Yes, we will be offering a Kindergarten - grade 5 option for Ann Arbor Public School students.  Registration opens on August 20, 2020.  Students will be able to take their entire course schedule through A2Virtual+.  This will include all core and special courses.   The option will be for the entire curriculum; parents will not be able to pick and choose subjects.  Students in lower elementary grades will require greater adult support than upper elementary or secondary students. 

Yes,  A2Virtual+, and in partnership with Michigan Virtual, offers a full selection of AP courses.   The courses can be found under micourses.org.

No, students will only be given the courses that they have registered for during the term.  They cannot finish early and start the next course in the sequence.  The only exception to this rule is math courses in grades 6-8 where students can accelerate.  

We estimate that the student will take between 90-110 hours for each class or an average of 100 hours.  A six-class schedule of online classes is a commitment of approximately 600 hours over 18 weeks (This excludes 3 weeks of vacation time.  Students actually have access to the courses for a full 21 weeks if they should choose to work all the weeks that the courses are available.). This will result in approximately 30-36 hours of work per week.  Students who take online classes have the entire week, 7 days, to keep pace with the suggested completion calendar provided as a pacing guide with each class.

Students can work ahead in any or all courses as the entire content of the class is given to students on the first day.

No, during 2020-2021 all students will be enrolling in semester length classes.  Semester 1 is Sept. 8, 2020 through January 29, 2021.

Yes,  all student accommodations are met when taking an online class.  We have a parent guide for accommodations that lists the most frequently requested ones and describes how the accommodation looks in an online classroom.  Any student needing accommodations or an accommodation not listed on the guide should contact Cindy Leaman for consultation before beginning the course.  A2Virtual+ does not have any Teacher Consultants (TC).  The TC assigned to the student will be responsible for accommodations.  

Students have access to the entire term of the curriculum at the start of the course and can work at their own consistent pace.  There is no penalty for work turned in beyond the date listed on the pacing guide unless specified at the beginning of the course. (ie. Personal fitness requires weekly physical activity logs that cannot be made up later in the term.)  While students can work any time, any place, at any pace there is a hard deadline for the end of the term.  (ie. January 29, 2021, for semester 1).  Students are expected to work consistently in online courses every week.   Work consistently is defined as a minimum of 5 hours per week.  Some courses will require an average of more than 5 hours per week.   If a student becomes ill or has an extenuating circumstance, they should contact the instructor as soon as possible.  

What if a student can't complete the work in the specified term?  The students are expected to pace themselves to complete work on time.  We measure student participation on a weekly basis.  If a student should require a two-week extension for a course they need to be 49-55% through with the course and have worked a minimum of 5 hours per week.  You can review the extension policy here.  

Yes, beginning this year, 2020-2021, A2Virtual+ is offering a full schedule of online classes taught by AAPS instructors.  If this is your preference, you will need to register for the courses at the home page of A2Virtual under the registration tab beginning August 17, 2020.

No, a student does not pay for any courses taken through A2Virtual during the regular school year.  This includes courses taken with Michigan Virtual or through the micourses.org catalog.  There are fees for courses taken during the summer term.

Yes,  the curriculum will be the same for all students in the same content and year.  Students who form study groups should be sure that they are working with students from the same grade.  The content between different grades will not be the same.  Students are allowed to work with others and form study groups.  This is/has been always encouraged.  However, the work that is submitted to the instructor has to be completed independently by each student unless there is a specific group project assigned.  For example, turning in the same identical assignment by four different students will be considered plagiarised.  

Students are required to complete any pre-requisite course work for advancement to high school courses.  Therefore, any middle school level courses need to be completed first. (eg.  7th-grade Social studies is the pre-requisite for 8th-grade social studies, 6th grade ELA is the pre-requisite for 7th grade ELA, etc.)  The exception to this is always the math classes which through grade 8 allows for acceleration.  Additionally, a student can use either or both of his electives to take high school classes where the prerequisite has been met or for high school elective courses that don't have any prerequisites.  For example, a student can take Earth Science or Biology using an elective slot because the 6th and 7th-grade science courses serve as prerequisites but s/he would still need to take 8th-grade Science in addition to the elective science.  A student couldn't take the Chemistry or Physics courses because the 8th-grade Science course is a prerequisite.   A student in grade 8 can also take the high school World History in an elective slot.  World Languages will be high school credit in grade 8 but a student can start a high school level World Language during any middle school year.   Many high school electives can be taken by middle school students.  Any high school class taken has the grade recorded on the student's transcript.  The cumulative GPA begins in the Fall term of Freshman year.

