2.1 VOL Kindergarten Program
VOL Full Time Program Expectations
Academic Expectations: Because of our school’s unique nature, students must take primary responsibility for their own learning. Self-motivation, dedication to learning, daily submission of work, and communication are essential. It is the student who determines his or her own level of success. Students can expect deadlines for their work and expect to work hard, but at their own daily time schedule within the set guidelines. They will log in to the school each day and will respond to teachers’ questions and prompts as they work through courses. They’ll use discussion boards, chat rooms, and other communication tools to work with teachers and other students. These tools, which may have been used for social purposes, will be used for genuine academic communication to support learning goals. Students work to receive Volusia County Public School’s standard high school diploma. Starting in the 2022-2023 school year, Volusia Online Learning seniors will earn a diploma from Volusia Online Learning.
Roles and Responsibilities
Parent/Guardian(s):
- Maintain contact with teachers and school support staff to ensure student success.
- Communicate at least once monthly with student’s teacher(s) to receive progress and performance updates.
- Maintain accuracy of home address, phone number(s), and email address(es).
- Actively participate in student’s learning to assist the school with ensuring student participation and completion of courses.
- Ensure student participation in state testing and provide transportation.
- Attend a required VOL orientation session.
Student (Profile for Success):
VOL strongly believes that the following commitments/skills facilitate student success in the online educational environment:
- Orientation - Students will attend and participate in a VOL orientation session.
- Communication – Students are required to communicate with their instructors for a variety of reasons. Students will be required to talk to their teachers via telephone and/or online classroom. Students should respond to their teachers in a timely fashion.
- Live Lessons – Participation and attendance in Live Lessons leads to student success in their courses. Students in grades K-12 are expected to have regular attendance to their class time/live lessons. For K-12 students in Access courses, live lesson are required.
- Academic Integrity – VOL requires the original work of all students and in so doing, prohibits plagiarism of the work of others and cheating. Students are expected to properly cite the origin of work that is not the student’s own. If work content, other than commonly known facts, is not properly cited, attributed, or credited, the work may be determined to be plagiarized.
- Self-Motivation – Students should exhibit self-motivation as they must direct their own learning environment and procedures to fulfill course requirements enabling them to achieve individual academic success.
- Independent Learning Style – Students should be able to work independently and be able to contact their instructor for support as needed.
- Computer Literacy – Students should know basic computer skills such as utilizing email, navigating the Internet, as well as basic keyboarding skills.
- Time Management Skills – Students must be capable of organizing and planning their time for learning. Students can complete their coursework whenever it is best for them; however, students are expected to work at least 5 hours each day to complete course requirements each quarter.
- Pace – Students must follow the pacing guides for each course. Students are expected to work in their courses regularly each week. Students are expected to work at least 5 hours each day to complete course requirements each quarter.
- Effective Written Communication Skills – Students will use email, discussion boards, and essay type questions to communicate with their instructors and peers. The ability to write clearly and communicate ideas and assignments is essential. Students in earlier elementary grades may need additional parent or learning coach support when writing/typing in their courses.
- Reading Competency – Students must read at or near grade level in order to be successful in understanding the material presented. Coursework is delivered online in a written format on grade level. Students in earlier elementary grades may need additional parent or learning coach support when reading through the coursework.
- Personal Commitment – Students must have a personal desire to learn and achieve knowledge and skills via online courses because this learning environment has no bells to begin and end classes.
Successful online students are those who decide for themselves that online learning is a choice they have made.
*Students may need to work with their parent and/or learning coach to meet these expectations. Parents of students in grades K-5 are required to have a learning coach.
Teachers:
Teachers, along with parents and students, also play a vital role in a student’s online education.
Teacher responsibilities include:
- To build a supportive relationship with students and Learning Coaches.
- To monitor each student’s academic progress and growth.
- Provide each student with instructional support, skill remediation, grading and assignment feedback, and instruction through regular Live Lessons sessions using Zoom or Teams.
- Communicate often and regularly with students and Learning Coaches via phone, course email, and one-on-one or small group virtual sessions.