OTA and Virginia K-12 Learning Acceleration Grants

Are you a Virginia resident?

If so, Open Tent Academy is very happy to announce that we are now a provider, in partnership with ClassWallet and the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) of services for recipients of the K-12 Learning Acceleration Grant. This allows qualifying families to use grant funding towards instruction “…in core content areas (English reading/writing, mathematics, science and history/social science) and foreign languages required to meet graduation requirements.”

For additional information on eligibility requirements, allowable expenses, and expiration dates for unspent funds, please refer to the VDOE’s K-12 LAG FAQ for Parents.

UPDATE (08/05/2023) – PLEASE READ:

The deadline for $3000 LAG grant recipients has been updated; all funds must be invoiced and spent by May 30, 2024. If you are interested in enrolling for an upcoming Open Tent Academy course and wish to use LAG grant funds, please make sure to use the “ClassWallet” option at checkout and then contact us as per directions below. Once we have confirmed your registration and LAG status, we will contact you with details as to invoicing via ClassWallet.

For those families who have been awarded the $1500 LAG grant and wish to enroll for an Open Tent Academy course that ends after December 30, 2023 – please contact us at LAGGrantsConfirmation@opententacademy.G and we will guide you through the registration process. You can use LAG funds to cover the portion of eligible classes taking place prior to December 30, 2023, and will need to pay OTA directly any tuition due on the remaining balance.

UPDATE (07/11/2023) – PLEASE READ:

According to an email sent out to K-12 LAG parents this evening, the program has made several changes with regards to both spending amounts and deadlines.

The previous $750 spending requirement before August 15th, 2023 is no longer in effect. The new, updated guideline from VDOE is families now only need to spend any portion of their grant funding by September 1, 2023. If parents have not used any of their student’s grant funding by September 1, 2023, any funds remaining in their account will be returned and reallocated.

As for spending requirements post September 1, 2023:

Families who were awarded $1500 LAG grants now have until December 30th, 2023 (changed from December 15, 2023) to spend the balance of their funds. All funds must be spent by that time, or balances will be forfeited back to the state.

For those families who received $3000 LAG grants: The latest update we have is that VDOE has set a final spending deadline of May 30, 2024. This is, according to VDOE, a “final deadline” that has been set “in order to meet Federal guidelines associated with this grant.”

UPDATE (07/06/2023) – PLEASE READ: By enrolling in our classes and workshops, you are making a firm commitment to have your child(ren) take part in our classes and workshops. We are a small, family-owned and run business, and we are now spending multiple hours every day dealing with registration, invoicing, fielding inquiries from parents, etc.

Our regular policies regarding registration are applicable, even to those parents using LAG grants for payment.

UPDATE (07/04/2023): Some questions have come in to us about which classes are eligible for LAG funding (and more specifically, which classes aren’t). We are trying to get definitive and updated criteria from both ClassWallet and the VDOE as to what services are specifically prohibited besides those considered to be electives, such as robotics, gaming, coding, etc.

For now, we are still going by the guidelines shared above; namely, that any of our classes which feature as a key component one or more of the “core content” areas – such as English (reading/writing/grammar/composition, Mathematics, Science (physical science, biology, chemistry, physics, etc.), History/Social Sciences, and Foreign Languages – are all considered as acceptable for this grant.

As soon as we have more information, we will update it here and share it with our families.

UPDATE (07/02/2023): We are also offering, on a limited basis, private tutoring this summer for homeschooling families with K-12 LAG funding. Subjects covered include the core content areas listed above. All tutoring will be conducted online via Zoom. There are only a few spots still available; contact us ASAP for more information.

UPDATE (06/22/2023): In light of recent policy clarifications by VDOE regarding the K-12 LAG, Open Tent Academy has made the decision to continue to accept post-payment via ClassWallet for our classes and workshops from recipients of this grant. We are doing this in order to assist our Virginia-based parents.

How do I register for classes online if I plan on using my K-12 LAG funds as payment?

In order to use K-12 LAG funds for payment, parents will need to complete the following steps:

1. Find and register the courses that you want for your learner(s) on our website. You will need to start a new registration for each learner, but you can sign that learner up for multiple classes at the same time on one registration. There is no need to register individually for each class.
   
2. At checkout, you will select the “ClassWallet and Other Direct Disbursements” payment option. You will not need to submit any payment at this time. However, please understand that your enrollment in our classes or workshops is considered to be a binding commitment, in which OTA holds a seat for your child.
   
3. Once you have completed and received confirmation of your registration(s), you will need to forward the registration confirmation email to LAGGrantsConfirmation@opententacademy.com), along with confirmation of your K-12 LAG account status (this can either be the email you received upon approval to the program, or a screenshot of each learner’s K-12 LAG dashboard).
   
4. We will then prepare the required invoice(s) for you to submit to ClassWallet. This is usually completed and emailed to you within 5 business days of receiving your confirmation.
   
5. Since VDOE is currently only accepting invoices post-service, it will be your responsibility to submit the invoice to ClassWallet no later than the Friday following the last scheduled date of your class. For example, if your summer workshop ends on Thursday July 20th, you will need to submit your invoice to ClassWallet no later than on Friday, July 21st.
   
6. Once you have submitted your invoices to ClassWallet, you will need to forward us a confirmation of your invoice submission (this can be either a screenshot from ClassWallet, or a confirmation email if that is provided by them after submission)

PLEASE NOTE: By enrolling in our classes and workshops, you are making a firm commitment to have your child(ren) take part in our classes and workshops. Our regular policies regarding registration are applicable, even to those parents using LAG grants for payment.

REMEMBER: All invoices for Summer 2023 need to be submitted to ClassWallet no later than the August 15, 2023 deadline. Failure to do so may result in you forfeiting the remaining grant funds in your account. For more information, please refer to the K-12 LAG FAQ for parents shared above.

For questions regarding Virginia Department of Education K-12 Learning Acceleration Grants program policy, please contact FACTS at 866-441-4637 or VDOE at k12grants@doe.virginia.gov.

Any additional questions? Feel free to contact us!