Spring 2018 Student/Parent Handbook and Syllabus

Acknowledgement Form

Both student and parent should electronically sign this document. In each of the Spring 2018 courses you
are enrolled, upload the Acknowledgement form into the “Handbook and Syllabus acknowledgement form”
dropbox before you can begin the course.

Follow the steps below to download, sign, and upload the acknowledgement form:
1. Download and install Adobe Acrobat Reader: https://get.adobe.com/reader/
2. Download the acknowledgement form onto your computer, and open using Adobe Reader.
3. On page 6, type the student's name in the Student/Parent Acknowledgement section.
4. On page 6 and 7, initial beside each applicable acknowledgement for all courses enrolled.
5. On page 7, student should type into the text fields his/her email address or name, date, and phone number.
6. On page 7, parent/guardian should type into the text fields his/her email address or name, date, and phone number.
7. Save the file to your computer, and include your first initial and last name in the file name. Ex:
A_Williamson_Summer17Acknlowledgement
8. Upload the file to the Acknowledgement Form dropbox folder in each course the student is currently enrolled. From the
course homepage, click on Assessments, then Dropbox, and look for the “Handbook/Syllabus Acknowledgement Form”
folder. Upload the file.

By uploading this acknowledgement page, you and your parents are confirming you have read the Summer 2017 Student
Handbook and reviewed the entire course syllabus and schedule. You are also confirming you understand your
responsibilities required in this course. You should submit the signed form before you begin the course.

Read the Spring 2018 Student Handbook by clicking on the link.

Student Code of Conduct:

Georgia Virtual School believes school is an appropriate setting for all children and youth. The Student Code of Conduct is
designed to support this concept by developing, through reasonable and consistent practices, appropriate student behavior
patterns. Those behaviors and disciplinary actions set forth in the Code are designed to serve as learning experiences for students.

The Student Code of Conduct includes those behaviors having disciplinary actions and/or intervention strategies that shall be
carried out by teacher, Georgia Virtual School administrators, and/or the student’s local school. The Code applies to conduct in
the learning management system, synchronous sessions, or any form of communication whether written or oral.
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Acknowledgement Form

Compliance with the Student Code of Conduct is expected of all students. This Student Code of Conduct applies to all
students attending Georgia Virtual School.
Stakeholder Expectations:
The Student Is Expected to:
1. Behave in a Respectful, Responsible, and Safe manner;
2. Abide by expectations, guidelines, rules and regulations established by Georgia Virtual School;
3. Participate in class daily; and
4. Hold him or herself to a high standard of academic effort and achievement.
The Parent/Guardian Is Expected to:
1. Set an example of respecting the worth of other persons;
2. Review school expectations, guidelines, rules and regulations with student and family members;
3. Collaborate with school officials;
4. Seek help from Georgia Virtual School, and if applicable the local school, when necessary to support a student’s
achievement;
5. Inform school officials of concerns relative to student needs; and
6. Make sure the student participates in class daily.
The Teacher is Expected to:
1. Treat each child with dignity and respect;
2. Teach and positively reinforce the Code of Conduct;
3. Review with students Georgia Virtual School’s expectations, procedures, and policies;
4. Establish and maintain an atmosphere of high achievement and appropriate behavior in the classroom;
5. Communicate with students and parents if student behavior is inappropriate;
6. Report continuous student misbehavior promptly to appropriate school personnel, and report immediately any
misbehavior that will or may result in removal from class(es).
The Facilitator is Expected to:
1. Set an example of respecting the worth of other persons;
2. Review and be knowledgeable of Georgia Virtual School's expectations, guidelines, rules and policies;
3. Collaborate with school officials;
4. Seek help from Georgia Virtual School, when necessary to support a student’s achievement;
5. Inform school officials of concerns relative to student needs;
6. Make sure the student participates in class daily;
7. Consistently enforce Georgia Virtual School expectations and the Code of Conduct; and
8. Collaborate with the teacher, in conjunction with GaVS and local administration, regarding student behavior
problems and resulting disciplinary actions.
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Acknowledgement Form

Behavioral Expectations:
Students in a "virtual building" need to follow certain rules. As a Georgia Virtual School student, you must conduct
yourself with the highest standards of honesty and integrity. You should conduct yourself in an appropriate and
respectful manner, so as not to interfere with the rights of another student to learn and to contribute to a safe and
orderly environment that is conducive to learning. Communication with GaVS staff, teachers, and students should
never be damaging, abusive, offensive, or contain inappropriate words or topics of conversation. All assignment
submissions or discussion posts must contain school appropriate topics and should never be obscene, lewd,
profane, offensive, indecent, sexually specific, or pornographic.

