Twelve years ago, I was knee-deep in homeschooling four young children. Even though I’d earned a master’s degree in teaching and taught at fancy prep schools for nearly a decade, homeschooling a sixth-grader, fourth-grader, second-grader, and kindergartener all at the same time made me come to a startling conclusion: I needed some help! A friend of mine taught at Veritas Scholars Academy at the time, and she thought it would be a good fit for our children. I plopped our oldest, Michael, in for seventh grade, and he did beautifully. Today he's graduated from college and in his second year of dental school. After more than a decade at VSA, we have three graduated Griffins and a VSA senior. My husband tells me at least once a month that putting our kids into VSA’s Diploma Program has been one of the top three best parenting decisions we have ever made.

I love hearing stories from my college kids about the educational foundation VSA has provided them. When I launched my oldest off to an out-of-state college, I took some time to check in with him after a few months. I asked him how I could be preparing his siblings better for their future college days. He said, “Mom, there are over one thousand freshmen at my university, and I am quite certain that I am the most prepared of all one thousand of them!” A few semesters ago, my college daughter called me and asked me to quiz her a little bit for a final exam—yes, via Facetime! As I was quizzing her, I said, “Madison, you learned all of this stuff in Omnibus.” She replied, “I know, Mom. I’m the only kid in the class who has ever studied any of this. This final exam will be so easy after taking all of those Omnibus exams!” Then, my younger son interviewed last year for the honors program at a particular university and was asked about the books he’s read. A bit sheepishly, he explained to the honors professor about Omnibus and that in the past six years, he’s read more than 150 Great Books. Needless to say, he was admitted into their Honors College!

A few years ago, I discovered a little more time on my hands because my children needed me a little less, so I began looking for opportunities to sow into the next generation of homeschool families. I decided that being an Academic Advisor for VSA would be the perfect next chapter for me. Keenly aware of the rigors of classical Christian education and the demands of homeschooling in general, I love to help other homeschool families become more successful in their journey. After being in my position for a few years, I always like to tell new families a few key things about VSA:

• No one does online schooling better than VSA. In this COVID world, many new families have learned this firsthand.
• VSA has some of the greatest teachers IN THE WORLD because we can hire from anywhere in the world!
• An accredited transcript with a weighted GPA is worth a TON when applying to colleges. I have the privilege of helping 20-25 seniors get into colleges every year, and VSA’s transcripts fare well with the very best schools out there.
• The Diploma Program is worth the extra money, and not just because I work at VSA. In the early years, all the Gimottys were in the Diploma Program. It provided me the framework, confidence, and accountability I needed.
• Time management is critical—your students can learn that when they are younger and the stakes are lower, or later in life through the school of hard knocks. VSA’s school management system, Schoology, helps students learn that deadlines matter and that time management is essential.
• Diploma families who have at least one parent closely overseeing the child’s education are the most successful families in our program. VSA is not simply a brick-and-mortar school moved into your home. Your students will still need you—I promise!
• Enjoy the journey! The days are long, but the years are short. VSA will provide your students with mental rigor and vigorous intellectual pursuit, which you then can use as a platform in your parenting to dialogue about many of life’s most complex questions.

In less than one year, I will be closing the chapter of my personal homeschool journey of more than eighteen years. If I am honest, it’s sad for me in many ways, but the rewards have been tremendous. One of the unexpected blessings of being in the trenches with my kids day in and day out is that they still want me to be involved in their education in college. Not a day or two goes by that I don’t hear from one of my out-of-state college kids about some aspect of college life they want to share with me. Every day wasn’t fabulous as I homeschooled my children. In fact, few days were—but our return on investment has been extraordinary, and VSA has played a huge role in that. Our school aims to graduate young men and women who think clearly, reason persuasively, and articulate winsomely, and by God’s grace, we are doing just that!

Susan Gimotty is an Academic Advisor at Veritas Scholars Academy. She has four children, three of whom are now VSA graduates and one who is a senior at VSA.