Students should be able to type and have the ability to turn in assignments on their own. If your student isn’t familiar with typing, a parent needs to be ready to help type assignments and assist their students in uploading homework.

Consider a Stepping Stones class prior to 3rd grade! Parents will sit with their child during the first semester of class until they are acclimated with our online learning environment. By second semester, students will have found their stride and become increasingly prepared for 3rd grade courses (and parents will by then be able to hand the reins to their children).

As mentioned above, we are a rigorous classical Christian education program. If you have a middle or high schooler and they haven’t done classical education before, we highly recommend a free consultation with a family consultant.

Our most successful VSA students and families have a parent overseeing coursework, though the appropriate level of oversight is determined by respective families. VSA is not a brick and mortar school, and the dynamic is certainly different. Parents are responsible for printing out and proctoring learning assessments like tests and exams.

This is dependent on the educational goals for your student and what you want your family life and daily school day rhythm to be. If you’re unsure of how many classes your student should take, get a free consultation with one of our Family Consultants. They’re eager to help you out!

1. What if my child misses a class? If a student misses a class, they can watch the video archive of the class and fill out the archive viewing form for full participation credit. Students are still required to turn in assignments on time unless an assignment Extension Request is submitted and approved by the teacher. The Extension Request must be submitted a minimum of 24 hours before the assignment is due.

2. What percentage of the entire grade is participation? Participation ranges from 10 - 20% of the overall grade, depending on the course.

Each course will have a quarterly Course Assignment Sheet (CAS) that will be shared among all sections of the course. Students will always refer to the Course Assignment Sheet for homework and assessment due dates. The CAS will list what assignments should be completed before attending class. The CAS will also list due dates for assignments that need to be submitted. It is important that a student completes all assignments listed even if the assignments are not submitted for grading. The material will be covered on the assessments, tests, and exams.
Prior to the first day of class, students are expected to review the Course Assignment Sheet for each course to ensure they are prepared for the first day of class, as many classes have homework due on the first day of class.

As a parent you can make adjustments to any assignments; however, this will not change the submission requirements for your student or what material is tested. If your student requires Educational Accommodations, it is recommended that you complete the Educational Accommodations process listed below.

This will be different for every student and their educational background. The best way to prepare for enrolling in the diploma program at a later time is to have a homeschool consultation. Graduation requirements begin in 7th grade. One of our family consultants can help you navigate those requirements and help you create a plan to stay on track for diploma enrollment in 9th grade. However, this is not a guarantee of a Diploma plan and acceptance to the Diploma Program until you apply for the Diploma Program and complete the Diploma admissions process.

Teachers will reach out first to the student and then to the parent via Schoology messenger. Teachers proactively reach out in the middle of each quarter to parents. It is important that parents monitor the student’s progress in Schoology. Parents can view assignment submission and grades online. Parents can also request a weekly or daily digest of all grades, submissions, and comments for their student.

They definitely can! Our program does offer educational accommodations that can assist students in their classes. If you would like to learn more about accommodations or how our program can work for your student, I strongly recommend a consultation with a family consultant. There are many families in our program who have students with the same diagnoses and are thriving!

All requests for student accommodations must come through Administration. If a child has a learning disability or other documented medical need that impacts his education, VSA would like to be as supportive as possible and provide the parent with reasonable accommodations. If the student has particular needs, the parent must complete the Educational Accommodation Request Form so that the administration might consider how to best support the parent and the child’s learning.

If indeed it is determined that special accommodations are warranted, a fee of $50 per course will be assessed in an effort to recuperate a portion of the costs VSA administrative and teaching staff incur in the process. The minimum charge for any accommodations is $150 per student. The form can be found in the VSA Parent Group in Schoology.

Students in our full-time diploma program will receive official transcripts. If your student is not enrolled in the full-time diploma program, any live or self-paced classes will be included on a report card instead of a transcript. The report card will have to be requested through the Service Team in order for the live and SP classes to be listed together.

You can always message your student’s teachers through Schoology messenger. Teachers will provide quarterly comments to update you on what is going well and areas for improvement. Teachers will also send out weekly updates on what has and will be occurring in class.

Please see Terms and Conditions for full details.

There is no trial period offered for our live classes. I strongly recommend looking at some of our live class samples that have been recorded, posted above. This will give you a good idea of what our classes look like. If you aren’t sure which classes to look at, request a homeschool consultation and our family consultants will be happy to assist!

The most significant benefits of live classes are class discussions and interactions with live teachers and students from across the world. With “You Teach,” you will need to teach all concepts and do the grading of your students work. With the live online class, the teacher will take care of that for you!

You can view the system requirements in the VSA Technology Handbook.

Yes, included in the VSA Technology Handbook you will find tutorials on how to use and navigate Schoology, Adobe Connect, the account management site, and more!