Virtual Instruction FAQ

There are many reasons why a student might want to take a virtual/online class.  Here are a few:

• to take a course that isn’t offered in a face-to-face setting
• to solve scheduling conflicts
• to take a course outside of the regular school day schedule
• to help in situations that keep a student from attending school
• to meet the graduation requirement of taking at least one online course
• to develop skills in preparation for college and the work place; skills such as time management, technology, online collaboration, self-motivation, and more
• to move ahead

Any Arlington Public School student who is enrolled in grades 7 through 12.  Students in 7th and 8th grade are primarily scheduled during the school day.

Talk with your counselor. Your counselor will communicate with the Office of Academics and Office of Secondary Education for approval. If the course is already in the Program of Studies as a virtual/online course, you can request it during class selection in early Spring.

Student enrolled in Arlington Public Schools are not charged for courses designated as virtual/online in Arlington Public Schools Program of Studies.  Further Arlington Public Schools will be responsible for payment when a course required for graduation an listed in the Program of Studies is:

1. Not available due to low enrollment.
2. The student is unable to enroll in traditional setting due to a verifiable scheduling difficulties.
3. When a Student Study Team has determined and documented that a student will be best served by enrolling in virtual/online coursework.

Payment is required for those students who have passed the course but wish to retake that course virtually/online for higher grade.

Speak with your school counselor.  Advanced permission is required.

Virtual/online classes designated “24/7” are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. A student enrolled in a 24/7 virtual/online class will not attend a class during regular school hours with a face-to-face teacher.  Instead, the student will dedicate 4-6 hours per week (4-6 hours per day for summer school) to complete assignments for a virtual/online class at times that work within their schedule. Students will enroll and complete work outside their daily class schedule…anytime, anywhere.

All Virtual@APS students participate in a virtual/online orientation that is built into each course.  Students taking courses from outside providers must complete the orientation provided by the course provider.

If your course is taught by an APS teacher, your course will likely be on Canvas.  You use your student login and password.  If your course is offered by a provider outside of APS, you will receive instructions from the provider to include: login page, user name, and password.

For students whose virtual/online classes are scheduled during the school day, exams are proctored by your course facilitator.  For students scheduled as 24/7 students — you will be assigned a mentor or facilitator.  Your exams may be proctored at your local high school but you will need to coordinate the date and time with your assigned mentor or facilitator.

4-6 hours each week during the regular school year (4-6 hours per day for summer school) will be required to successfully complete the class.  The virtual/online class is accessible 24/7.

To be successful in the virtual/online class you must complete all assignments by their due dates, seek help if you don’t understand, and communicate with your teacher regularly. Watch this video of APS students giving advice on how to be successful in a virtual/ online course.

A virtual/online student will contact the teacher via phone, email and/or scheduled webinars.

Contact the course teacher via email, phone, virtual/online office hours, or attend scheduled tutoring time virtually/online.

Teachers of virtual/online courses are certified teachers in the subject being taught. AP trained teachers teach AP classes, and all teachers have been trained to teach virtually/online.

Enrollments will vary. Unlike face-to-face classes the class is not restricted to the size of a classroom. However, virtual/online classes are scheduled based on the average class load for a teacher.  If the teacher is full-time the virtual/online enrollments may be 60-120 students (the same as a brick-n-mortar based teacher, depending on the curriculum area), each section of a virtual/online course is the same as face-to-face classes.

A student enrolled in a virtual/online course must meet assignment deadlines and the schedule of the course.  The schedule may vary based on curriculum and student. Student attendance is recorded and is based on completion of assignments and login activity, so students should log in a minimum of 5 days a week.

It is possible that students and teachers of a virtual/online course may be online at the same time, but that would not be the norm.  Teachers will designate office hours and may require virtual/online sessions using webinar/chat software.  The timing of these sessions will be advertised in advance.

Typically courses from providers outside of APS only report a final course grade.

The same grading and credit policies apply to virtual/online classes as to traditional classes.  For courses provided by non-APS vendors, pre-approval for credit must be obtained.  For more information, see School Board Policy I-7.2.8 Instructional Delivery Options.

Yes,  all approved virtual/online courses count toward a student’s GPA and meet standard and advanced diploma requirements.

The student’s school counselor must submit a request using the “Online course request form”. When submitted, the request will go to the Office of Secondary Education for review.

1. A senior needs an additional course is order to meet graduation requirements.
2. A senior has a conflict with other courses required for graduation.
3. A student needs a course that is not available at the student’s home school.

The Office of Secondary Education is happy to review all requests.  Please complete the “Online course request form” and provide a rationale.

Students enrolled in Arlington Public Schools are not charged for courses designated as online in the Arlington Public Schools Program of Studies. Further Arlington Public Schools will be responsible for payment when a course required for graduation an listed in the Program of Studies is:

1. Not available due to low enrollment.
2. The student is unable to enroll in traditional setting due to a verifiable scheduling difficulties.
3. When a Student Study Team has determined and documented that a student will be best served by enrolling in online coursework.

Payment is required for those students who have passed the course but wish to retake that course virtually for higher grade. Additionally families are generally required to pay all costs associated with virtual courses that are not listed in the Program of Studies.

The parent or guardian is responsible for providing supporting documentation related to the course content for outside vendors as part of the pre-approval process. A syllabus and pacing guide or scope and sequence are acceptable supporting documents. These documents must clearly state that the course level is the same as the level for which the credit is requested. For example, if the request states “Level II,” the course description must state that the course is equivalent to a high school Level II course. The documentation will then be reviewed by the Content Area Supervisor and a letter indicating the outcome of the review will be sent to the school counselor and the family.

School counselor will receive an email with a decision or if additional information is required, the Office of Secondary Education will reach out directly to the school counselor.

Yes. If a student wants a virtual/online summer course to be included on their high school transcript, advanced permission is required.  School counselors should complete the “Online course request form”.

Registration for approved summer course requests are processed by the Office of Secondary Education for the following online providers:

1. Virtual@APS (Full year and Spring Semester Sessions)
2. Virtual Virginia (Full year, Fall Block, Spring Block & Summer Block sessions).
3. Edgenuity (Open enrollment registration)
4. EdOptions/Edmentum (Open enrollment registration)

With the exception of the three providers listed above, most online providers allow for parent registration.

Payment for courses taken during the summer are the responsibility of the parents. This includes any textbooks and or materials required for the course.