STUDENT HANDBOOK

Policies and Procedures

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GENERAL INFORMATION
K-12 schools arrange for Founders Education to deliver comprehensive virtual courses to the
school’s students. The virtual courses meet the requirements of the courses taught at the school
and are taught by certified teachers. Schools typically utilize Founders Education’s virtual
instruction services, including ongoing teacher-student interaction, class lessons, assessments
and grading, when the school cannot deliver a particular course to a student(s) in a face-to-face
format. Each school selects which Founders Education virtual courses meet the school policy
for inclusion on the school transcript.

Founders Education’s certified teachers design and create comprehensive virtual courses
based on a particular state’s and/or school’s curriculum requirements. It is not unusual for the
curriculum supervisors of a particular school to guide the Founders Education certified teachers
on the objectives of certain courses and class lessons during this process. Virtual courses are
available in the following subject areas: Mathematics, Language Arts, Social Studies, Science,
World Language), Health/Physical Education, Drivers Education and many others.

The format of the Founders Education program is online, with regular teacher-student access
to a virtual classroom, InstantTeacher™. InstantTeacher™ enables live one-on-one
instructional sessions with certified teachers and students in core subject areas ranging from
Monday to Friday from 7:30am to 7:30pm. During the summer months, the InstantTeacher™
hours are expanded to 10:00pm on Monday thru Friday and 8:00am-4:00pm on Saturdays and
Sundays.

Certified teachers can be available to students via phone during the InstantTeacher™ hours.
Additionally, certified teachers and students interact via email through a messaging system.

Founders Education’s certified teachers use a combination of assessments to evaluate students

including assignments, discussion forum participation and randomized tests, quizzes and
exams. Discussion forums and essays challenge students to think and write critically. Students
exchange ideas with certified teachers and other students through ongoing discussion forums.
Certified teachers facilitate the threaded conversation and provide insight along the way.

Essay questions and assignments provide certified teachers an opportunity to evaluate each
student’s writing abilities. Certified teachers evaluate assignments with a rubric and provide
written feedback. Students are encouraged to improve essays until the certified teacher deems
the writing is above average.

A certified principal leads Founders Education. Certified special education teachers, ESL/ELL
teachers, and a guidance counselor provide additional education and student services.

Internet Delivery
You will access the course completely over the internet and no additional course materials are
necessary. You may access the course at anytime through any device with an internet

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connection. Virtual instructors teach the course. Instructors can be contacted via course email,
InstantTeacher™ (live web-based one-on-one instructional sessions) and/or by phone.

Self-Paced Schedule
You may work on the course at your own pace, but the entire course, including the
Comprehensive Final Exam, must be completed by the End Date specified by your school and
included in your Welcome Email. Complete, full year courses allow a maximum of 9 months
and minimum of 4 weeks for completion. When it comes to delivering virtual instruction services
that meet the school’s requirements for the recovery of credits for courses where students
performed poorly, Founders allows a maximum of 2 months for completion.

Course End Date

The Course End Date has been communicated to you in your Course Welcome Email, and you
can find the End Date highlighted in the calendar included in this online course. You must finish
the entire course, including the Comprehensive Final Exam, by the End Date specified by your
school.

COURSE OVERVIEW
Each course is comprised of various components that include: lessons, essays and/or
assignments, discussion forums and a testing component (quizzes, section tests, or
midterm/final exams). Please consult your individual course syllabus for its respective overview
and instructions for accessing content.

Study Material
Work through the study material , taking detailed notes, until you feel comfortable with the
concepts. Some lesson pages have pictures, drawings, charts and maps that should be clicked
to access additional information. Sometimes practice problems are presented within the study
material to reinforce understanding of the concepts presented. To receive additional help
understanding the lesson after having read and taken detailed notes, we encourage students to
reach out to a teacher through InstantTeacher™ or by phone.

Quizzes, Section Tests, and Exams

All courses utilize some combination of the above testing components. Each component has its
individual description and rules as to how many times it can be taken. Consult your Course
Outline/Syllabus for more information relevant to your course. . For assessments that can only
be taken once (i.e. Section Test, Exams)), it is strongly recommended that a “wired” internet
connection rather than “wireless” internet connection be used.

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Essays/Assignments
-Where You Write
Open a new Microsoft Word OR Open Office document and save it on your hard drive. After you
complete your assignment, upload it or copy and paste into its respective posting section. Open
Office is a free word processor that you can download at: http://www.openoffice.org. Please be
aware that if you choose to type your assignment directly into the designated posting
area and the browser refreshes, Founders Education has no way to recover/see anything
the student typed.
-Before You Write
Take time to think about each assignment prior to sitting down to write your response. Review
and understand the directions and rubric found in the lesson.
-How to Evaluate
Upon completion of the first draft of your assignment, review your work and make sure you’ve
adequately covered all the items listed on the rubric. Work to improve your assignment prior to
submitting it to be graded.
-Where and How You Submit the Assignment
Save all assignments on your hard drive to ensure they are not lost. Submit your assignment by
uploading it or copying and pasting it into the respective posting section.. Any assignment
submitted before 11:59 PM (EST) on the Course End Date will be counted towards the overall
grade. If you submit the assignment(s) less than a week before the Course End Date, you
might not have time to revise them after receiving a grade. We encourage students to write and
submit their assignments as they get to them in the lessons, rather than waiting until the end of
the course.
-Where You Find Feedback
It may take several days for a teacher to grade and add comments to your assignment. Once an
assignment has been graded, , your original assignment with the teacher’s feedback will be
returned to the posting section and your grade will appear in your Gradebook. If you scored less
than an 80% on your essay, you are encouraged to look at the teacher’s feedback for
suggestions on how to improve. After making any necessary changes, you may then resubmit
your assignment to try to earn a higher grade.

