About us.
Our Mission
Statement of Faith
History
Hybrid School Model
The mission of St. Nicholas Academic Community (SNAC) is to love and honor Christ as we encourage, educate, and engage with the local community of homeschool families. Our program brings together like-minded parents to cooperatively share resources to train the mind of the students (their children) to recognize unchanging truth and form the soul in virtuous character through a classical education grounded in historic Orthodox Christianity.
The SNAC Statement of Faith is that of the Orthodox Church as stated in the Nicene Creed (A.D. 381):
I believe in one God, Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible. And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all ages; Light of Light, true God of true God, begotten, not created, of one essence with the Father through Whom all things were made. Who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven and was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary and became man. He was crucified for us under Pontius Pilate and suffered and was buried; And He rose on the third day, according to the Scriptures. He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father; And He will come again with glory to judge the living and dead. His kingdom shall have no end. And in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the Creator of life, Who proceeds from the Father, Who together with the Father and the Son is worshiped and glorified, Who spoke through the prophets. In one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church. I confess one baptism for the forgiveness of sins. I look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the age to come. Amen.
We began in 2017 as a small group of homeschool parishioners of Nativity of Our Lord Orthodox Church with a vision to educate our children together for the glory of God. In 2018 the program had classes for students in grades K-8, was named after St. Nicholas of Myra, and became a partner member of the Classical Latin School Association, receiving curriculum, training, and guidance as one of their “cottage schools”. In 2019 St. Nicholas Cottage School added high school level classes to its offerings. In 2020 we expanded to include more families from the local Christian community and won a small compassion grant from HSLDA and VELA Education Fund for helping families during the COVID education challenges. In November 2020 St. Nicholas Cottage School registered with the state of Virginia as a non-profit corporation under the name of St. Nicholas Academic Community. Today SNAC is a hybrid homeschool program that meets for classes twice a week and has a truly cooperative character. As the parents share resources to educate their children, classes are taught and supported by parents, paid teachers, and volunteers. We meet in classrooms at Nativity of Our Lord Orthodox Church in Manassas.
The SNAC program is defined as a hybrid homeschool model, also known as the cottage school model, which incorporates elements typical of both private school and home schooling. Classes are taught by experienced teachers 2 days per week in a small classroom setting and the students learn at home and complete class assignments with their parents on all remaining days of the week. The program is run in partnership with parents and each student is required to get an approval from his/her state of residence to receive home instruction. The Cottage School model is not a primary or secondary parochial or private school, it serves only as a cooperative extension/resource for parents to work together in homeschooling their children as permitted by law.