Yes.

Sora’s middle and high school is accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges, which allows us to meet the requirements of all 50 states and colleges and universities. The high school has a secondary accreditation with Cognia, which is widely recognized both within the U.S. and internationally. Additionally, our program is recognized and approved by the NCAA which provides students the ability to play collegiate sports.

Our schedule works more like a university than a traditional middle or high school. Students register for three or four interest-based classes at a time, which meet 2-3 times per week with independent work to be completed between sessions.

While there is no typical day at Sora, the daily high school schedule generally falls between 9:30 AM and 3:15 PM EST (or between 8:00 AM-1:15 PM for students on the West Coast).

For middle school students, days begin at 9:45 AM ET/ 6:45 AM PT and conclude at 3:00 PM ET/ 12:00 PM PT.

Not really.

Sora students have independent work and personal projects, but we don’t assign hours of homework every day like in traditional schools. We believe students should have time to complete their independent work during the school day, leaving their nights for family and friends.

There is no school like Sora. Therefore, we have a robust orientation process for all new students and their families to understand how to excel in our unique program. This includes a series of informative workshops, “foundations” expeditions, guided registration planning with your student’s advisor, and icebreaker events for students to bond with their new housemates.

New families also have the opportunity to meet their School Director and other enrolled families.

We know transitioning to a new school can be stressful, but we’re here to help and set you up for success.

Incoming: Before you even sign your enrollment contract, our team carefully reviews every new student’s records and offers a list of credits Sora will accept.

Outgoing: Whether your student is graduating or looking to transfer schools, Sora packages all of the individual areas of mastery back into their traditional academic subjects and produces a reliable and clear transcript with earned credits and a GPA. Our transcript showcases not only what students learned at Sora, but highlights their unique strengths, abilities, and notable project work. This format is informed by the Mastery Transcript Consortium, which is used by hundreds of other innovative schools worldwide. In an age where all college applicants look the same, we believe our transcript is a powerful advantage–and we have the results to show for it!

Sometimes 11th. Rarely 12th.

Due to our unique campus and curricular model, Sora only considers enrollment for eleventh graders in the fall of their junior year. Like most independent schools, unfortunately Sora can not consider applicants to the twelfth grade. Our mastery model makes it difficult for a high school senior to graduate with the necessary credits they need to successfully apply and enroll in an institution of higher education.

Our accredited transcript is a unique strength. Instead of showing a list of credits and GPA like every other school, Sora showcases each student’s individuality through project work and interest-based expeditions.

Sora families benefit from a personalized and individualized college counseling process. This includes access to college preparatory information sessions and workshops on topics such as: essay writing, portfolio building, financial aid and scholarships, applications, and how to transition to college. Students work directly with a college counselor to create a list of potential schools, draft essays and other application materials, and acquire stellar letters of recommendation.

Sora’s college placement philosophy emphasizes fit, meaning we encourage students to pursue higher education with schools that make the most sense for their specific goals and interests. This is reflected in the diverse college placement of our graduates which includes schools such as the Rhode Island School of Design, Franklin University in Switzerland, Kennesaw State University, and St. Louis University.

Sora is a full time school program, however many students take advantage of dual enrollment opportunities to get a jumpstart on college. In fact, we are proud to offer a dual enrollment partnership with Arizona State University. This partnership means our students have access to free college courses through the ASU Universal Learner program in a wide variety of topics, including business, engineering, liberal arts, and the sciences. This concurrent enrollment program means students earn dual credit for high school and college. They also earn exemptions from Sora units when applicable. This opportunity is open to third and fourth-year students in the high school with students having the ability to take up to 6 classes during a given school year. 

Additionally, Sora students can dual enroll at a local college or university, virtual school, accredited course, etc., and can be exempt from the academic requirements those dual-enrolled courses fulfill.

We find that the ideal Sora student is curious, open-minded, independent, and motivated. While past grades are helpful indicators of intellectual capacity, the most successful applicants demonstrate evidence of abilities in social and emotional intelligence, as well as strong executive functioning skills. Students who are a good fit in our student-centered program tend to be excited about learning, and are eager to continue to explore their interests in a project-based, mastery school, and experiential school like Sora.

Relationships are at the heart of what we do at Sora. Every student is a member of a House, and each house is guided by a faculty House Advisor. The advisor builds relationships with each family and co-designs their Sora journey, based on their goals and interests. Furthermore, each advisor is always on the look out for coachable moments to push your student to become the best version of themselves.

Your advisor is available and accessible to both you and your student on a daily basis.

Sora’s model and curriculum can support a variety of learners, and some students with learning differences find great success in our program. However, Sora is not a specialized school for students with learning differences and/or those students who identify as neurodivergent. As an independent school, we are unable to provide IEPs, 504s, or any specialized learning plan outside of our typical individualization.

We recognize that every student with a learning difference is unique. Therefore, the admissions process is designed to help identify if Sora can adequately accommodate a student’s learning difference(s) with our resources. In your conversation with a member of the admissions team, we encourage you to tell us about your student’s learning difference(s) and any resources or accommodations that been helpful. We will also request to review any previous and existing learning plan(s), and any testing that led to a diagnosis or plan before you submit an application.

Sora is a close-knit community that provides many ways for students to connect as often as they’d like in our remote culture. Students meet in their Houses twice a day, participate in about two synchronous Learning Expeditions daily, and have the ability to join student clubs, committees, pursue leadership opportunities, and attend office hours with faculty. Students also utilize our learning management system and other chat platforms to stay in constant contact with each other before, during, and after school.

In fact, despite being a remote school, our students frequently say Sora is a much more social and collaborative environment than their previous in-person school. That said, we still encourage our students to use their more flexible schedule to engage in local community gatherings and events.

There are two ways to combine in-person experiences with Sora:

First, we coordinate online groups around “regional hubs” so nearby families can schedule dinners, co-learning sessions, group projects, field trips, and more.

Second, for the first time this year, we’re offering optional in-person Signature Experiences where families can fly to an engaging location to take part in place-based learning and social bonding, all facilitated by our wonderful Sora faculty and staff. You won’t want to miss this once-in-a-lifetime adventure!

Yes, we currently have international families enrolled from Canada, Bermuda, Panama, Brazil, Mexico, and other North, Central, and South American countries. 

However, Sora only offers learning experiences from 9:30a to 5p ET, causing scheduling challenges for those who live too far away.