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Section II - General Information
The grade given in any course represents the credentialed teacher's considered judgment of the degree to which the student has achieved the goals and objectives of the course. It represents the teacher's professional judgment of the quality of the student's work and the student's degree of mastery. The teacher may consult with the primary caregiver in order to obtain additional insight into the quality and mastery of the work considered. No grade may be changed by an administrator unless a clerical or mechanical mistake, fraud, bad faith or incompetence can be identified.
Students earn credit by completing the course work based on the material covered and learned in relation to the Carnegie Standard. Credit is earned for grades "A" to "D" in all courses (6-12). Standard credit is 5 units for each semester course passed. Physical Education and most elective courses are standard credit (5 unit maximum per semester). Since students have the flexibility to work at their own pace, they may require more or less time than the average 60 hours to complete 5 credits. Some courses are offered on a variable credit basis. In the courses that are variable credit, a student may earn more or fewer units than the standard. The amount of work completed and the content standards covered determine course credit. Consult your instructor for prior approval.
All students are expected to attend high school for eight semesters. However, if students work at an accelerated pace and complete the necessary course credit requirements, they may graduate early. Students are eligible to start earning credit for high school after meeting the core content requirements of the 8th grade. All eligible students must notify their instructor before they begin high school courses. Students are classified as follows:
Classification may be reviewed each semester.
Some courses may be repeated for credit; others may only be taken once. Generally, a course cannot be repeated if the student has earned a "D" or higher. If a student has failed a course or has not demonstrated sufficient competency, he/she may retake the course for credit. However, a semester course may not be retaken for credit more than twice. Consult with your instructor regarding individual situations.
Academic and social successes are significantly related to regular instruction. The State of California mandates that students attend school. The parent is responsible for seeing that their child attends. With this in mind, OFY wants to provide a successful alternative to traditional schools. The academic recovery program allows parents and students the flexibility to attend school and learn at home. Students must complete assigned activities each school day and a minimum amount of work that is equivalent to at least one Carnegie Unit per week. In addition, students are required to meet with a teacher for one hour two to three times a week, depending on the student's course of study. If the student fails to meet these attendance requirements, he/she may be dropped from the program. The instructor verifies attendance based on the attendance sheet and assigned activities completed. This is necessary to keep track of the student's progress and to verify that learning has taken place. If the student fails to submit an attendance sheet with the required assignments by the appropriate due date, the student will be counted as absent for that period. It is the policy of the Charter School to automatically dismiss any student who has been truant for two consecutive school months. Truancy is determined by failure to report to regularly scheduled meetings and/or failure to make satisfactory progress in accordance with our signed agreement. Students failing to complete at least 100% of their assignments and/or failing to verify that they have at least 75% attendance during a designated school month shall also be considered truant. Any questions on why a student did not earn full attendance should be directed to the student's teacher.
In addition to weekends (Saturday & Sunday), student holidays are not counted as school days. Therefore, students are not required to complete assigned activities on these days.
Options for Youth Charter Schools (OFYCS) actively attempt to offer students and staff advanced technology and increased access to learning opportunities. We are happy to announce that we now offer Internet services through the Options for Youth Computer Network (hereafter referred to as "OFY Computer Network"). We believe this computer technology will help propel our school into the information age by allowing students and staff to access and use information sources from distant computers, communicate and share information with individuals or groups of other students and staff, and significantly expand their knowledge base. The Internet is a tool for life-long learning and only begins to open the door to many advanced research tools. Students and staff must understand and make proper and ethical use of this new learning opportunity.
Acceptable Use: The purpose of the Internet is to facilitate communications in support of research and education by providing access to unique resources and an opportunity for collaborative work. To remain eligible as a user, the use of your account must be in support of and consistent with the educational objectives of OFYCS. Access to the Internet is made possible through the OFY Computer Network at its sole discretion. The Options for Youth corporate office and all users of the OFY Computer Network must comply with existing rules and acceptable use policies, which are incorporated into this document and are also available from the corporate office.
Transmission of any material in violation of any federal or state law or regulation is prohibited. This includes, but is not limited to, copyrighted material, threatening or obscene material or material protected by trade secret.
Use for commercial activities is generally not acceptable. Use for product advertisement or political lobbying is also prohibited.
The OFY Computer Network contains copyrighted material and/or other proprietary information. The materials contained on or otherwise made available to you on the OFY Computer Network may be copyrighted by OFY and are thus protected by copyright laws and regulations worldwide. Except as may otherwise be expressly permitted by applicable law, any copying, automated browsing or downloading, redistribution, publication or commercial exploitation of any material contained on or otherwise made available to you on the OFY Computer Network is strictly prohibited without the prior written permission of OFY.
