Atlanta Classical Academy: A Parent's Guide for Fall 2027

Academic model

Direct teaching, Great Books, and the one-hour thesis

Atlanta Classical Academy is a tuition-free, K–12 public charter school at 3260 Northside Drive NW. Lessons are teacher-led, the content is sequenced, and students memorize, discuss, and read shared books.

The school chooses that traditional approach over student-centered instruction. It is nonsectarian, authorized by Atlanta Public Schools, and all grades share one campus.

Northwest Classical, Cherokee Classical, and planned Fayette Classical are separate charter schools, not ACA campuses.

In the lower school, children learn through explicit phonics, spelling, grammar, composition, and Singapore Math, with history, science, visual art, and music alongside. In Grade 2 they begin reading sustained, shared literature together.

Calm classrooms are expected, and so are seven named virtues: courage, courtesy, honesty, humility, perseverance, self-government, and service. Its stated civic orientation emphasizes American founding principles and the Western tradition.

Middle school brings departmental content teachers, hall lockers, increasing homework, and a Friday of nine periods. Sixth graders receive executive-function guidance as they begin Latin or ESOL alongside composition.

Grade 9 includes classical literature, Western Civilization, biology, composition, health, fitness, mathematics, and Latin III or Spanish I. Upper school requires literature, history, science, and mathematics every year.

Advanced options include several AP courses. Mathematics depends on placement, and some students use summer fitness to open a study hall or an elective.

Every senior develops a 12-to-15-page thesis and defends it publicly for one hour.

ACA's nonprofit governing board holds legal authority under the charter. Liberty Classical Schools says it operates ACA and provides management support.

ACA's grievance policy inserts Liberty's chief executive before an appeal reaches ACA's board.

Hillsdale College is a separate curriculum and training adviser. ACA describes itself as a Hillsdale Member School receiving no-cost materials, coaching, and governance training.

Hillsdale is neither ACA's authorizer nor its legal board.

Assessment and workload

Credits, no-homework weekends, and strict attendance

Grades at ACA carry real consequences. The school resists grade inflation and social promotion, and students are evaluated through Georgia-required assessments, classroom tests, papers, projects, and AP exams where chosen.

High-school students need six credits for sophomore status, 12 for junior status, 18 for senior status, and 24 to graduate. Failed courses earn no credit.

ACA may direct summer recovery, and it controls which outside courses count.

A no-homework weekend each quarter is a plain sign that regular homework is expected. The attendance policy discourages vacations and appointments during school, and make-up deadlines can affect grades.

Promotion decisions use multiple assessments, intervention, and a student-support review. Retention follows attempted supports, not one score.

Discipline and culture

Character Cards, pink slips, and the 4:20 phone rule

From Kindergarten through Grade 6, behavior sits on a weekly Character Card. Repeated reminders become pink slips.

They accumulate across the year and can trigger parent meetings, detention, suspension, event restrictions, or a parent's full-day attendance.

Upper-school referrals carry similar consequences, and detention runs after dismissal. Suspension requires a parent conference and a remedial plan, and it may require a parent to attend the student's full return day.

Long suspensions and expulsions include notice, evidence review, witnesses, cross-examination, and appeal under a preponderance-of-evidence burden, with representation permitted at the family's expense.

Bullying reports trigger documentation, investigation, parent notice, consequences, follow-up, and nonretaliation protections. A third substantiated bullying offense in Grades 6–12 moves into APS placement or due-process procedures.

The charter requires criminal background checks for staff and others with substantial student contact. It also requires an emergency safety plan shared with emergency management and law enforcement.

ACA's active child-abuse policy defines prohibited conduct and reporting duties. Chaperone rules require cleared adults, avoid one-adult-one-child situations, and establish overnight supervision boundaries.

Phones and smartwatches must remain off and stored. In the upper school, students cannot retrieve them until 4:20 p.m., one hour after dismissal.

Independent commutes and caregiver coordination have to account for that hour.

In Grades 6 through 8, students join four houses for service, competitions, and community.

Prior NCES data counted 469 White, 118 Black, 56 Hispanic, 46 multiracial, six Asian, and two other students among 697.

Learning support and health

Public-school services, and counseling with a limit

As a public charter, ACA provides special education and accommodations under federal law: IEP, Section 504, ESOL, and multi-tiered support services, staffed by appropriately credentialed teachers. Multilingual students receive English-language support rather than bilingual instruction.

The counselor supports immediate social and emotional needs, family navigation, decisions, conflict, empathy, and executive functioning. The governing board's current policy says the counselor does not provide prolonged counseling.

The school nurse manages health forms, medicines, accommodations, and care coordination. If your child needs regular therapy, psychiatric care, intensive behavior support, or complex nursing, line up outside providers and emergency procedures before enrollment.

