Our web site is full of information, but most of it is explanatory or situational, not essential for success in classes. This guide provides the essential information that parents need to oversee and support their students in TPS classes.
StudyPlace LMS Parents have their own StudyPlace "desktop" or "home" page that allows you to track all assignments and review all grades from one place for every student in the family:
www.pottersschool.org/parent StudyPlace is the most powerful LMS available but it is not the most intuitive or attractive. Students are provided instruction in how to use StudyPlace at the start of every course. Please visit us in live support anytime you need help navigating it. Most items of interest can be reached in 1-2 clicks from the "desktop".
Weekly Reports You will be sent two reports each week, one for Assignments (upcoming and past due) and one for Grades from the past week. These reports are only a small summary of the detailed information that can be found in StudyPlace. (Note: If you allow the weekly reports to go to your spam folder, you will stop receiving them because our mail service will stop sending them, to comply with anti-spam laws.)
Attendance Unless an exception has been provided in writing, academic credit for a TPS course assumes regular live attendance and participation.
www.pottersschool.org/attendance-requirement Assignments Students are expected to submit assignments correctly and timely (on or before the Due Date).
www.pottersschool.org/assignments-timely-correct-exceptions Detailed assignment information and due dates can be found in StudyPlace. Use the ASSIGNMENTS icon view to see Past Due and Upcoming assignments at a glance, search for specific assignments, or browse all assignments.
Exams In Middle and High School courses, exams must be proctored for full credit:
www.pottersschool.org/exam-proctor Grades and Feedback TPS teachers provide ample individual feedback on every submitted assignment -- this is one of our hallmarks. Detailed grade (score) information and individual teacher feedback for each graded assignment can be found in StudyPlace. Use the GRADES icon view to locate the assignment feedback document. Open the returned document (usually DOCX or PDF) and review the comments in the margin.
Here is a 45-second video that demonstrates where to find and download the graded document with teacher feedback for an assignment:
Academic Use of Sources TPS requires that all work submitted by a student is original to that student. Any work submitted -- including essays and written work, visual arts, calculations, programming code, translations, or any other -- that is substantially derived from another source – including texts, web sites, peers, parents, or any other – cannot be credited to the student.
https://www.pottersschool.org/academic-use-of-sources Live Support We have live support anytime there is a live class and 18 hours a day on weekdays (13 hours on Fridays). You can reach live support from the StudyPlace desktop or any page on our web site.
Classroom Sharing and Prayer TPS is a non-denominational Christian school. The first 10 minutes of most classes is allowed for general fellowship, sharing, and teacher prayer in the Christian faith tradition (there is no direct Bible teaching, homily, or formal devotional). Student participation is optional, but must be respectful and not disruptive. Students who prefer may also quietly leave for this period.
Extracurricular Activities TPS offers social opportunities like forums, clubs, meeting rooms, yearbook, and more. (The unmoderated forums are open only to older students.) Student behavior in these activities is governed by the Conduct Agreement which every student reviews at the start of every school year. Students who do not proactively and unambiguously comply with the agreement (as determined solely by TPS) will be blocked from extracurricular activities.
https://at-tps.org/enroll/conduct-agreement/ External Groups and Associations TPS expressly forbids external associations that state or imply any association or connection with TPS classes or groups, including the use of our name, logo(s), or other identifiers. We particularly forbid the use of Google Hangouts and similar platforms to create external groups or "shadow classes" related to our classes or internal groups. These external platforms are particularly dangerous for minors because they have no oversight and effectively no safety or security. TPS routinely receives reports from TPS students of bullying, sexual harassment, sexual predation, harassment over political or social beliefs, cheating rings, identity theft, hacking, student cliques and “gangs”, slander, and other unsafe and unsavory behaviors in these external groups. Students often “hangout” in these groups during class and become inattentive in class. These groups are also a source of misinformation regarding conduct of classes and assignments. Furthermore, there is no valid or beneficial reason for these groups because TPS already offers a more authentic and safer version of the collaborative social or academic benefits from the groups.
Source: https://www.pottersschool.org/parent-essentials