OFYCS has gone to great lengths to provide the necessary hardware and software to filter the Internet content that is accessible through our network while still allowing our students the freedom to access the Internet's many resources. Despite these precautions, users may encounter material that is controversial or offensive and which users, parents, teachers or administrators may consider inappropriate or offensive. It is impossible to control all data that an industrious user may discover on a global network. It is the user's responsibility not to initiate access to controversial or offensive material. OFYCS reserves the right to regulate the content and material on the Internet through the OFY Computer Network. In no event shall OFY be liable for either intentional in inadvertent student access to controversial or offensive materials.
OFYCS reserves the right to review any material on user accounts and to monitor fileserver space in order to make determinations on whether specific uses of the network are inappropriate. In reviewing and monitoring user accounts and fileserver space, OFYCS shall respect the privacy of user accounts.
Electronic mail (E-mail) must be used responsibly. Specific user responsibilities include checking E-mail regularly, remaining within your limited usage quota, if any, and not interfering with the network traffic by sending broadcasts of lists or individuals; furthermore, you are responsible for protecting your E-mail account and password. E-mail accounts are to be used only by the registered user. E-mail accounts will be awarded on an individual case-by-case basis and the OFY Computer Network administrators may remove E-mail services if a user abuses such privileges.
All users are expected to abide by the generally accepted rules of network etiquette. These include, but are not limited to, the following:
OFYCS makes no warranties of any kind, whether express or implied, for the service it is providing. OFYCS will not be responsible for any damages a user suffers. This includes loss of data resulting from delays, non-deliveries, mis-deliveries or service interruptions caused by OFYCS's negligence or by the user's errors or omissions. Use of any information obtained via the Internet is at the user's own risk. OFYCS specifically denies any responsibility for the accuracy or quality of information obtained through its services. All users need to consider the source of any information they obtain and determine how valid that information may be.
Security on any computer system is a high priority, especially when the system involves many users. Users must never allow others to use their password. Users should also protect their password to ensure system security and their own privilege and ability to continue to use the system. Users are responsible for reporting any potential security problems on the Internet to a system administrator. Do not demonstrate the problem to other users. Do not use another individual's account without the express written permission of the account holder. Attempts to log on to the network as a system administrator may result in cancellation of user privileges. Any user identified as a security risk due to a history of problems with this or any other computer systems may be denied access to the Internet by OFYCS.
Vandalism and harassment will result in cancellation of user privileges. Vandalism is defined as any malicious attempt to harm, modify or destroy data of another user, the Internet, the OFY Computer Network or other networks that are connected to the Internet backbone. This includes, but is not limited to, the uploading or creating of computer viruses.
Harassment is defined as the persistent annoyance of another user or interference with another user's work. Harassment may include, but is not limited to, the sending of unwanted E-mail.
Examples of potential offenses are: removing another user's account, changing another user's password, using an unauthorized account, damaging files, altering the system or using the system to make money illegally. Users must not cause damage to any school property, including the network system.
It is a violation of California Penal Code Section 502 to intentionally access any computer system or network for the purpose of: (1) devising or executing any scheme or artifice to defraud or extort; or (2) obtaining money, property or services with false or fraudulent intent, representation or promises.
Further violations of the California Penal Code include maliciously accessing, altering, deleting, damaging or destroying any computer system, computer network, computer program or data. Penalties may include fines and/or imprisonment. Anyone committing acts of this kind could face criminal charges and/or disciplinary action by the school. Any misuse of the OFY Computer Network will be punished to the full extent of the law.
The use of the OFY Computer Network is a privilege that may be revoked by the administrators of the network at any time and for any reason. Inappropriate use, including any violation of these rules and regulations or the Internet Access Consent and Waiver, may result in cancellation of network privileges. OFYCS, under this agreement, has delegated the authority to determine the appropriate use and may deny, revoke, suspend or close any user account at any time based upon the determination of inappropriate use by the account holder or user.
Any user violating these rules, applicable state and federal laws or posted classroom and company rules are subject to loss of network privileges and/or any other company disciplinary options.
In addition, pursuant to state law, any unauthorized access, unauthorized attempt to access or unauthorized use of any computing and/or network system is a violation of the California Penal Code and/or other applicable federal laws and is subject to criminal prosecution. | |