Discussion Forums
-Where You Write
Write your Discussion Forum directly in the Forum section of the website.
-Before You Write
Take time to think about the Discussion Forum prior to sitting down to write it. Review and
understand the question, as well as, responses from other students and the virtual instructor.
-How to Evaluate
Upon completion of the 1st draft of your discussion forum, review your work and make sure
you’ve adequately covered all the items listed on the rubric. Work to improve your discussion
forum prior to submitting it to be graded.

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-Where You Find Feedback
It may take several days for a teacher to grade and add comments to your Discussion Forum.
Once a teacher has graded your Discussion Forum, your grade and teacher feedback will
appear in your Gradebook. You may resubmit your Discussion Forum to try to earn a higher
grade.

InstantTeacher™
Teachers availability ranges from the hours below for live one-on-one web-based instructional
sessions should you need assistance as you work through your Lessons/Assignments. Simply
click InstantAssistance™ and ask for help from a teacher. Math, Science, Language Arts, Social
Studies and Health/Physical Education teachers are generally available during the below hours.
Teachers in other subject areas are available on a more limited basis.

Below is the expected Instant Teacher™ schedule.

-7:30am to 7:30pm Monday to Friday (10pm in Summer)
-8:00am to 4:00pm Saturday and Sunday (Summer Only)
* Hours are EST and subject to change. InstantTeacher™ is unavailable on national holidays.
Students may seek a LIVE TEACHER during the hours above via the InstantAssistance™ link
on the left side of the course webpage or by phone, at: 215-253-4946.
● Mathematics - Ext 1

● Science - Ext 2

● Language Arts - Ext 3

● Social Studies - Ext 4

● World Language - Ext 5

● Other Subject Areas* - Ext 6

● General Questions (including Technology) - Ext 7

*Other Subject Areas include Health/Physical Education/Drivers Education, Art, Business,
Computer Programming, Music, etc.

GRADING OVERVIEW
Grading Scales
Founders Education will provide you and your school with the numeric grade you earn in the
course. The letter-grade is provided by your school and is based on the grade scale at your

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school. As grade scales vary from course to course, for a specific grade scale, please examine
each course’s Gradebook.
Gradebook
The Gradebook consists of some data that is updated automatically and other information that is
updated manually. For example, it may take several days for a teacher to grade an assignment.
Teacher comments about an individual forum grade, if any, can be viewed in the Gradebook by
clicking on the icon in the Comment column. Once graded, teacher comments, if any, on
Assignments/Essays can be viewed by returning to the posting area for that respective
assignment/essay. You are encouraged to improve your essay or discussion forum, and
resubmit it to try to earn a higher grade, based on the teacher feedback.
Tests and Quizzes are graded immediately and are reflected in the Gradebook within 24 hours.
Grades on individual Lesson Tests (i.e. Mastery Tests) can be viewed under “Progress” in Class
Lessons. Grades for Quizzes, Section Tests or Exams can be viewed in the Gradebook.

In addition to the above grade information, the Gradebook displays a Progress Overview,
including:

Progress Item Progress Item Description

~Expected Progress Suggested Percent of Lessons Completed
~Actual Progress Percent of Lessons Completed
~Grade if No More Work Done Final Grade if No Additional Work is Completed

STATEMENTS, POLICIES AND OTHER INFORMATION

Disability Statement
If you have a disability or condition that may affect your ability to succeed in a course, please
submit your IEP and/or 504 plan. Founders Education has several certified special education
teachers available to review IEP’s and 504 plans. Founders Education’s special education
teachers monitor the progress of every special education student to make sure all modifications
and accommodations are being put into action. Your virtual teacher is committed to helping
students with disabilities succeed, and every request will be treated with respect and
confidentiality. It is your school’s responsibility to develop individual IEP and/or 504 plans.
Founders Education teachers will discuss, formulate and make adjustments and
accommodations in furtherance of IEPs or reasonable accommodations established by your
school, but solely to the extent that may be done without incurring direct or indirect costs.

Code of Conduct
As a participant in the Founders Education program, a student has a responsibility to conduct
him/herself with the highest standards of honesty and integrity. Academic Honesty is one of the

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most important characteristics of education. It is critical that mutual trust exists between
instructors and students. Honesty in all academic matters is expected from all students. Any
attempt to receive credit for work you did not do (i.e. cheat, plagiarize, falsify information, etc)
will be considered a violation of Academic Honesty and will be addressed accordingly by
Founders Education, the online instructor, and your school.

