How to Use Virginia K-12 Learning Acceleration Grants

On May 1, 2023, the Virginia Department of Education, along with the office of the Governor, announced K-12 Learning Acceleration Grants for families of school-aged students. Homeschooled children are included in this program.

Families can apply for grants of $1500 per child (or $3000 per child if household income <3X poverty level.) Students qualify by living in Virginia and being of school age. Parent must complete an online application for each child, and most families are receiving approval in 2-3 days.

Under this program, families can use the grant funds for approved tutoring and instruction from Approved Vendors. Compass is an Approved Vendor. Here is what people need to know about using Learning Acceleration Grants when registering for classes at Compass:

Apply

1. Parents must apply online at the Department of Education webpage.

2. When approved, parents will receive enrollment instructions to set up a family account in an online portal from ClassWallet. The parent interface in ClassWallet includes FAQs, online chat, instructional videos, and a webinar. The process to request payment to Compass or another approved vendor is a simple 3-step process.

Using Grant Funds

3. Families can use grant money for classes in Language Arts (reading, composition, handwriting), Mathematics, Science, Social Studies (history, humanities, social sciences), and Foreign Languages (i.e. “Qualifying Classes”). Compass Fall 2023 classes have an asterisk (*) following the name of Qualifying Classes.

4. Families can use grant money for individual tutoring, semi-private instruction, and/or small group instruction (i.e. Compass Classes) in the above subject areas. For individual tutoring and semi-private instruction, see the Compass webpage, and contact Compass to schedule.

5. Families must use at least $750 of each child’s grant funds by 8/15/23. They must use the remaining $750 by 12/15/23. Families who receive $3000 have a one-year schedule to use funds as outlined in the FAQs for Parents document.

6. If the family has not used at least $750 by 8/15/23, they will forfeit the remaining, unused balance of their grant.

How to Register with Compass

7. When registering, Compass families should make multiple transactions in order to use grant funds. Parents should complete one transaction with Qualifying* Compass classes for each child and a second transaction with Non-Qualifying classes (such as art, music, PE, cooking, chess, etc.)

8. When checking out/completing the transaction for Qualifying classes, parents should click the blue button indicating that they are paying with grant funds. No further money will be collected at this step.

9. When checking out/completing the transaction for the Non-Qualifying classes, parents should plan to pay in full.

Requesting Grant Funds

10. Families should save their Compass Classes Registration Confirmation email as a pdf (print to pdf and save). This Confirmation is the receipt that you will upload to your ClassWallet account. (Do not take a screen shot- ClassWallet is rejecting screen shots.)

11. Families should log into their ClassWallet account, accept all terms, select the option to Pay Vendor, select Compass as the vendor, select which child the request is for, enter the cost of the Qualifying Classes, up to $1500, attach the pdf of the Registration Confirmation, and submit.

Example 1– The cost of Qualifying Classes is more than $1500: ClassWallet will pay the full $1500 to Compass, your grant will be used, and Compass will invoice you for any amount over $1500.

Jane’s Anatomy & Physiology class (science) and PreCalculus class (math) are both Qualifying classes with costs totaling $2,355.60. Jane’s parent submits the Registration Confirmation (left) through ClassWallet, selecting Compass as the Approved Vendor. Compass is paid the full grant amount of $1,500. Compass sends Jane’s parent an invoice for the balance of $855.60 ($2,355.60 – $1,500).

Example 2– The cost of Qualifying Classes is more than $750, and less than $1500: ClassWallet will pay the exact amount to Compass. You will have a balance in your ClassWallet account that must be used by 12/15/23.

John’s English class and Spanish class are both Qualifying classes with costs totaling $872.40. John’s parent submits the Registration Confirmation (left) through ClassWallet, selecting Compass as the Approved Vendor. Compass is paid the amount shown of $872.40. John’s parent has met the threshold of spending at least $750 by 8/15/23. John has $627.60 remaining in his ClassWallet account to spend by 12/15/23.

Example 3- If the cost of your qualifying class(es) is less than $750, ClassWallet will pay the exact amount to Compass. You will have a balance in your account, part of which (the remainder of $750), must be used by 8/15/23, and an additional $750 which must be used by 12/15/23.

Jane’s Art of Storytelling (English) class is a Qualifying class with a cost of $292.80. Jane’s parent submits the Registration Confirmation (left) through ClassWallet, selecting Compass as the Approved Vendor. Compass is paid the amount shown of $292.80. Jane’s parent has NOT met the threshold of spending at least $750 by 8/15/23. Jane’s parent must spend $457.20 on an additional small group class(es), workshops, or private tutoring from Compass or another Approved Vendor by 8/15/23, or the remaining balance of $1,207.20 ($1500 – $292.80) will be forfeited and returned to the state.

