Yes. Priority for each session is given to students who are enrolled in the previous session. Continuing students are given priority each April to pre-register for the following year. Priority is also given to full-time students, or those committing to our full year courses, which have limited space. Students coming 4-5 days a week and/or on our Flex Plan are considered “full time”.

show less

Each April, current families have the option to place a deposit for pre-registration the following year. This non-refundable deposit applies toward the next year’s registration. We only accept as many pre-registrants as we can guarantee spots for in our full year courses. Once we know who is committed to returning, then we open remaining spots for new families to pre-register. Pre-registration spots are not necessarily first come-first served. We will use our discretion to ensure a balance of grades, and give priority to families who have toured the program, met with us, and/or have gotten involved with OSA in some way.

show less

YES! We often have students enroll at the last minute, mid-year, or even in the last session. However, full-time spots with a full range of our courses will not likely be available after the summer.

show less

Get involved! Sign up for our monthly newsletter, come to events, and follow us on Facebook. This helps ensure that prospective families are “in the loop” for upcoming events and feel confident in the program’s mission. We offer Spring Tours for prospective families and hold a Parent Information Night each June. The June meeting is important for prospective and currently-enrolled families to attend.

show less

We get many requests to have students sit in on a class. While this might be helpful for a prospective student, it is not helpful for our current students. Our classrooms are small and often meet only once per week, and our mission is to provide a distraction-free learning zone. Thus, classroom “audits” are not allowed. In addition, we have limited time for tours. If a family is seriously considering a mid-year move, a tour can be arranged in advance. (Please don’t just stop in.) We do have group tours each Spring, with sign-ups available in January. Those in attendance will also observe classrooms and meet with students. This limited flexibility is, unfortunately for those not enrolled, part of being a small program which is dedicated to its mission.  

show less

No problem. We will have more spots available in enrichment classes than we have in our full year courses.

show less

 We will ask you a lot of questions. For math placement, we leave a little wiggle room for moving kids around should math placement require it. In August, we assess all students taking math classes, and adjust if needed. We also may request work samples.

show less

No, not officially. We barely have enough money to run our program. But we know that students who need a safe place to land do not always have the means for a private pay program, so we do our best to help families in need once they are in our program, by offering a spot in a class that has room, or by providing financial assistance for special programs, such as our annual Outdoor Adventure. If families are financially struggling to pay for OSA classes, we try our best to enable their student to attend more. There is no application process for this. However, ALL families must understand that supporting OSA helps all students. We rely on an annual fundraising goal of at least $50,000. Since we can’t run the program with too few students, we ask that families who have the means donate annually to our program, and do so regularly, to prevent our general course fees from increasing.

show less

Yes, we have an immunization requirement. We also understand that vaccines are a sensitive issue for some and that not all students can be immunized. In order to ensure a safe learning environment for all students, our Board of Directors approved an Immunization Policy as detailed here, effective September 2015. Although we are not a school, we do work with public schools. We have opted to follow guidelines for CA schools, as recommended by the CDC, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the Ventura County Health Care Agency. All agencies recommend that public programs have a herd immunity rate of at least 90%. That is why we base our availability for “non-immunized” spots on our total number of students. See here for California Department of Public Health immunization requirements.

show less

No. Since we are not a school, it is up to parents to keep track of their child’s progress. We do provide syllabi for core courses, as well as progress feedback on Google Classroom, and we will communicate with high school counselors as needed if there are any issues with students needing placement in advanced courses. We recommend all families keep a portfolio of work samples from all subjects, as well as a list of classes taken. If students are enrolled in a homeschool charter school, such as Golden Valley or Blue Ridge, those schools will provide official transcripts.

show less

We have sent students off to public high schools (and now college) since 2012, and there have been no issues, outside of some questions from the counseling offices when they request transcripts from us. High school is a transition for anyone, and going from a small, intimate setting to a large school can be challenging. However, OSA students have, on average, done remarkably well making the transition to large public or private schools. An OSA education inspires confidence in learning and in communication skills and helps students build a solid foundation in their academics. Each year, we get many glowing testimonials about how well our former OSA students are doing.  

show less