One of the greatest challenges we’ve faces as parents during the COVID-19 pandemic has been meeting the educational needs of our school-aged children. Teachers and school administrators around the country have worked tirelessly to come up with creative ways of continuing to teach, despite school closing. And today, we’d like to tell you about a local school in the Richmond area, Thales Academy, that is not only recognizing the need for accessible at-home educational content, but also acknowledging and responding to the economic hardship the current crisis has caused.
Thales Academy, a college preparatory network of Pre-K-12 independent schools, is offering free online learning coursework to Richmond area families for students in Kindergarten through fifth grade.
“Our mission at Thales Academy has always been to provide the highest quality education at the lowest possible cost for as many children as possible,” says Bob Luddy, founder of Thales Academy. “We hope by offering remote learning free of charge that Richmond area families can help their children continue to grow academically during this time and experience our strong Thales Academy curriculum firsthand.”
“Thales Academy students at our various existing campuses in North Carolina returned to their fourth quarter classes this week via remote learning,” says Ashley Dundas, Administrator, Thales Academy Glen Allen. “Thales Academy students are benefiting from this online coursework while they cannot physically be in school, and we realized it would be a great service to Richmond area families to offer our strong educational platform to other residents while our local schools are closed.”
Dundas adds, “We are offering this remote learning free of charge to all interested families. You do not have to commit to enrolling at our new Thales Academy Glen Allen campus to take advantage of this free educational offering, but we hope some of you will be so happy with our Thales Academy coursework that you will choose to join us at our new campus when we open this July.”
Families interested in the free K-5 remote learning opportunity should contact Ashley Dundas at: ashley.dundas@thalesacademy.org.
In addition to the free remote learning option, to help offset the economic effects of the statewide closures, Thales Academy has also reduced tuition at its Thales Academy Glen Allen campus.
To help support families in the community seeking fall enrollment, Thales Academy will reduce their tuition to $5,300 per year (or $5,000 annually if paid in full upfront). Thales Academy Glen Allen’s campus will initially offer grades K-2 for the 2020-2021 school year, with more grades to come in future years.
“Tuition at Thales Academy covers all materials for the year, and our families appreciate that we never fundraise or charge any hidden or unexpected fees,” explains Katherine Tripp, Admissions Counselor at Thales Academy. “Scholarships are also available for hardship cases. It is our mission to make a Thales Academy education attainable for all students.”
Learn more about Thales Academy with virtual information sessions.
Due to the stay-at-home mandate issued by Governor Northam, in-person information sessions and tours for Thales Academy Glen Allen have been replaced with virtual options for the duration of the order. Virtual information sessions are being offered periodically and are posted on the Thales Academy Glen Allen Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/ThalesGlenAllen. FAQs, admissions information and virtual tours can be found on the Thales Academy website: https://www.thalesacademy.org/; and personal chats with an admissions counselor can be arranged by emailing admissions@thalesacademy.org.
About Thales Academy
Thales Academy currently operates eight campuses in the Raleigh and Charlotte, North Carolina areas, instructing over 3,000 students. The school will open its Glen Allen campus as well as a Franklin, TN campus in July 2020, and continues to add campuses as demand for its successful school model grows. Hallmarks of Thales Academy include: rigorous, college-prep academics that emphasize learning to mastery; character formation; real world skills development; personalized attention and affordable tuition with no extra fees or fundraising.
