Virtual & External Courses
VIRTUAL / EXTERNAL COURSE POLICY
Chatham High School offers online learning opportunities for students. Students may sign up for courses through Educere, a board-approved provider of virtual courses. Additionally, CHS will consider approving courses from other external providers. These courses will be preapproved by the content area supervisor and are subject to the policy outlined below.
Educere offers virtual courses across all subject areas, aligned with the New Jersey Student Learning Standards and delivered asynchronously. Students enrolled in these self-paced courses will have access to a virtual teacher and a dashboard to track their progress.
Original Credit
Students may not take core courses through any external provider for credit if these courses are offered at Chatham High School. This includes required courses taken prior to the start of high school.
Exceptions to the above may be approved by the CHS administration and department supervisors for students who have transferred to the SDOC and need to take additional courses to meet graduation requirements within their cohort. Additional exceptions may be made for students on modified school schedules or with other extenuating circumstances approved by the administration.
Students may take elective courses for original credit including financial literacy. They must complete a virtual course request form and submit it to their counselor for approval before enrolling in a course.
A student may have up to 8 courses in their schedule during any semester. Students who choose to take an external course must have a study hall in their schedule. An exemption from physical education class granted during an athletic season does not constitute a ‘study hall’ for the purpose of adding a virtual course.
Students are not permitted to take more than 2 original credit courses during the summer or any semester.
Educere requires semester courses to be completed within 4 months and full-year courses to be completed within 9 months. Summer courses must be completed by August 15.
Summer course requests will be processed in June. A student in grade 8 may not begin a high school course until completion of grade 8.
Payment for these courses is the responsibility of the family.
Credit Recovery
A student who does not earn credit in a CHS course but remains enrolled for the entire year will be eligible to take a credit recovery version of the course, provided that Educere offers a credit recovery option for that course. Students may take as many credit recovery courses as needed.
Students with more than 60 absences in a course will not be eligible for credit recovery. Instead, they must retake the full-credit course.
Students who wish to recover credit for a course they did not pass or for which they lost credit due to attendance should discuss their options with their counselor.
For students who do not earn credit in a CHS course, the course title and alpha grade will appear on their transcript, but no credits will be awarded. After completing a credit recovery course, the course title, alpha grade, and earned credits will be added to the transcript. However, the credit recovery grade will not be included in the GPA calculation.
Credit recovery courses must be completed by August 15.
Payment for these courses is the responsibility of the family.
Home Instruction / Bedside
A student on district-approved medical leave who is eligible for home instruction may receive this instruction through a virtual course. Teachers will select the course topics to be assigned, and the grades earned on these topics will be combined with the grades from the course for which the student is receiving home instruction. This may apply to both core and elective courses, when available through Educere.
Grading Policies
All grading for virtual or external courses will be completed by the course provider. Courses taken outside of Chatham High School, including virtual courses, will not be included in the student’s GPA calculation.
When a student completes an original credit course, the provider will provide the district with a final grade. The course title, with a notation of "V" (Virtual), will be added to the student's transcript. Additionally, a "*" will be added to the course title to indicate that the course is not factored into the GPA. The alpha grade received will also be posted on the transcript. External courses taken with an accredited academic institution that provides the student with a transcript and credit will not be included on the CHS transcript.
Students may choose not to receive credit for a virtual course if their parent notifies the counselor within 5 school days of receiving the final grade from Educere. In this case, the course will be removed from the transcript.
For students taking an Educere course for home instruction, the grades earned will be merged with the grades from the CHS course for which they are receiving home instruction. There will be no special notation on the transcript, and the final grade earned in the CHS course will count toward the GPA.
IEP and 504 Accommodations
With parental permission, we will share a child's IEP or 504 plan with the course provider to determine which accommodations can be implemented within the selected course.