Excelsior Live Zoom Classes
Based out of Houston, Texas, Excelsior Classes features live Zoom classes to teach homeschoolers. It is a Christian platform, but they welcome all students.
If you have ever used Zoom than you should be familiar with the platform. All of the students have the ability to see and talk to all of the other students in the class in addition to the teacher. Additionally, both the teacher and the students use the Zoom chat function throughout the class.
First, you need to be aware that this is not the same as Excelsior College that offers online college classes. This is strictly a homeschool academy. So, in Googling it, look for "Excelsior Classes" rather than just "Excelsior".
In the school's description, they refer to themselves as "a group of Christian teachers who serve the homeschool community". The school states that their teachers are: professional educators, retired military personal, scientists, business people, broadcasters, aviators, graphic artists, historians, and homeschool experts. Teachers that we have had interactions with thus far with the school all have teaching credentials and extensive teaching backgrounds.
Subjects have one or more live classes per week and assignments that are given between classes. Assignments are accessed on their online platform.
The school has a focus on interaction, so teachers try to incorporate student communication with each other in the classes, as opposed to simply lecturing to the class. Some classes use "break-out" groups to teach team building skills as well.
Excelsior has all of the main subjects and a variety of electives, some of which are not found at other homeschool academies. In addition they offer some clubs like the "Devotional Club" and the "Newspaper Club" that provide additional educational experiences and socialization. Once each month, they offer an "Open Mic Club" for any student that wants to participate by giving some sort of performance or reading a poem. Open Mic is well attended.
They offer classes for younger students, but their full service classes are geared to sixth grade and up. The also offer classes that they call "Bridge Builder Classes" which they describe as classes to help students cultivate compassion, empathy, sharing love, and collaborating with others to provide solutions to the problems of the world. Bridge builder classes require students to think and communicate about issues facing the world today. They are college prep in nature.
They also offer independant studies for students that wish to study the subjects at their own pace without the live classes.
High school students can complete dual enrollment classes through LeTourneau University. The cost is the price of the Excelsior class plus an additional $90 per credit hour, which works out to $270 per class. Excelsior students who complete at least one dual enrollment course can qualify for a scholarhip to LeTourneau University in the amount of $17,000, which may be renewable yearly.
For exceptional students, Excelsior offers several different honor societies.
The cost of Excelsior is similar to other academies at $250 to $325 per semester per course. A full year main subject course runs about $550 for the year. Clubs are less, with the Newspaper Club, for instance, being $150. Clubs like "Open Mic" are free to registered students.
There is a $50 registration fee per family each year.
We followed a student in Excelsior's "Drawing" class and were quite impressed. The level of interactivity between students and the teacher and students and each other was exceptional. The teacher made the class interesting and fun, but the coursework was similar to what would have been given in many of the other academies in quantity and quality.
Our student also took the Newspaper Club and participated in Open Mic Nights. The Newspaper Club is run similar to a newspaper with some students acting as reporters, or editors, or designers, and etc. Student reporters do an article each month, which is then edited, and designed for the school online publication, "The Beacon". We were impressed with the Newspaper Club as well, as it gave our student real opportunities to learn journalism and actually write articles that are read by both members of the school and the public. Our student loved Open Mic Nights, as she was able to both participate and enjoy watching other students showcase their talents.
Both our student and her parents were happy with Excelsior and have made plans to enroll in more classes next year.
We give Excelsior a 5 out of 5 stars. Though we have not yet had the opportunity to observe the academics of main courses, we feel that the level of creativity in the classes and the fact that they have fully addressed the need for social interaction among homeschoolers makes them stand out as an exceptional choice.
Visit Excelsior's website at https://excelsiorclasses.com/.
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