Daily logistics

Moores Mill carline, staggered dismissals, and aftercare

Morning drop-off begins at 7:30 a.m. The catalogs put Kindergarten through Grade 6 dismissal at 2:45 p.m. Monday through Thursday, Grade 6 at 3:20 p.m. on Friday, and Grades 7–12 at 3:20 p.m. Pickup on the transportation page starts at 3:25 p.m. That is carline timing, not the published academic end time.

Most families use the carline, so the commute is part of the day. You reach campus only eastbound on Moores Mill Road, and vehicles need hangtags.

Lower-school students without an activity or a sibling pickup must leave by 3:10 p.m.

ACA operates limited buses intended for aid-qualified families. Remaining seats may be lottery-assigned to paying families.

Families who need care after dismissal contract with third-party Kiddos, not with ACA, for weekday care through 6:00 p.m.

Arts, sports, and travel

Cav Choir, varsity athletics, and grade-level retreats

Visual art and music begin in Kindergarten. High school students participate in Cav Choir in Grades 9 and 10, and Grade 10 includes a fine-arts graduation requirement.

Electives and scholar pathways are available in visual and musical arts.

Athletics generally begin in Grade 7, though Grade 6 students may sometimes join. Middle school competes in MAAC, and high school competes in GHSA across sports including cross-country, soccer, basketball, cheer, track, volleyball, baseball, swimming, golf, and flag football.

Participation requires a physical and participation fees.

Class trips are part of the year: a Grade 9 North Georgia retreat, Grade 10 narrative and choir trips, a Grade 11 Washington week, and Grade 12 travel. Select choir students may visit New York every three years.

Student clubs operate during the school year, filling on a first-come basis and sometimes charging fees. ACA's aid page covers up to half of approved trip costs.

Cost and assistance

Zero tuition, then uniforms, lunch, and fees

Tuition is zero. The uniform is not.

Required pieces must be purchased from an approved vendor and include formal, daily, and physical-education pieces, with only approved outerwear permitted. ACA offers resale, payment plans, and some assistance.

Chef Advantage lunches average about $5 and have to be ordered ahead. ACA participates in the federal meal program.

Returning eligibility lasts only through the first 30 operating days unless families renew.

The other bills are bus fees for paying riders, Kiddos aftercare, athletic participation fees, club dues, supplies, and class trips and retreats.

Income-qualified financial assistance can cover bus transportation and school meals, plus portions of uniform costs, clubs, athletics, and up to half of approved trip costs. Third-party and club sports may be excluded.

Applications require annual income documentation. Under current policy, an unpaid fee balance can suspend non-meal aid and delay grade reports, certificates, or diplomas.

Admissions and lottery

Applying for Fall 2027: 50 Kindergarten seats and vacancy waitlists

Admission is open to any child who resides inside the Atlanta Public Schools district boundary by registration and attendance. The charter bars essays, recommendations, resumes, tests, and other academic screening.

The published process includes no admissions interview and no required campus visit.

Kindergarten is the reliable entry point, seating 50 students annually before a numbered waitlist. Prior eligibility required a child to turn five by September 1, 2026.

Grade 6 and Grade 9 are not published entry expansions, even though the academic page says Grade 6 class size grows and Grade 9 begins the upper school. Applicants for those grades receive a waitlist position, and an offer comes only after a vacancy: an open seat, not a new class.

ACA operates under a charter enrollment cap of 698, and NCES reported 697 enrolled in 2024–25.

Families apply online through Apply APS Charter on SchoolMint. For the 2027–28 school year, optional information sessions are in the school gym on October 14, 2026, November 18, 2026, and January 20, 2027.

Registration is required. ACA now lists the Fall 2027 lottery application window as January 5 to February 26, 2027, with results posted March 8.

In the prior cycle, applications closed February 27, 2026 (an APS FAQ showed February 28 instead), results posted March 9, and late applications went to the bottom of the waitlist. Use ACA's current portal, not either prior date.

Families can apply to multiple participating charters, but they may accept only one seat. The platform offers several interface languages, and schools can help families without internet access or email.

When applications exceed available seats, the order is fixed: children of governing-board members, children of full-time employees, and siblings of enrolled students. A weighted lottery then favors economically disadvantaged applicants before general lottery seats are drawn.

Siblings apply separately. Multiples receive consecutive positions, while a broad sibling definition can connect households.

Waitlists end before the next annual lottery and do not carry forward. Late applicants go behind on-time applicants.

Offered families must complete registration by the stated deadline or lose the seat.

Demand is real but not a predictor: ACA's 2023–24 audit reported 1,501 students on an aggregate waitlist and 681 enrolled, with no grade-by-grade breakdown.

Character Cards, vacancies and daily life at Atlanta Classical

Atlanta Classical's routines, uniforms and virtue language are part of the program, and later grades open only through vacancies, so ask about both.