The following acts will not be tolerated.

• Computer crimes
• damaging computer programs
• hacking
• constructing viruses
• introducing viruses into a system
• copying programs
• Misuse of communication tools such as email, pager/instant messenger tool, or Adobe chat.
• Accessing, sending, creating or posting material or communication that is damaging; abusive; obscene, lewd,
profane, offensive, indecent, sexually explicit, or pornographic; threatening or demeaning to another person;
• Harassing and/or bullying.

Academic Integrity and Expectations:

Academic integrity is a fundamental component of teaching and learning. Maintaining high standards of academic
integrity ensures the sustainability of the educational process. Therefore, students are expected to commit to and be
responsible for demonstrating the five fundamental components, even in the face of adversity:
1· Honesty 2· Trust 3· Fairness 4· Respect 5· Responsibility

Unless your teacher or the specific assessment directions inform you of exceptions, all work must be original and
entirely the student's own work without any outside help. While taking assessments or completing written
assignments, students will not confer, either in person or through electronic communication, with other students,
parents, family members, facilitators, tutors or acquaintances. While taking assessments or completing written
assignments, students may not use any textbooks, references, or other materials/outside sources (printed or
electronic) unless your teacher or the specific assessment directions inform you of exceptions. Assignments that
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require documentation and/or references must adhere to guidelines presented by the teacher. When in doubt,
clarify with your teacher before beginning an assignment or submitting it.

Students are expected to complete and save their work for GaVS classes in a digitally secure environment that is
password protected. GaVS provides a secure working area and storage in O365. Failure to secure and protect
files/documents that become shared with other students will be considered an honor violation.

When content disputes arise in the course, the facilitator should not interfere with the teacher-student relationship
concerning content interpretation. Sometimes this presents teachable moments and interfering with this process
hinders learning. With regards to content interpretation disputes, the teacher has the final authority on content
interpretation.

The following activities are examples of some, but not all, acts that show a lack of academic integrity:
• Cheating (intentionally using or attempting to use unauthorized material, assistance, or study aids in any
academic work). The use of online translators or any other type of assistance on graded assignments i.e.
dropbox assignments, quizzes, and tests is considered cheating, UNLESS your teacher or the specific
assessment directions inform you of exceptions. Cheating includes copying another student's work and
submitting it as your own or sharing your work with another student. Be sure to get your teacher's
permission before working with a classmate on an assignment;
• Collusion;
• Falsification and/or misrepresentation of data to include submitting documents, records, or assessments
that is falsified, invented, or contains fictitious data, results, or sources.
• Lying;
• Plagiarism (representing another person's ideas, words, expressions, or data in writing or presentation
without properly acknowledging the source);
• alteration of materials;
• Forgery;
• Performing work or taking an examination for another student;
• providing or using external assistance relating to an examination, test, quiz, or daily assignment, without the
expressed permission of the teacher, including looking at another student‘s work, sharing answers, or
copying another student‘s work or any act designed to give unfair academic advantage to the student;
• Submitting work through the use of another person's password/login is considered dishonest behavior.
Student logins/passwords are confidential information that should not be shared with others. Any
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Acknowledgement Form

assignments, work, or projects posted while using another student's login will be considered plagiarism.
Allowing another person, even a family member, to use your login and submit work on your behalf is also
considered to be dishonest behavior;
• Working on a lab report with one or more students, sharing documents related to a lab report, or submitting
the same lab report which was submitted by another student you worked with to perform the lab
experiments in your school or home. NOTE: While it is acceptable for students to work together in small
groups while performing lab experiments and collecting data, the final lab report that is submitted for
graded credit should be each student’s independent work.
• Submitting your own work from another course or previous semester and presenting it as work that was
completed for the current course.
• Failure to secure and protect files/documents that become shared with other students

Academic honesty is very important to your success as an online learner. Students who fail to comply will be dealt
with according to GaVS policy as stated below.

Discipline Levels
Level I: Level I discipline is used for minor acts of misconduct which interfere with the good order of the school. Teacher
intervention will begin with the first offense violation of the student code of conduct.
Level II: Level II discipline is used for intermediate acts of misconduct or repeat level I infractions which interfere with the
good order of the school. Following appropriate teacher intervention, the student will be referred to school administration,
and implementation of consequences based on the student code of conduct will follow.
Level III: Level III discipline is used for major acts of misconduct or repeat level II infractions which interfere with the
good order of the school. This misconduct includes, but is not limited to, repeated misbehaviors of a similar nature,
serious disruptions of the school environment, threats to health, safety, or property and other acts of serious misconduct.

