Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow.— Ecclesiastes 4:9–10
Online Does Not Mean Isolated
Great Hearts Online Community Life
These are the real community programs hosted by Great Hearts Online that Virtualis students participate in as members of the online community.
House of FortitudoFortitudoVirtual Clubs
Great Hearts Online operates a set of virtual clubs for enrolled scholars across the network. Club offerings vary by year and student interest and are hosted online so students from any state can join.
House of PrudentiaPrudentiaVirtual Field Trips
Guided virtual trips curated by Great Hearts Online and tied to the curriculum — an opportunity to study art, history, and the natural world together as a school community without leaving home.
House of TemperantiaTemperantiaVirtual Athletic Field Day
An annual athletic field day hosted by Great Hearts Online for the entire online community. A celebration of movement, friendly competition, and community across the network.
House of IustitiaIustitiaCommunity Engagement Program
Great Hearts Online employs a Community Engagement Coordinator whose role is to organize and foster human connection across the online community — events, meetups, check-ins, and parent-organized local gatherings.
Source: Great Hearts Online Community Engagement program, 2025–2026.
Extracurricular Life Beyond the School
Because the Virtualis school day ends by early afternoon, students have hours every week for real extracurricular formation. We strongly encourage families to pursue activities outside the school as part of a well-ordered life.
House of FortitudoFortitudoCompetitive Sports & Athletics
Join a local youth sports league, travel team, or high school athletic association. Practice a martial art. Run cross country with a club team. Physical formation and the discipline of competition are part of the classical ideal and one of the great advantages of an online schedule that ends by early afternoon.
House of PrudentiaPrudentiaMusic, Art, & Performance
Private music lessons, a local youth orchestra or choir, community theater, a painting or drawing studio, a ballet or dance program. The arts are not an afterthought in classical education — they are a pillar. Families have real time to pursue them.
House of TemperantiaTemperantiaService & Parish Life
Parish youth groups, Catholic Youth Organization, community service and volunteer work, mission trips, homeschool co-op gatherings, and charitable apostolates. The virtues of service and stewardship are formed by doing, not by studying.
House of IustitiaIustitiaHobbies & Apprenticeships
Chess clubs, debate leagues, robotics, coding, woodworking, gardening, hiking, a part-time job, or an apprenticeship with a skilled mentor. Real work and real hobbies are a classical good. Students with afternoons free can pursue them seriously.
Virtualis does not run these programs — that is the point. One of the reasons families choose an online school is to reclaim time for the activities that form a whole child. We encourage every family to use that time well.
Why Community Matters in Classical Education
Friendship is part of formation
Classical education has always understood friendship as a serious thing. Aristotle devoted two full books of the Nicomachean Ethics to the subject. Aquinas called friendship “the most necessary thing in life.” Classical schools take community seriously because without it, the intellectual life becomes cold and the moral life becomes lonely.
Iron sharpens iron
Students learn in community. A Socratic seminar requires other students. A reading group needs readers. A debate needs a defender and a respondent. Great Hearts Online builds community into the daily class schedule so that students know each other and grow alongside each other, not next to each other.
Parents are welcomed in
The Great Hearts approach also welcomes parents into the community — through curriculum nights, parent gatherings, Community Engagement Coordinator events, and parent-organized local meetups. Student life does not end at the classroom door.