- 1. What are the credentials of NorthStar Academy teachers?
- NorthStar teachers hold a bachelor's degree from a four-year university as a minimum. Teacher certification and experience information is found in our “Meet the Teachers” section.
- 2. Does NorthStar Academy support both Macintosh and PC users?
- Yes. The school's conferencing and productivity software may be used by both Macintosh and Windows users. Some classes are restricted to students who use Windows computers. Please see the class descriptions for such details.
- 3. Does NorthStar Academy issue transcripts?
- Yes. The cost for each transcript is $5.00, which includes stateside postage/mailing. Transcripts may be mailed directly to the student or to the school or university of his/her choice. To order your transcript, download the transcript request form and then email this form to the registrar whose name will be given within the NSA online school environment.
- 4. Is NorthStar an accredited school and able to grant diplomas?
- NSA is accredited by CITA (Commission on International and Trans-regional Accreditation) and by NCA-CASI (North Central Association). To order your diploma, download the diploma order form and then email this form to the registrar whose name will be given within the NSA online school environment.
- 5. Would NorthStar Academy allow students to take only one or two "specialty" courses while they attend day school?
- Yes. NorthStar Academy is very open to partnering with other schools by providing individual courses to the host school as a way to complement their existing program and course offerings.
- 6. What advantages are there for this type of education?
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We have realized the following advantages for an online school:
- students who are tutored or who study individually or in very small groups have been found to achieve close to two standard deviations above the mean of comparable students in grouped instruction*
- students who study independently are better prepared for post-secondary studies**
- students are more likely to edit and refine their work when using a productivity tool like word processing software than if they were using pen and paper.
- students are not inhibited by time or shyness factors of a traditional classroom environment
- students can review every aspect of their class activities to include class lectures, presentations, assignments, and group discussions because all of these items have been digitally recorded, a clear benefit over oral communications that can easily be forgotten.
*Bloom, B.S. (1984, June/July). The 2-Sigma problem: the search for methods of group instruction as effective as one-to-one tutoring. Educational Researcher, 13, 4-16.
**Hathaway, W.E. (1993, April). Rural education: Challenges and opportunities. The Canadian School Executive, 12 (10), 3-9, 42.
- 7. Does NorthStar Academy support homeschooled students?
- Absolutely! Educators at NorthStar Academy understand the demands of homeschooling and realize that parents will need assistance from time to time. NorthStar Academy welcomes those families who may only need one or two individual courses to complement their homeschooling program.
- 8. What is the grading scale used at NorthStar Academy?
- NorthStar Academy uses a 100 pt. scale as opposed to a 4 point scale or a letter scale. Our grades represent percentages of correct answers from tests. For example, Susan Johnson would receive a 92 average in a subject as opposed to a 4.0 or an A-.
- 9. When does NorthStar Academy start?
- NorthStar operates on an August to June calendar. See our Course dates for more info.
- 10. What are the timelines for completing a course and the individual assignments?
- Because NorthStar exists to help meet the needs of families, our policy promotes flexibility within reason. We do not have "due dates" in the traditional sense of the term. Rather, we have suggested turn-in dates which are offered to students to help them gauge their pace so that they may finish their course within the traditional 10-month schedule. Please see the School and Course Completion Dates section for detailed information.
- 11. How many credits may a student transfer in to NorthStar Academy and still receive a NorthStar diploma?
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A student may transfer into NSA no more than 18 credits toward his/her graduation requirements. For a student to earn a NorthStar Academy high school diploma, he/she will need to satisfy one of the several flexible diploma "options" offered by NSA, so please contact us to request your copy of these diploma options, options which include dual enrollment at a junior college to choices in the type of diploma.
* NSA defines one credit as either a full-year (two-semester) course or two half-year (one-semester) courses.
- 12. Who can be the student's supervisor?
- The parent or a designated adult, 20 years of age or older. The supervisor does not need to be a certified teacher or hold any post-secondary degree.
