Pentagon to Expand Homeschooling Resources for Military Families

ORLANDO, FL — Covenant Journey Academy (CJA) applauds Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s recent directive for the Pentagon to expand homeschooling resources for military families. The May 15 Department of Defense memo represents a significant victory for military homeschool families and reflects the continued momentum the school choice movement has gained nationwide.

“This directive from Secretary Hegseth recognizes an issue that Covenant Journey Academy strives to solve,” said Mat Staver, CJA Founder and Chancellor. “Military families have unique educational needs that homeschooling can uniquely address. CJA is proud to stand with America’s military families in providing cutting-edge K-12 education alternatives that serve their distinctive lifestyle demands.”

The Pentagon’s new focus on homeschool support recognizes the central role homeschooling serves for the families of American servicemen and servicewomen. Extraordinary flexibility and an individualized approach to education have made homeschooling a mainstay among military families for many years, but even against the backdrop of explosive homeschool growth nationally, active-duty military families continued to homeschool at twice the rate of civilian families in 2024. According to the Johns Hopkins research cited in the memo: 

• Education is a top concern of military families.
• Even in times of deployment and transition, military families choose homeschooling to “stabilize and prioritize family life.”
• A full 12% of active-duty military families homeschooled their children between 2023-2024.

The key takeaway: Flexible, high-quality online education options are more critical than ever for military families.

As Secretary Hegseth noted in his memo, “Homeschooling offers an individualized approach for students and highlights the significant role parents play in the educational process.”

The key takeaway: Flexible, high-quality online education options are more critical than ever for military families.

As Secretary Hegseth noted in his memo, “Homeschooling offers an individualized approach for students and highlights the significant role parents play in the educational process.”

As the United States military moves to provide much needed support to America’s military homeschool families, Covenant Journey Academy’s catalog of 300 fully online, self-paced homeschool course options enables parents to build the rich homeschool programs they have always wanted for their children.“This individualized approach is precisely what Covenant Journey Academy provides, offering unprecedented flexibility for military families,” said CJA’s President and CEO Shawn Akers. “CJA is proud to stand with America’s servicemen and servicewomen by providing exceptional educational opportunities that honor their values, accommodate their lifestyle, and prepare their students for lifelong success.”

CJA’s comprehensive online platform has two powerful educational pathways:

Full-Time, K-12 Online Private School Enrollment — Our Academy Program provides complete K-12 education with certified teachers facilitating every class, a biblical worldview context, and the flexibility to access coursework 24/7 from anywhere in the world — a crucial benefit for families stationed globally.

Customized, Self-Paced, Online Homeschool Curriculum — Through CJA’s extensive catalog of more than 300 self-paced online homeschool course options, military families can build powerful, customized curricula tailored to their children’s unique needs and interests. This approach allows parents to maintain primary educational responsibility while accessing professional-grade course content and support.

Furthermore, military families in Florida that have been approved for the PEP (Personalized Education Program), FES-UA (Family Empowerment Scholarship for Students with Unique Abilities), and New Worlds scholarships can purchase CJA self-paced courses directly by logging in to My Scholar Shop through your scholarship portal and searching for Covenant Journey Academy. Arizona’s Empowerment Scholarship students can use Course Wallet to enroll with CJA.

As the Pentagon conducts its department-wide review of homeschooling support, Covenant Journey Academy stands ready to partner with military families seeking educational excellence and flexibility. The combination of growing school choice momentum, recognition of military families’ unique needs, and innovative online education platforms creates unprecedented opportunities for military children to receive world-class education regardless of where their family is stationed. 

Covenant Journey Academy is a nationwide online Christian school and curriculum provider serving students from kindergarten to 12th grade. With 300+ self-paced, online, homeschool course options available, including core academics, electives, honors, and AP courses, CJA provides flexible, biblically based education options for both full-time students and homeschooling families.

For more information, visit CJ.Academy or call 407-875-1967 today.