Academic and Behavioral Violations Consequences

Level I: Examples of violations include, but are not
limited to, minor misuse of classroom tools, rude or
disrespectful communication with the teacher, rude or
disrespectful communication with another student,
refusal to comply with classroom or GaVS rules, or
displaying a lack of academic honesty.
• Notification sent to local school.
• Notification sent to parent/guardian.
• Loss of points on assignment(s) if offense is
academic in nature.

Level II: Examples of violations include, but are not • Notification sent to the local school.
limited to, repeat level I offenses, bullying, major
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misuse of classroom tools, or engaging in the verbal • Notification sent to parent/guardian.

assault of the teacher or another student.
• The local school shall administer disciplinary action
for the second offense in accordance with its local
policy.
• Tools within the learning management system may
be removed if the student is in violation of using
those tools.
• The student may not enroll in additional courses in
the same semester, but is eligible for enrollment in
future semesters.

Level III: Examples of violations include, but are not
limited to, substantial or repeat level II offenses,
threatening physical assault to someone, terroristic
threats, damage to GaVS property, or any substantial
misconduct that the Supervisor of Instruction believes
will affect the orderly operation of the school.
• Notification sent to the local school.
• Notification sent to parent/guardian.
• The local school shall administer disciplinary action
for the third offense in accordance with its local
policy.
• The student will be withdrawn from all current GaVS
enrollments, and is not eligible for enrollment in
future semester.

Note: If a student is withdrawn from a GaVS course by administration for violation of the code of conduct, the local school must
request a withdrawal grade at the time of withdrawal.

Student/Parent Acknowledgement

Student’s Name: ____________________________________

“I, the undersigned, state that I have read and that I will follow the Georgia Virtual School Student Code of Conduct,
policies, and schedule outlined in the Student Handbook and course syllabus. By signing below, I acknowledge
that if I violate the GAVS Code of Conduct, I will be dealt with according to Georgia Virtual and my ground school’s policies.”

World Language Students (please initial)

“I understand the policy on online translators. I agree that I will not use an online translator for assignments in the
course, without my instructor’s prior knowledge and consent. Also, I understand the policy on diacritical marks or
accents marks. I agree that I will use diacritical marks or accent marks in all communication and assessments. By adding
Spring 2018 Student/Parent Handbook and Syllabus
Acknowledgement Form

my initials, I acknowledge that if I use a translator on my assignments that I will be dealt with according to GaVS and my
ground school’s policy on cheating. In addition, by adding my initials, I acknowledge that students, at all levels of language
development, will be assessed on the proper use of diacritical marks or accent marks in their chosen language of study.

Science Students (please initial)

“I understand the lab report policy. I agree that I will not work on a lab report with one or more students, share documents
related to a lab report, or submit the same lab report which was submitted by another student I worked with to perform the
lab experiments in my school or home. By adding my initials, I acknowledge if I do not follow the lab report policy that I will
be dealt with according to GaVS and my ground school’s policy on cheating.”

Personal Fitness Students (please initial)

“I understand the policy regarding falsification and/or misrepresentation of data. I agree that it is my
responsibility to honestly and accurately complete the Personal Fitness workout requirements. For documentation
purposes, I understand a fitness sponsor (parent/guardian, teacher or coach) must verify student workouts by signing the
required Fitness Log. By adding my initials, I acknowledge if I submit falsified documentation that I will be dealt with
according to GaVS and my ground school’s policy on cheating.”

Introduction to Healthcare Science Students (please initial)

“I understand the policy regarding CPR, AED, and First Aid certification requirements. I agree that it is my
responsibility to successfully complete CPR, AED, and First Aid training according to the American Heart Association or
American Red Cross, or other nationally recognized certifying agency (accepted courses listed in policy). Students must
complete the Adult or Healthcare Provider course, the hands on skills practice, and the hands on skills test requirements. The
certification deadline is noted on the course schedule. If the certification documentation listed in the CPR, First Aid, and AED
rubric (located in content sidebar) is not submitted by the assignment due date, a zero will be entered into the gradebook. If
students are not able to complete the requirements by the noted deadline on the schedule, the certification documentation will
be accepted (late penalty waived) as long as the documentation is uploaded by midnight the Tuesday before final exams. By
adding my initials, I acknowledge I understand the requirements and submission deadline information.”

Please digitally sign below by typing your contact email or full name after the colon. Make sure to include the
date and phone number.

Student's Signature (email address or full name): _________________________________ Date: ____________Phone: ________________

Parent's Signature (email address or full name): __________________________________ Date: ____________Phone: ________________