2014-2015

Version 2.0

Release Date: 05/01/2013

Odysseyware Academy Parent/Guardian Handbook

and User Guide

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................................................. 3

2. OWA POLICIES AND PROCEDURES ........................................................................................................ 4

TECHNICAL SUPPORT ..................................................................................................................... 4

GRADING SCALE/WEIGHTING FOR ASSESSMENT ........................................................... 4

SEMESTER COURSE EXPLANATION ......................................................................................... 5

STUDENT CODE OF CONDUCT ................................................................................................. 5

PLACEMENT TESTS ........................................................................................................................... 6

STUDENT ORIENTATION .............................................................................................................. 6

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY POLICY ................................................................................................. 6

ACTIVE WORK POLICY ................................................................................................................... 7

TEST/QUIZ RETAKE POLICY ....................................................................................................... 8

COURSE END DATES ....................................................................................................................... 8

OWA DIPLOMA STANDARDS/HIGH SCHOOL TRANSFER STUDENTS ...................... 8

TRANSCRIPTS....................................................................................................................................... 9

DROP/ADD POLICY .......................................................................................................................... 9

HONOR ROLL/HIGH HONOR ROLL ....................................................................................... 10

6 TRAITS OF WRITING ................................................................................................................... 10

3. MYGENIUS MODULE ................................................................................................................................... 11

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1. INTRODUCTION

Welcome to Odysseyware Academy! This Parent/Guardian Handbook and User Guide is designed to inform you of our policies and procedures while providing you with instructions for our Student Information System (SIS), Genius. The Odysseyware Academy Student Information System is a web-based student information system designed to make school operation easier and more fulfilling for Odysseyware students and parents/guardians. The system allows you to operate in a virtual/online environment. The system seamlessly interfaces with the Academy’s Learning Management System (LMS). Class content and grades continue to be provided by the LMS, while the SIS provides up-to-date information in valuable reports about student activity, completion and grades.

This document describes our academic policies and procedures, along with the main functionalities and features available in the Student Information System. If you have any questions regarding the SIS or policies and procedures that are not answered by this guide, please contact Odysseyware Academy at your earliest convenience.

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2. POLICIES AND PROCEDURES

Technical Support

Our Technical Support department at Odysseyware Academy provides an outstanding service to

our students. Whenever you have a technical issue, you may contact our toll free number for

technical support. Our expert team is ready to assist you with setting up your school or home

workstation with the necessary system requirements to view and work in the academy’s online

platform.

You may contact our Technical Support team at: 1-888-399-4267 press Option 2, then press Option 4 Monday – Friday: 7:00am to 5:00pm CST Be sure to call while you are near your computer and ready to make suggested adjustments to your workstation. If you prefer, you may email your issue to techsupport@myOdysseywareacademy.com.

Grading Scale/Weighting for Assessments

Each unit is weighted as an equal part of the semester average. Individual unit grades are

calculated using the following grading scale and weighting for assessments.

A+ 97.00-100% A 93.00-96.99% A- 90.00-92.99%

B+ 87.00-89.99% B 83.00-86.99% B- 80.00-82.99%

C+ 77.00-79.99% C 73.00-76.99% C- 70.00-72.99%

D+ 67.00-69.99% D 63.00-66.99% D- 60.00-62.99%

F 0-59.99%

Units With Projects Units Without Projects

Tests = 30%

Quizzes = 25%

Projects = 30%

Lessons = 15%

Tests = 43%

Quizzes = 36%

Lessons = 21%

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Semester Course Explanation

Odysseyware Academy’s full credit courses (or full school year courses) are divided up into two

parts (Part A – Semester 1, and Part B – Semester 2). Please be mindful of this when requesting

courses for enrollment. This is in place for all grade levels (elementary, middle school, and high

school). If you are unsure of which course to request for your student, please contact

Odysseyware Academy.

Student Code of Conduct

Students should:

Log in daily and make progress in their course;

Be willing to put forth effort in their course and complete the course in the allotted time

frame;

Reach out to their instructor for help;

Call in to Technical Support for any known software issues;

Complete student orientation;

Have their parent/guardian reach out to OWA when they are not going to be active in

their course for one week or more;

Use proper or formal language when communicating with instructors or academy staff

via messaging (this includes lessons, quizzes, projects, and tests);

Complete their own course and maintain academic integrity at all times;

Always use their given name when attending live sessions or training; or when turning in

projects or assessments;

Always respond to teacher and staff messages when a response is required.