The following are examples of some, but not all, acts that are considered violations of Academic
Honesty.
- Plagiarism (representing another person’s ideas, words, expressions, or data in writing or
presentation without properly acknowledging the source).
- Submitting work through the use of another person's password/login. Student
logins/passwords are confidential information that should not be shared with others. Any
Lesson/Assignments, work, or projects posted while using another student's login will be
considered plagiarism.
- Cheating (intentionally using or attempting to use unauthorized material, assistance, or study
aids in any academic work). Cheating includes copying another student’s work and submitting it
as your own.
- Performing work or taking an examination for another student or having another perform work
or take an examination for you.
- Falsification and/or misrepresentation of data (submitting made up data or sources).
- Computer crimes (damaging computer programs, hacking, constructing viruses, introducing
viruses into a system, copying programs, etc.).
- Inappropriate use of course communication tools; including, but not limited to, Message
Center, Drop Box, Web Meetings, Chats, Phone, etc.
Academic dishonesty will be communicated to the virtual education coordinator and officials at
the student’s school. Generally, the discipline policy of the student’s school will be followed, but
Founders Education reserves the right to immediately impose a disciplinary action of its
choosing without input or approval from the student’s school. Possible courses of action include:
-Loss of grade points
-Disciplinary action in accordance with student’s school policy
-Removal from the course
-Failure to receive a grade for the course

Acceptable Internet Use Policy

All students participating in Founders Education are expected to conduct their communication in
a professional, respectful manner. The use of proper behavior is expected at all times, whether
it is over the internet, phone, etc. Inappropriate behavior or language will result in disciplinary
action and possible termination from the course at the discretion of Founders Education.

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The following are some, but not all, things to consider when it comes to ensuring Acceptable
Internet Use.
-Avoid sarcasm and slang. Cursing or use of rude or curt language is unacceptable.
-Never use derogatory comments, including those regarding race, age, gender, sexual
orientation, religion, ability, political persuasion, body type, physical or mental health, or access
issues.
-Focus responses on the questions or issues being discussed, not on the individuals involved.

-Be constructive with criticism, not hurtful.

-Review messages before sending them. Remove easily misinterpreted language and proofread
for typos.
-Respect the privacy of others.

Anti-Harassment Policy
Founders Education is committed to safeguarding the right of all individuals involved in our
education programs to work and learn in an environment that is free of harassment. Harassment
on the basis of race, color, ancestry, religion, national origin, age, sex, sexual orientation, or
disability in any form will not be tolerated and may result in termination from the course.

Plagiarism Statement
When you write any assignment, response to a question, or any kind of paper, you should be
mindful of plagiarism. Plagiarism is the use of another person's words or ideas in your writing
without giving credit to them.
Sometimes you might plagiarize unintentionally because you did not know how to properly give
credit to the author’s words or ideas in your paper. Or, you may not have understood the
difference between common knowledge and information that requires a citation. The primary
rule when writing is to always acknowledge another person's ideas even if you didn't quote the
words directly. Even if you put an author's ideas in your own words, you still need to provide
acknowledgement in your writing.

Plagiarism also includes instances when students intentionally copy and paste another person's
words directly from a website or other online text and try to pass the words and ideas off as their
own. Below are some, but not all, specific examples of intentional plagiarism:
- Copying or rephrasing another student's work.
- Having someone else rewrite, or rephrase any part of a Lesson/Assignment (not just proofread
it).
- Direct copying, or rephrasing, of student aids (for example, Cliff Notes), critical sources,
reference materials, or other materials in part or in whole without acknowledgement.

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Whether intentional or not, plagiarism is not acceptable in this course, and you will either
receive a significant grade reduction or you will fail the course, depending on your school's
plagiarism policy. If plagiarism is found in an assignment, the student will receive a grade of
0%. Founders Education allows for partial credit resubmissions up to a grade of 75%.
Repeated plagiarism offenses in this or any other course may result in termination from this or
all courses at the discretion of Founders Education.

Source Citation
Here are some guidelines for those instances where you will need to cite sources. Any direct
quotations from material within this course can simply be cited as Lesson/Assignment Name
and Page Number, if available. Any quotations from outside sources require full citations,
including author, title, publisher, date of publication, and page number. If you're citing
information found on a website, provide the complete Web page title, URL, author if known, and
page number if applicable. For more information, click here to go to The Online Writing Lab at
Purdue University.

Refunds
Students who officially withdraw from a course through written notification (including email) to
Founders Education may receive a refund under the following conditions:

-Notice is received within 7 days of the Welcome Email being sent out for complete courses, or
-Notice is received within 3 days of the Welcome Email being sent out for courses that meet the
school’s requirements for the recovery of credits where students performed poorly.

No refunds will be provided unless the above conditions are met.

Copyright 2022 Founders Education, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

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