- 13. Does NorthStar Academy have a faith statement?
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Yes. Each staff member must sign the following statement of faith:
- a. I believe in the one eternally existing Almighty God who reveals Himself to mankind in the persons of the Trinity: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Exodus 3:13,14; Matthew 28:19;
- b. I believe that Almighty God created the heavens and the earth and all that is seen and unseen. Genesis 1:1; Isaiah 45:12; John1:3
- c. I believe that the Old and New Testaments, in their original manuscripts, are God-breathed and void of error. Isaiah 40:8; II Tim 3:16
- d. I believe that all people are born with a sinful and carnal nature. Romans 3:23; Romans 3:10
- e. I believe in the literal death and bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ. Luke 24: 46; Acts 2: 23, 24
- f. I believe that Jesus' death on the cross is the absolute and only atonement for the sins of the world. Eph 2:13-15; John 14:6; Acts 4:12; John 8:24
- g. I believe that each person must individually appropriate this gift of salvation through faith. Romans 10:9,13; Eph 2:8
- h. I believe that Jesus is the one and only mediator between God and man. I Tim 2:5
- i. I believe that Jesus will literally return to this earth to call His Bride, the church, to Himself for eternity. Acts 1:11; I Thes 4:16,17; Rev 21:2
- j. I believe in the virgin birth of Jesus as prophesied by Isaiah. Is 7:14; Matt 1:22,23
- 14. What about the student's socialization?
- For a thorough and thought-provoking response to this question, please visit Dr. Fred Worth’s website at http://old.hsu.edu/faculty/worthf/articles.html.
- 15. Could existing schools which are having difficulty in offering a full program partner with northstar academy so that NorthStar Academy would provide individual courses to complement the school's program?
- Yes. NorthStar Academy could provide individual courses for the students whose school may not be able to offer certain courses during a particular semester or year.
- 16. Would there be a certain schedule each day for working online, or would we just download our assignments and work on them at our own pace?
- Yes to both. Each lesson has a suggested schedule for the student to follow, but the student is free to follow it or to devise his own schedule and pace (within reason).
- 17. Are students able to select their own classes, or is there a mandatory program or course schedule that they must follow?
- The grade 7 and 8 course schedules are basically set (pre-planned) with the exception of the math courses, but students in grades 9-12 have many courses to select from as they create their schedule of courses.
- 18. Is the interaction with teachers just through e-mail, or could their be real time chatting?
- Students have both options. Teachers and students may chat via text-chat and audio-chat which is built into the FirstClass software, and they can audio and/or video chat using the free Skype software IF the teacher has a Skype account.
- 19. How much actual internet time can we expect the courses to use? we live overseas and our internet service is sometimes sporadic, so we are a little nervous about something that would require many hours online.
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I hate to say that, "It depends", but it really does depend on the student, but from what parents have told me when I asked them this question, I would say that students would need at least one hour per day for academic "needs": emailing teachers, group discussions, downloading assignments, notes, lessons, etc. The students may also set up their account so that they may work offline, and they would then complete their work and read their lessons and assignments offline.
We have 2 or 3 families with us who are in really remote areas, and they actually come into their respective main city to get access to the internet, log into NorthStar, "do school" for that day or so, download the next 2 weeks worth of work on their laptop computer, and then return to their remote village. Granted, this type of approach to using NorthStar relegates our online program to a glorified correspondence program, but for these families, it works well. So at one extreme end of the spectrum, we have families who are doing well with minimum online access to NSA.
- 20. If our son/daughter wants to take an elective from another online or day school, is that transferable?
- Yes, assuming that the other school is accredited. If the school is not accredited, then your son can take our challenge exam in that course if NSA offers that course. Otherwise, we'll need to pursue more assessment options from within NSA.
- 21. What type of transcript do you need for registration? our son/daughter has been totally home schooled prior to attending NSA.