Students should not:

Cheat or plagiarize;

Falsify log in time or technical issues;

Send inappropriate messages to instructors (i.e. profanity, disrespectful tone, sexual in nature);

Allow another student access to their student login password, keyboard, etc.;

Close out of a quiz or test prior to completion;

Use text jargon or informal language when communicating with instructors or academy staff via messaging (this includes lessons, quizzes, projects and tests).

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Placement Tests

Placement tests are administered to individually enrolled students 3-5 days prior to beginning coursework. Placement tests are administered to ensure proper placement in Odysseyware Academy curriculum.

Student Orientation

Orientation is provided to ensure success in OWA coursework. It is recommended that ALL students complete orientation annually to maintain program comprehension.

Academy Integrity Policy

Plagiarism

The act of passing off the literary or academic work of another as your own (including ideas, thoughts, direct quotes, reports, essays, research papers, projects, publications, articles, etc.).

The act of intentionally or unintentionally copying and pasting literary or academic work from another source or reference material without properly citing the source as a reference (including journals, newspaper articles, internet sources, magazines, etc.).

The act or attempt of reusing your own work that may have been previously submitted for another assignment or course.

Cheating

The act of giving or receiving answers on assessments including lessons, projects, quizzes, tests or final exams.

The act of allowing someone else to complete a quiz or test on your behalf in courses that you are enrolled.

The act of seeking or providing (publishing) Odysseyware Academy curriculum content, questions, or answers to internet sources or answer banks.

The act of using materials during closed book assessments (including lessons, notes, the internet, text books, etc.).

The act of copying answers that have been previously submitted by another student.

The act of working with another student to complete an assessment (including working side by side, accessing another student’s work by logging in as them, and/or printing completed materials to share).

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Odysseyware Plagiarism and Cheating Consequence Policy: 1st Offense—Warning 1*

Parent/guardian contact by teacher

Redo assignment for full credit

Phone conference with the teacher

Notation of academic integrity issue in SIS

2nd Offense—Warning 2*

Parent/guardian contact by teacher

Redo assignment for 75% credit

Letter/email of second attempt – Academic probation warning

Phone conference w/ teacher

Notation of academic integrity issue in SIS

3rd Offense—Warning 3*

Parent/guardian contact by teacher

Redo assignment for 50% credit

Possible 30 day academic probation

Meeting with academic dean or principal

Notation of academic integrity issue in SIS 4th Offense—Warning 4*

Parent/guardian contact by teacher

Zero on assignment

Academy leadership to determine next consequence

Possible failure of course

Possible expulsion from academy

Notation of academic integrity issue in SIS

Active Work Policy

It is highly recommended that only one unit within a course be open at a time. Students should plan accordingly for projects that may require more than one day for completion (i.e. growing seeds, research, etc.). Projects can be worked on concurrently. Students should not be allowed to advance to the next unit until everything for the current unit has been completed (this includes projects).

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Test/Quiz Retake Policy

One quiz per unit may be cleared for retake (at any score). The higher quiz score will be

kept and marked completed.

Projects may be reassigned to students at the discretion of the teacher.

Note that lessons are viewed as instruction and may be cleared for retake as often as

needed.

Alternate Tests

Alternate tests may be assigned upon request of the parent/guardian or student and at the discretion of the teacher.

The student should review lessons and quizzes before attempting the alternate test.

Students are allowed one attempt on unit tests. If the grade on the unit test is below

70%, the student or parent/guardian may request an alternate test (the higher score will

be kept).

Course End Dates

Students are allotted no more than 20 weeks to complete a semester course. In the event that a course is not completed within 20 weeks, parents/guardians have the option to drop, zero-out, or extend the course. The following Continuation Extension options are available:

5 weeks

10 Weeks

20 Weeks

Odysseyware staff will collaborate with students and parents/guardians prior to 20 weeks so appropriate time is allotted for resolution. At 20 weeks, incomplete coursework may be placed in a blocked status. OWA holds the right to drop a course that is beyond 20 weeks.

OWA Diploma Standards/High School Transfer Students

Odysseyware Academy requires 24 credits for graduation. Of these 24 credits, students transferring to OWA are required to earn their final 4 credits (minimum) from Odysseyware Academy to receive a OWA High School Diploma. High school credits earned prior to OWA enrollment can be transferred to OWA on the basis of official transcripts and placement test results. Credits earned in other high schools will be recorded on OWA transcripts as 1.0 credit for each standard high school course (150 to 180 hours of instruction). College course credits will be accepted as 0.5 high school credits for a three semester-hour course (class meeting three hours per week for one semester).

