISTIAN EDUCATION