The list below is a sampling of courses that can be used to replace a middle school elective.  The list is not inclusive but just a sampling.  When choosing a high school level course for middle school students take into consideration both the maturity of the student and the additional workload that will come with the high school courses.  Students who take a high school course will be given a grade that will go on the high school transcript.   If a student does take a high school course as an elective, we highly recommend that the student only try one course first and fulfill the other elective with a middle school appropriate course.

• High School Science Prerequisites
• Biology A = students need to have completed 7th Grade Science
• Earth Science A/HSS = students need to have completed 7th Grade Science
• Chem 1 and Physics 1 = students need to have completed 8th Grade Science
• Forensic Science can be taken by mature students
• Oceanography or any elective science without a pre-requisite can be taken (micourses.org for options) 
• High School Social Studies Prerequisites
  • World History - Social Studies 6 and 7 need to be completed
  • Elective social studies classes can be taken by students mature enough to handle some of the content material
• High School English Electives
  • Students must complete all coursework through and including grade 8
  • Some High School English electives can be taken that do not have a prerequisite
• High School Electives
  • Any high school non-essential elective (does not specifically meet a graduation requirement) that does not have a pre-requisite can be taken. (ie. some computer classes, Criminology, Archaeology, etc. electives can be found on micourses.org)
• High School Personal Fitness and High School Health
  • Both of these courses CANNOT be taken in middle school.  The earliest that the courses can be taken is during the summer term between grade 8 and grade 9.
• High School level World Languages
  • Any high school World Language can be taken by a Middle School student. Review the middle school option page that describes the difference between a middle school and high school language experience.  Students who are in 6th or 7th grade or just beginning a language in grade 8 should start with the first level.  If the child has lived in a bi-lingual environment that included reading and writing, s/he can start at level 2.

A 5th-grade student who is new to the district as of fall 2020 can contact Cindy Leaman about the application process.  Students who were enrolled during the fourth-grade year 2019-2020 are not eligible to apply at this time.  The window to apply opened on April 20, 2020, and closed on May 22, 2020.  

Yes, students will still be allowed to participate in Math Acceleration as long as the Math Acceleration Guidelines are adhered to.  To enroll you need to visit the A2Virtual+ home page registration tab.  Choose the class that the student would be currently enrolled in were they in the building,  For more information visit our webpage under middle school options.

No, a student who signs up for a program (A2ClassroomConnect, A2StudentLink, or A2Virtual+) must stay with the selected schooling option for the entire semester.  The one exception is if the request is made within the drop/add window.  Students must add or drop courses by Sept. 18, 2020.  After this date students will be required to remain in the program that was chosen until the end of the semester, January 29, 2021.  Students may make a change at the semester change.

Yes, whether a student is taking one or six online with classes with A2Virtual+ the option to return to the building is always available at the change of semesters.  The student must complete the full semester before making the change.  The student should contact the counselor about making the switch two weeks in advance of the starting of the next semester if at all possible.

Students need to take 6 classes as part of the semester.  Since music is not an option with A2Virtual+ the student can take music (or other building-based classes) with the students in their building and take the rest of the courses online.  The student would register on the A2Virtual webpage and then talk to the counselor about the building-based class in music (or any other class that is to be taken in the building).  The student will need to register for a total of six (6) classes.

No, A2Virtual+ offers the standard version of classes.  There are no "AC" classes.  There are no "IB" curriculum choices.

Yes, students in grades 6-12 are allowed to take one or two online classes with A2Virtual in place of the content offered by a building based program.  Registration for any A2Virtual+ class is completed at the registration tab on our homepage.