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Transcripts

High School Transcripts Transcripts include only courses that apply toward high school graduation. Grade Reports will be given for elementary or middle school courses. High school courses completed in previous schools will not be included on Odysseyware Academy transcripts unless the student enrolled in OWA is a full-time student and then successfully maintains full-time status (completed at least a semester in each of at least four courses).

Transcript Requests

Transcript requests must be made in writing. Requests can be mailed or emailed to the registrar or to owa@myodysseywareacademy.com, or faxed to the academy. The request must include the student’s name and date of birth, and where the transcript should be sent. Official transcripts are sent only to schools or other institutions. OWA graduates or students 18 years of age and older may request their own transcripts. Please allow 5 business days processing plus mail delivery time for each transcript request. Processing may take up to 2 weeks during peak enrollment periods. Requests are handled in the order they are received.

Drop/Add Policy

Drop

Courses are added through the Admission/Requested Courses tab in Genius and must be requested by a parent/guardian.

If a student is withdrawn from a course within 21 calendar days of enrollment, the

course price will be credited and an administrative fee will be billed.

Courses that are dropped within 21 calendar days will appear with a status of

"Dropped Grace" in the student's enrollment history. While courses that are

dropped after 21 calendar days of enrollment will appear as "Dropped."

Dropped courses appear on the transcript with a final grade of "W" (Withdrawn).

Course transfers done within 21 calendar days of enrollment will be approved at no

charge.

Add

A course may be added by a parent/guardian via the admission tab found in the

Student Information System.

The course must be paid in full before the course can be processed.

Course pre-requisites should be considered when finalizing course selections.

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Honor Roll/High Honor Roll/Academic Excellence

Qualifications

Students enrolled in Odysseyware Academy coursework are recognized for their academic

achievements. Honors are awarded as follows:

High Honor Roll*

A cumulative, weighted grade point average of 3.5 or higher in four or more completed semester

courses

Honor Roll*

A cumulative, weighted grade point average of 3.0 or higher in four or more completed semester

courses

Academic Excellence**

Students earning 90% or greater in one or more semester courses will receive recognition for

Academic Excellence.

*Honor Roll/High Honor Roll certificates will be issued and distributed each semester according to the following

schedule:

**Academic Excellence will be recognized each quarter according to the following schedule:

6 Traits of Writing

The 6 Traits of Writing is a research based model for the instruction and assessment of writing. This model was developed by Education Northwest and is used in nearly every state throughout the country. It focuses on the 6 (+1) components of good writing and clear outline for both teachers and students to follow when grading and writing respectively. Use of the 6 Traits’ common language, clearly defines descriptors, and specific rubrics allows for an increased understanding of expectations across the board. The 6 Traits model helps students develop good writing skills and it helps teachers to grade consistently and provide effective feedback.

Course Completed Academic Awards Published

Semester 1: Aug., Sept., Oct., Nov., Dec., Jan. 1st Friday in February

Semester 2: Feb., Mar., Apr., May, June, July 1st Friday in August

Course Completed Academic Awards Published

Quarter 1: August, September, October 1st Friday in November

Quarter 2: November, December, January 1st Friday in February

Quarter 3: February, March, April 1st Friday in May

Quarter 4: May, June, July 1st Friday in August

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The 6 Traits Model will be followed consistently in all core subjects and electives.

3. MYGENIUS MODULE

Students, parents or guardians that sign into Odysseyware Academy will be greeted by a primary portal similar to Figure 1.1 below. To sign in, go to https://sis.myodysseywareacademy.com. Enter the username and password you have been assigned by Odysseyware Academy to access your personal portal. Along the left-hand column is a list of options. The system automatically opens to the Dashboard option.

Dashboard

Figure 1.1 shows the school portal dashboard. It contains several “widgets”, including:

Figure 1.1 School Dashboard

Academic Snapshot

This widget will display the courses that your student(s) are currently enrolled in, including the course name, the current grade, the number of assignments completed so far and whether the student is ahead or behind pace.

Upcoming Events Here the user can see any events scheduled for the future, based on the student calendar. The student calendar is described in more detail later in this user guide. Clicking on an event will open up a window with additional event details, as shown in Figure 1.1.

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Activity This widget will display the last activities of the student on his/her courses, as reported by the LMS. If this information is not available, no activity will be displayed.

