Parent Questions
The parent questions are grouped into the following categories:
Involvement
Can parents communicate with the teacher about a concern? 
If a parent has a concern with the nature of a segment of the course, about teacher feedback on an assessment item or any other issue of concern, then the parent is encouraged to email the Principal or to write directly to the teacher expressing this concern. Be sure to sign the communication as the parent so that the teacher knows the communication is coming from the parent and not the student. We encourage the parents to become active in the education process by becoming involved in this way. [return to top]
How do parents become involved in the process of online education?
The student is issued a name and password which the parent may also use to view the whole curriculum. The key feature that all of our parents like is that they can view all of the evaluation feedback provided by the teacher for every assignment completed by the student. They can also view the accumulated grade level of the student as they progress through the course, rather than waiting for report card time to see how the student is doing. The parents can then work with the student to help them meet the expectations of both the curriculum as well as the standards set out by the teacher. [return to top]
Safety
How do I protect my child from receiving unwanted solicitations over the internet while they are working on their course?
All of our courses use the Learning Management System created by Desire2Learn. This engine delivers all of the course content as well as provide all of the communication tools to be used by the student within the course. Thus the student is provided with their own e-mail through which they may communicate with their teachers and classmates. They may send mail to outside sources but because the course and all of the communication tools are behind the firewall, then SPAM - or unwanted emails - does not occur. Our chat programs, email, instant messaging all written by Desire2Learn and thus no outsiders nor advertisers can access it. Parents express quite often that they feel more comfortable having their students take our online courses, because of this safety feature. [return to top]
Requirements
Do I need to provide my child with a fax machine for submitting assignments?
NO. Students have a very convenient tool called the DropBox in which they place their assignments when they are ready to pass them in to their teacher. This is a very simple process which automatically provides the students with feedback letting them know that the assignment has been successfully uploaded. This can be done from any computer on the internet. This way, if they have been working on an assignment at the local library, they can simply place their completed assignment in the DropBox. [return to top]
Costs
What is the typical monthly phone bill for a student enrolled in the Virtual High School (Ontario)?
There are usually no long distance phone charges for online courses via the Internet. If you are already 'online' then there will be no additional charges beyond the usage time that your particular Internet Service Provider charges. These charges will vary among providers. [return to top]
What is the tuition?
As a registered private high school in Ontario, we receive no direct funding from the Government of Ontario. Thus there has to be a tuition fee attributed to you in order to take a course. Currently the fee is $499 for each full-credit course and $399 for each half-credit course. There are no other fees or textbooks to buy. Tuition also includes all of the necessary reporting of the marks when the course is finished. [return to top]
What about refunds?
There are no tuition refunds as a lot of administration goes into establishing the student account, enrolling the student into the course, contacting the teacher, contacting the school, etc. In an extremely rare case, there may be a refund returned to the student within three days of the original enrolment. In such a case, there will be a $125 administration processing fee applied to the refund. The decision of the Principal will be considered final in all cases involving requests for refund. A student who has not completed an assessment nor an evaluation in the course and who wishes to withdraw from the course must notify Virtual High School (Ontario) within seven days of enrolment. A student requesting withdrawal will receive a course credit minus a $125 administration processing fee. The course credit must be applied to a subsequent course within one year of the original registration. Only one course credit will be granted per original enrolment. The decision of the Principal will be considered final in all cases involving student requests for withdrawal. While the student is allowed to move through their course at their own pace, Virtual High School (Ontario) reserves the right to unenroll any student from their course if the student goes for a prolonged period of time without logging into the course or if the student goes for a long period of time without completing any evaluation in their course. The decision of the Principal will be considered final in all cases involving student unenrollment. Tuition refund policies, course credit policies and student enrollment policies may be modified at any time at the Virtual High School (Ontario) website. The use of Virtual High School (Ontario) courses indicates that the student accepts these tuition refund policies, course credit policies and student enrollment policies.
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What are the typical costs for submitting assignments?
All assignments are submitted electronically - thus no cost! Some teachers prefer to return corrected assignments by mail and we absorb these costs. [return to top]
What about the final exam?
The student is responsible for arranging a proctor for their final exam. There may or may not be a fee charged by their proctor. The student is fully responsible for this fee, if it exists. [return to top]
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Parent Questions