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If your son/daughter will be enrolled in NSA for grades 7, 8, or 9, I will not need any transcript information. Otherwise, I will need a formal list from you indicating
- course title
- course resources used
- topics/units covered
- assessment instruments: tests, projects, etc.
He/she may need to take "challenge exams" that our NSA teachers have created for individual courses to earn credit for those courses that he/she completed via home schooling.
- 22. How do students find and purchase the needed class resources for their NorthStar class(es)?
- Students and parents may find and purchase all of the class resources for each NorthStar class from our custom-created online bookstore, or they may choose to buy the needed class materials on their own from vendors of their own choosing by using our online bookstore information which shows all of the needed class materials organized by class name.
- 23. Will much of the course work be done on-line, or will we be able to download the material and work off-line?
- Most of the student's work can be easily done offline. We teachers provide weekly lesson bundles which contain all of the lesson resources for an entire week so students are not having to log into NorthStar each day of the week to get their lessons and assignments. A full-time student will spend about 30-60 minutes online each day for academic purposes. For social purposes, the time online can be much more than one hour!
- 24. Do you explain how students and parents/supervisors can enter into the group discussions for the computer illiterate?
- Yes, in the NorthStar 101 multi-media orientation, you will learn the steps needed to participate fully in all aspects of the school, going from opening the NSA package to logging into and fully participating in NSA.
- 25. In which countries does NSA have students?
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NSA has served students in the following countries:
- Argentina
- Australia
- Azerbaijan
- Bangladesh
- Belgium
- Benin
- Bolivia
- Brazil
- Burkina Faso
- Cameroon
- Canada
- Chad
- Chile
- China
- Costa Rica
- Cyprus
- Czech Republic
- Ecuador
- Egypt
- France
- Germany
- Ghana
- Guatemala
- Guam
- Hungary
- India
- Indonesia
- Iraq
- Italy
- Israel
- Ivory Coast
- Japan
- Kazakstan
- Kenya
- Korea
- Kosovo
- Kuwait
- Latvia
- Lithuania
- Macedonia
- Malawi
- Malaysia
- Mexico
- Mongolia
- Morocco
- Nepal
- Niger
- Nigeria
- Pakistan
- Paraguay
- Peru
- Philippines
- Poland
- Papua New Guinea
- Puerto Rico
- Republic of Ireland
- Romania
- Russia
- Singapore
- Slovenia
- S. Korea
- Solomon Islands
- South Africa
- Former Soviet Union
- Spain
- Taiwan
- Tajikistan
- Thailand
- Togo
- Turkey
- Turkmenistan
- U.A.E.
- Ukraine
- United Kingdom
- Uruguay
- USA
- Uzbekistan
- Vanuatu
- Former Yugoslavia
- Zambia
- 26. How important is it that a student taking NSA courses have his/her own computer as opposed to trying to share a computer with the parents?
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Answer from a "NorthStar Mom":
I think it is vital for the student to have his own computer if the parents consistently use the computer during what we would consider school hours. My son attends a cooperative school during the day. He shares a computer with 1 other student during school hours so a schedule has been worked out between the 2 students. However, he has his own computer at home to do homework. My husband spends many hours a day on the computer and sharing did not work well.
- 27. Is NSA "just another dressed-up home schooling program"?
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Answer from a "NorthStar Mom":
NSA is not another dressed-up home schooling program. We were doing University of Nebraska with our high schooler, and it wasn't working. NSA provides crucial "interaction" and communication between the teacher and the student. The lessons are current and relevant and prepared by qualified teachers. Other home school programs consist of lessons developed years ago and written down in a book. The student basically teaches himself with some guidance from a supervisor who may or may not have knowledge, experience, or training in education much less a specific area of study such as algebra or chemistry! When a NSA student has difficulty or a question, he gets immediate feedback and help from his online teacher. With other typical home school programs, the response is delayed and sometimes is never received. Whatever the student doesn't understand, he just misses out. For us, other homeschool programs don't even compare with NSA.