Messages This widget will alert the user if there are any messages sent to him/her. Clicking on the link will take the user to a page where the messages can be accessed.

Course Requests This widget shows the status for any course requests, including the requested course, the requested term and whether the request has been approved or not. Course registration is handled by the affiliation. If you are not associated with a partnering school or have questions on course registration, please contact your OWA Registrar at 888-399-4267.

Admission Status This widget will display the student admission status.

Messages

The system features internal messaging. It makes it possible for you to communicate with your students and academy faculty within the LMS/SIS framework. Figure 1.2 shows a sample message screen. Each message can be replied to or deleted.

Figure 1.2 Message Board

Figure 1.3 shows a typical message form. Select who you are writing to, the priority (importance) of your note, choose a subject and enter the text of your note. The message is HTML-based, so bullets, fonts and colors can be used.

Figure 1.3 Sending a New Message

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Contact Support

If you have any questions, please use this page to contact Odysseyware Academy via e-mail. Once you have sent the email, you will receive a response within 24 hours.

Figure 1.4 Contact Support Form

Course Information

Students and parents can see detailed course information on this page, including the course description, the course length and teacher information. Users can also send a message to the teacher through this page by clicking on the “Email Teacher” link. Users can navigate between courses by clicking on the arrows on the top portion of the screen, or by directly clicking on the course name. Only courses in which the student is currently enrolled are shown. Figure 1.5 shows a sample of the Course Information page:

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Figure 1.5 Course Information

Academic Snapshot

The Academic Snapshot page provides an “at a glance” view of the current academic status for each student. For each course which the student is enrolled, this page displays the enrollment dates, the current average grade, number of assignments completed and total assignments, pacing status and last activity.

This page also uses graphical indications, based on a red-yellow-green rating system, to illustrate each student’s status: grade, pacing, number of 0s and activity level.

Figure 1.6 shows a sample Academic Snapshot page.

Figure 1.6 Academic Snapshot

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Gradebook

The Gradebook is an area for students, parents or guardians to see how a student is doing in a specific course. The Gradebook includes information on current course enrollments only. When you log in to your account, click the Gradebook button. See figure 1.7 to reach the list of current courses. Click on any course and the Gradebook will provide you with detailed information on that course, as shown on next page:

Figure 1.7 Gradebook

You can check a variety of factors in the Gradebook. Each assignment in a course is listed. As you complete the assignments, the results are listed by points and grade achieved, date completed and any feedback you might receive from the teacher. The status bar tells you which assignments you have completed, as well as which tasks have yet to be started, and which ones have been recently assigned.

Student Activity

On this page, students and guardians can see how much time is spent on coursework. A report can be generated based on a list of pre-defined time periods, ranging from 1 day to 2 months. Customized time frames can also be created. The student activity report shows how many minutes the student spent working in each course, along with the percentage of the student time that was dedicated to each course.

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In the example shown in figure 1.8, the student spent 120 minutes on his French 1 class between 6/1/2009 and 6/7/2009. That corresponds to 25% of his total study time in the selected period.

Figure 1.8 Student Activity

Course Plan

The student’s path towards graduation can be tracked in the Course Plan page. This page lists the numbers of credits needed, earned and currently being attempted by department and/or subject area (for students who are pursuing a Odysseyware Academy diploma). If a student is not pursuing a Odysseyware Academy diploma, he or she must follow the course plans of his or her primary school when seeking a high school diploma. This page may also be used to track scheduled courses for future terms. See figure 1.9 for an example of the Course Plan page.

Figure 1.9 Course Plan

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Edit Account

This page will let you edit your account information, including name, email address and phone number. You can also change your password on this page. You can create your standard signature here, which can be utilized through emails and messages within Genius SIS.

Figure 1.10 Edit Account

School Calendar

Figure 1.11 shows the events scheduled for a particular month. Clicking on an event will display additional information, such as any associated URL or a detailed event description.

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Figure 1.11 School Calendar

External Links

Figure 1.12 shows a list of external links that users can access. This page acts like a link repository, where the school can keep all relevant links to external resources.

Figure 1.12 External Links

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Genius SIS: OWA Parent/Guardian Handbook and

User Guide Version 2.0

Release Date: May 01, 2013

For more assistance, contact Odysseyware Academy: 804 N. 2nd Ave. E. Rock Rapids, IA 51246

Phone: 888-399-4267 Fax: 712-472-6830

Email: bwa@mybridgewateracademy.com www.mybridgewateracademy.com