11. Parents cannot request reimbursements to themselves. They can only request reimbursements to Approved Vendors, such as Compass.

FAQs

I paid for all of my children’s classes because I had not applied for the grant (or had not heard about it.) What can I do?

Save your Compass Classes Registration Confirmation email as a pdf, and upload it to ClassWallet as described above. When Compass receives the funds, there will have been a double-payment on Qualifying Classes. The family will receive a Compass Credit in their Compass Family Profile account for the amount they paid out-of-pocket less a $35.00 admin fee to be used on future classes. Funds retained as a Compass Credit must be used by May 31, 2024. Compass will not refund the family’s original payment.

I registered for Qualified classes (English, Math, Science, Social Studies, Foreign Language) in the same transaction as Non-Qualified classes. What can I do?

Save your Compass Classes Registration Confirmation email as a pdf, and circle or highlight the costs of the Qualifying classes for one child only. Save a copy of the marked-up confirmation showing the circles or highlighted items. Sum the costs of the Qualifying classes, and enter that amount in ClassWallet. Disregard the costs of the Non-Qualifying classes. (Tip: Use pdf editing software or print a hard copy, add your mark-ups, and scan/save as a pdf. Alternatively, convert a phone camera photo to a pdf image. Do not submit a screen shot.)

I registered for classes for 2 (or more) children in the same transaction. What can I do?

Save your Compass Classes Registration Confirmation email as a pdf, and circle or highlight the costs of the Qualifying classes for one child only. Save a copy of the marked-up confirmation showing the circles or highlighted items and sum the costs of the Qualifying classes. Upload this to ClassWallet for one child, and follow the steps to complete the reimbursement request. Create a second marked-up copy and save for the second or additional children. Upload these to ClassWallet for each additional child, and follow the steps to complete the reimbursement request. Disregard the costs of the Non-Qualifying classes. (Tip: Use pdf editing software, or print a hard copy, add your mark-ups, and scan/save as a pdf. Alternatively, convert a phone camera photo to a pdf image. Do not submit a screen shot.)

My child is homeschooled, but because of scheduling he/she is not enrolled at Compass during the school year. Can he/she still work with a tutor or enroll in summer workshops at Compass?

Yes, homeschooled students who are not enrolled at Compass are welcome to work with a Compass tutor and/or enroll in Compass summer or weekend workshops.

My child is not homeschooled. Can he/she still enroll with a tutor or take summer workshops at Compass?

Yes, students who ordinarily attend school at public, private, or parochial institutions are welcome to work with a Compass tutor and/or enroll in Compass summer or weekend workshops.

I am trying to apply online, and I don’t see Compass listed under schools.

When you are applying for a grant, listing a school is an optional step. You can skip this with no impact. Later, when you have an account, and go to “Pay Vendor”, Compass Homeschool Classes will show up on the list. For the purposes of this grant, Compass is providing small group tutoring.

I want to pay for my son’s one-on-one tutoring with grant money. Since I don’t receive an emailed Registration Confirmation for private tutoring, what documentation should I upload to ClassWallet for reimbursement?

When you schedule one-on-one tutoring, let us know, and we will send an invoice from the PayPal system. You will not need to pay through PayPal, but you will have a correctly formatted invoice to upload to ClassWallet. The PayPal payment link will come by email. Select ‘View and Pay Invoice.’ This will take you to a detailed invoice with the option in the top right to download as a pdf.

Agreement

By electing to use grant funds for Qualifying Compass classes, families agree to the following:

  • Complete your grant application within 14 days of registration.
  • Forward Compass a copy of the email awarding/confirming that your student has received a grant.
  • Activate your ClassWallet portal per the grant requirements.
  • Submit Compass Compass Classes Registration Confirmation email (i.e. invoices) through the ClassWallet portal within 7 days of receipt.
  • Agree to pay any balance rejected by ClassWallet or in excess of grant funds.
  • Understand that no refunds will be issued when a student withdraws/drops a class funded through a grant.
  • Understand that a Compass Credit will be posted to your Family Profile (i.e. account(, less a $35.00 administration fee when grant reimbursement double-pays for a class that was already paid for. Compass Credits must be used by May 31, 2024.

Notes

  • Compass has requested clarification and provided an explanation to the Department of Education that homeschool families are not subject to core content or graduation requirements as referenced in the grant details. Compass has explained that, “since families providing home instruction in Virginia define their own “core content areas” and decide the content, manner of instruction, scope and sequence, and resources to complete and complement their homeschool program, homeschool families’ use of Learning Acceleration Grant funds should not be restricted to the state-defined core content areas. Homeschool families should be able to use a cooking class to teach home economics, chess to teach logical/critical thinking, Krav Maga as PE, etc.”
  • This information will be updated as additional details become available from the Department of Education and/or Class Wallet.