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Below are answers to our visitors' most frequently asked questions about VHS.
Joining VHS
Professional Development
Student NetCourses
VHS Program Offerings
Academic Calendar & Policies
About the Company
Frequently Asked Questions: Answers
Joining VHS
Q What membership options are available for new schools wishing to participate in VHS?
A Schools can join VHS as Individual School Members or Student-Only schools. Individual School Members participate in VHS by freeing a high school teacher one period a day to teach a VHS course online. Student-Only schools do not have a teacher teaching a VHS course, but only have students taking VHS courses. VHS also accepts individual students. For more information, check out our membership options page.
Q Can I view a demo course?
A Yes, there are a number of demo courses available.
Q Could someone meet with my school to review the VHS program?
A If your school would like to have someone from VHS meet with your school administrators or present to your school board members or staff, please contact VHS member recruitment to schedule a meeting.
Q How can my school join VHS?
A Your school can join VHS through our Individual School Membership, Student-Only Membership or Consortium Membership programs, which are more fully described on our membership options page.
Q What are the costs to join VHS?
A Costs to join VHS vary depending upon the membership option your school selects. Please contact VHS member recruitment to request information on membership pricing.
Q What are the technical requirements for participation in VHS?
A Schools considering membership in VHS need to have consistent and adequate access to the Internet from the high school, computers that VHS students can use to access their NetCourse, and Internet browsers on each VHS computer.
Q Can home school students participate in VHS?
A VHS does accept individual students. For more information, check out our membership options page or contact VHS member recruitment to request information on individual student pricing.
Professional Development
Q Are there certification requirements for VHS teachers?
A All VHS teachers are certified in the disciplines in which they teach.
Q How are the VHS teachers trained and qualified?
A VHS teachers must participate in and successfully graduate from VHS online professional development in order to teach a VHS course.
Student NetCourses
Q Can every student proceed at his or her own pace and schedule?
A Virtual High School courses are not digital correspondence classes. VHS believes in student-centered classes which encourage collaboration among students. Therefore, our classes run on an asynchronous weekly-scheduled basis. This means that although the student has the flexibility to access his or her class anytime 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, there are definite due dates and scheduled deadlines for assignments and activities.
Q What are the technical requirements for students participating in VHS courses?
A Students only need reliable access to the Internet and a compatible web browser.
Q What type of student should take a VHS online course?
A The VHS Course Catalog has classes for high school students of all levels grades 9 – 12. The entire range of student abilities is reflected in the VHS course catalog – from Advanced Placement and honors level classes to courses offered for remediation and credit recovery.
Q What are the keys to a successful learning experience?
A Just as in a face-to-face class, regular attendance, active participation, timely completion of assignments and careful and thorough attention to task make for a successful online learning experience.
Q Do you have any evidence that students can learn this way?
A VHS has been extensively studied, and the research indicates that students learn online through Virtual High School as much, and in many cases more, than they do in traditional classrooms. Results from independent evaluations of Virtual High School are available from this website.
Q How do students interact with each other?
A Student-to-student interaction is an integral part of all VHS NetCourses. Students communicate through asynchronous threaded discussion.
Q Will VHS replace traditional schools?
A While VHS believes that virtual courses should be a required component of traditional education, VHS is not a cyberschool. VHS believes that virtual learning enhances face-to-face instruction, but is not a replacement for traditional schooling.
Q How are VHS NetCourses structured?
A Our courses are asynchronous, which means that there are no live meeting times during which students and their teacher gather as a class. Students read lessons, work on and submit their assignments, participate in group projects, and contribute to class discussions at any time, as long as they meet due dates for class assignments and keep up with the general flow of the class.
Q How many VHS courses can a student enroll in per semester?
A A student can take up to three Virtual High School courses in a semester. Additional courses for special circumstances are considered on a case by case basis.
Q What is the maximum student: teacher ratio you would allow or go up to?
A We never allow more than 25 students in a class. Our average class size is 18.
Q Do you have online storage where students can store documents they are working on?
A Yes, students can save their work as "in progress" so that they can come back to complete it at a later time.
Q Are your teachers trained in online instruction? If so, how extensively?
A In order to teach for us, all our teachers must successfully complete one of our online professional development courses in online teaching pedagogy and methods.
Q Do your teachers post their hours of availability? Generally what are their hours of availability?
A As all of our courses are asynchronous, there is no set time the teacher must be online. However, all teachers must be in class and respond to all students within 24 hours (Monday - Friday).
Q How would you describe the frequency in which your teachers have contact with students (daily, weekly, or whenever needed)?
A The participation of our teachers is monitored and reported on weekly. Teachers must be in class each day and respond to students within 24 hours (Monday - Friday).
Q Can I print all the course descriptions from the catalog at once, one per page?
A Yes, using a newer version of Internet Explorer, go to the Course Catalog "By Title" View, right mouse click (click and hold on a Mac) in the list of courses, choose Print and then check the box that says "print all linked documents." This will print about five pages that you do not need, but it also prints each course description on a separate page. Repeat this for each page of the By title view.
VHS Program Offerings
Q Will VHS offer summer courses?
A VHS offers 2 sessions of summer school courses each year (www.govhs.org/summer). Courses are offered for both enrichment and credit recovery.
Q Does VHS offer International Baccalaureate courses?
A During the 2004-2006 school years, VHS piloted the online offering of IB Economics. VHS was the only online course provider selected by the International Baccalaureate Organization to pilot an IB course online. Beginning in the 2007-2008 course catalog, VHS will be offering IB Economics and IB Information Technology for a Global Society. Please check our website for information on participation requirements in these courses.
Academic Calendar & Policies
Q What is the VHS 2008-09 calendar?
A
Sep. 3, 2008 - Fall Semester begins Classes start
Sep. 9 - End of Fall Add Period
Sep. 23 - End of Fall Drop Period
Dec. 16 - Fall Semester ends
Jan. 28 - Spring Semester begins Classes start
Feb. 3 - End of Spring Add Period
Feb. 17 - End of Spring Drop Period
May 12 - Spring Semester ends
Jun. 3 - Last day for students to make up Final Incompletes
Q What is VHS’s Student Add/Drop Policy?
A Students may add courses within the first week of the start of a semester. Students may drop courses, without consequence, up to one week after the date when the first progress reports and failing notices are due. After this period, students will receive a Withdraw-Pass or Withdraw-Fail from the VHS Central Offices.
Dropping or adding of NetCourses is to be done through the VHS site coordinator, and the site coordinator must notify the VHS office and the VHS teacher through the registration database.
Q Are VHS NetCourses accredited?
A VHS and VHS courses are accredited by the Middle States Commission on Secondary Education. VHS schools are accredited by their local accrediting agency and participating member schools have agreed to give credit to VHS courses as either core courses or electives. In addition, all VHS core courses have NCAA initial-accreditation.
Q How will students be graded, and receive credit for their participation?
A There is a common grading system for all courses in the Virtual High School. Teachers report grades to the Central Office, which passes these grades onto the student's administrative office.
About the Company
Q Is VHS a publicly held company?
A VHS is a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation, incorporated in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts on May, 2001.
Q Is VHS an accredited institution?
A VHS is nationally accredited by the Middle States Commission on Secondary Education. VHS member schools are accredited by their local accrediting agency. Course credit is determined and issued by the member school, not by VHS. VHS does not provide full time enrollment options and therefore does not issue dimploma's.
Q Where is VHS?
A VHS offices are located at 3 Clock Tower Place, Suite 200 Maynard, MA 01754.
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